Fireman’s Fund Launches Property Protector Program for College Students

July 25, 2007

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. based in Novato, Calif., has teamed with College Student Insurance (CSI) to offer a property insurance plan especially for college students living away from home.

Parents are sending more than 13 million students to college this fall with at least $10.5 billion worth of electronic equipment only to have these gadgets dropped in toilets, put through the wash and run over by cars, among other unfortunate accidents, Fireman’s Fund said.

According to recent surveys of college students, 97 percent own a computer, 94 percent a cell phone and 56 percent an MP3 player. Moreover, a recent Alloy College Explorer Study found that 50 percent of college students own laptops while a CompUSA survey revealed that 70 percent of students don’t routinely lock up their laptops when the computers are not in use. Fifty thousand property crimes are reported on college campuses annually with burglaries estimated to occur every 10 seconds, Fireman’s Fund indicated.

Most students have anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 in personal property while away at school, including electronic equipment as well as musical instruments, sports equipment, gaming devices, jewelry and other valuables. As a result, it is critical to have suitable protection for securing valuables from loss, the company said. With “Student Personal Property Protector Plus” parents can protect the expensive belongings that are brought with students to campus each year.

“Parents often rely on their homeowners’ policies to cover loss, but most policies carry high deductibles and won’t cover all the risks a college student’s property faces,” said Jack Russell, national executive, Fireman’s Fund Specialty. “By investing in student property insurance, parents will be able to save time and money if a loss occurs and the claims process is quick and easy.”

Because the cost of a policy ultimately depends on the value of the property the student owns, Fireman’s Fund and CSI created a personal property inventory manager to illustrate potential policy costs. Parents and student can go to the CSI simple inventory list, to determine how much protection they may need: https://secure.csiprotection.com/collegestudentinsurance/step1.php.

For more information, also visit www.collegestudentinsurance.com/.

Source: Fireman’s Fund

Topics New Markets Education Property Universities

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