Make it policy to know what’s covered
Thousands of students are heading off to halls of residence and new flats in the next few weeks. Most won't have checked their insurance situation and may not even care. Helping them is a great favour parents can do.
Often parents' home contents insurance covers their offspring while living in halls of residence. But do check.
What's more, the devil is in the detail. For example, Vero's residential contents policy covers your young people's contents in halls of residence but not theft, unless there is forced entry to their room or actual or threatened violence to your offspring. That means they're not covered if they leave their MacBook Air in the common room and it's stolen.
Not all young people go to tertiary study and, even if they do, they will probably go flatting from the second year onwards. It's then they need insurance cover. Those laptops, telephones, ear pods, and bicycles can cost a lot to replace. If the flat burns down or suffers another catastrophe, replacing everything is often way out of a young person's reach financially.
Sometimes parents' contents insurance policies cover the student also while flatting. State and AMI's policies do that. Again, don't assume. Most insurance companies have more than one level of cover, and your particular policy might not cover your students.
If not, flatters can take out a policy with any insurance company. Most policies these days are fully comprehensive. Beware of cheap, basic versions. They might be limited to defined events such as fire and earthquake, not the wider accidental damage cover of a more comprehensive policy.
Secondly some policies pay out replacement, while others offer only current value, meaning you'll need to stump up more money to buy a new replacement.
Young people often think they don't own enough stuff to warrant buying insurance. Contents insurance, however, covers for more than things. Most policies cover legal liability. If the flatter accidentally damages are landlord's property, they're responsible by law for up to four weeks' rent, or the landlord's insurance excess (whichever is the lower).
AA Insurance gives the example of being legally liable if you accidentally let your supermarket trolley run into a parked car. That can be expensive but would be covered by contents insurance.
Contents insurance also pays for additional costs of temporary accommodation if your flat becomes unliveable.
Some insurance companies market specific renter's insurance. AA Insurance does that and has a policy offering new for old. A quote on $10,000 contents on a shared flat in Illam, Christchurch came out at $20.54 a fortnight. AA Insurance also offered a policy at half that price that covered burglary, fire, storm, flood and natural disaster only. Having seen personally how young people treat their technology I'd go for the fully comprehensive options.
The insurance geek in me got terribly excited when researching this article when I came across the Studentsafe Domestic insurance policy, which is a hybrid of contents and travel insurance. It offers $10,000 contents cover for students as well as travel insurance for New Zealand, Australia, Bali and the South Pacific. It covers things like loss of deposits as well as the usual baggage and medical care. Like most travel policies you won't get covered for Covid cancellations.
Studentsafe is a joint venture between Allianz and Marsh, both respected names within the insurance context. The policy won't work for all students. It needs to be noted as well that it only covers current value, not replacement.
Flatters who have work tools and technology need to read their policies carefully. These can be very expensive to replace, and it can be devastating if they're damaged or stolen.
Finally, a note on car insurance. Remember you or your young adultsin-training need to tell their car insurer if their vehicle is being kept at a new location. That's relevant information and you risk claims not being paid if you haven't done this.