Taxes & Insurance

If have a student away from home for college, check your own insurance policies.

See if your homeowner’s insurance policy covers personal possessions of children away at school. Coverage varies but many policies provide some insurance if a student living in on-campus housing has property lost or stolen or damaged.

If your child is living off-campus, you may need to spend a few hundred dollars a year for a renter’s policy. Regardless of where the student lives, you may have to pay extra to cover expensive items such as a laptop.

Make sure your auto policy covers a student who is away from home and drives a car. There might be resident student and good student discounts.

Adding your college student to your policy may be relatively inexpensive if your driving record has been good; once your student is independent and buying auto insurance, his or her experience on your policy may lead to lower insurance rates than a new driver would pay.