When you head to campus to start college, there are many things you need to bring with you. You’ll pack your laptop, your cell phone, your clothes, your MP3 player, and probably even some books and pencils. One of the things you might not think to pack, however is renters insurance for the dorm. In today’s high-tech environment, however, having renters insurance is absolutely essential.

Today’s college students bring a significant dollar value of personal property with them when they go to college. The risk involved of theft or loss is significant when they’re in college, too.

Parents’ Homeowners Policy

Fortunately, there are a couple of ways for parents and students to handle the dorm insurance conundrum. The first option is to get the student covered by the parents’ homeowners policy. This is often a less expensive option. You can add a child to your homeowners policy as long as the child’s primary residence is the family’s home. This may not cost anything. In some cases you can just add the child, and in other cases you may need to add a special rider at an increased cost.

While the specifics can differ from one state to the next and even one policy to the next, the coverage for your student’s possessions when you add her to your homeowner’s policy is around ten percent of your overall policy coverage. So, if you have a $300,000 homeowners policy, your student is probably covered for up to $30,000.

There is a downside to just adding your child to your insurance, of course. Any claim that your child makes goes against your policy. This helps to raise your rates and can even affect your ability to get another insurance policy. Add to this the fact that the likelihood of a claim is greater when your child is at college, and it’s a definite risk. On top of all of that, high deductibles may be a factor, too.

A Renter’s Insurance Policy

The other option, of course, is to get a renters insurance policy. If you can’t add yoru child to your policy or don’t want to, they can have a policy of their own. This prevents any risk of having a claim affect your own homeowners insurance. On top of that, you can have the renters policy tailored to your student ‘s specific situation and needs.

For many college students, renters insurance may be the only way to be really insured. Around a quarter of college students aren’t covered by their parents’ insurance policy for various reasons.

The downside, of course, to renter’s insurance is the cost. Fortuantely, the cost doesn’t have to be prohibitive. A college student can get a policy for a few thousand dollars with a low deductible for less than $150 a year.