6 On Your Side: Consumer Confidence, College Insurance For You and Your Stuff?

(ABC 6 News) – College students are heading back-to-school.

With two daughters heading to college this fall, Amy Miller knows just how pricey tuition can be. “It’s just very expensive. And it’s an investment. So you’re making an investment in your kid,” said Miller.

An investment totaling tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars, but what if something goes wrong?

Consumer Reports says there are two ways to protect some of that investment: tuition insurance and dorm insurance.

“If your child experiences a major health issue and has to drop out midway through the semester. In that case, the tuition insurance would refund you for the portion your child did not receive,” said Penny Wang, Consumer Reports Money Editor.

And that’s on top of what your kid’s school may refund you. So after checking the college’s refund policy, “check the coverage terms to see what precise conditions are covered and what is needed. But generally medical records, a doctor’s letter—you’ll need to send that into the insurance company,” Wang said.

And then there’s dorm insurance. In general, coverage is affordable and it’s something you might want to consider with all the expensive things teens have these days.

“Dorm insurance covers all the stuff that your kid may be taking with him or her to college. If something happens, it’s one way that you can get coverage, reimbursement for loss, damage,” Wang said.

Although you may have some coverage for your kid with a homeowners policy, CR says dorm insurance or even renters insurance might be a cheaper option–a few hundred dollars a year–since deductibles are often higher with homeowners insurance.

And because with kids, as Amy knows, things are always unpredictable.

“We just kinda want to hope that everything’s gonna go smooth—until it doesn’t,” Miller said.