Do University Students Need Tenant Insurance?
Does your child need tenant insurance while away at university to protect their belongings? The short answer is: Yes. Better safe than sorry.
Replacing phones, laptops, tablets, smart TVs and watches, digital readers plus their clothes and personal items, and any furniture, can add up very quickly in the event of theft, damage, or a fire.
How is my child away at school covered by insurance?
If your son or daughter lives on campus and attends university full time, typically they are protected under your own homeowner’s policy. Some universities, though, require students to enroll in a tenants’ insurance program that they offer.
You may want to add a rider or an extension to your home insurance policy to cover your child’s electronics and any high-value items while they are away at university or college.
Why university students should have tenant insurance
Your child needs tenant insurance if they live off campus in a rental accommodation.
If your child is renting an apartment, townhouse, or condo off campus, your liability coverage under your homeowner’s policy may not be applicable, even if your child’s possessions are covered.
What happens if a house party gets out of control and one of the guests gets injured and sues your child? What happens should your child causes damage to the rental accommodation? If your child is found to be negligent, he or she may be held liable for legal damages and repairs.
And, yes, your tenant insurance as a university student will cover your gadgets.
The importance of liability protection as part of tenant insurance for students
A guest gets injured: If someone comes to visit, and slips on an area rug, you could be sued for their injuries. Tenant insurance policies usually include $1 million in premises liability insurance.
Liability for your actions: If you lose control of going down a hill on your bicycle and crash into someone and cause serious injury and face a lawsuit for your negligence, tenant insurance can provide you with $1 million or more in coverage.
Your pet dog bites a guest and causes injury: If you own a pet, your renter’s insurance policy can cover claims of this type.
Your landlord may require tenant insurance
Tenant insurance is not mandatory in Canada.
It’s becoming increasingly common, however, that landlords require their tenants to take out a tenant insurance policy as a condition of the rental agreement.
As a university student, once you and your parents make a list of everything that you own and add up the cost of replacing everything, you’ll realize that you have a lot of belongings to protect with renters’ insurance.
What does tenant (renters’) insurance cover?
It helps protect you as a tenant against:
- Theft
- Fire
- Water damage, but it depends on the specific policy and the details surrounding the water damage.
- Cost of damages that you may unintentionally cause to your unit, other units or to your building
- Unintentional harm caused to others who visit your apartment
Renter’s insurance can help with additional living expenses, bills, and food resulting from an insured loss, such as a fire.
Note that protections from tenant insurance do not extend to your child’s university or college roommates, who will need their own renters’ insurance as post-secondary students.
At Western Financial Group, you can get a discount when you bundle your renter’s insurance with your car insurance.
