Insurance Space

NEW YORK (AP) — The population of renters across the country is growing, edged up in part by a slumping housing market.
Yet as graduates and others enter the work force and set up their first apartments, renters insurance probably isn’t a burning issue. It’s often only after a robbery that a policy suddenly seems like a no-brainer.

Renters insurance typically costs less than $200 a year for around $30,000 in coverage and generally includes items stolen from your car. Perhaps more importantly, most policies from major underwriters such as Allstate Corp. and State Farm Insurance Cos. include $100,000 or more in personal liability coverage. So if someone slips and falls on your property, you’ve got some protection.

College students bring laptop computers, cell phones, MP3 devices and televisions to campus. What happens if there’s a dorm-room theft or fire?
Students’ on-campus belongings should be covered under their parents’ homeowners or renters insurance policy, according a new multimedia feature available at A.M. Best Co.’s Consumer Insurance Center.

This latest report at A.M. Best’s ongoing consumer-orientated Web center recommends that students and their parents check with their insurer to make sure they have enough insurance protection. Also, the report reveals that students living off campus aren’t covered by either their parents’ homeowners policy or by the landlord’s insurance. Those students should purchase their own renters insurance policy for protection.