When I was going to school a couple of years ago, there were a series of burglaries happening in student apartments close to campus. The burglar would sneak in and steal TVs, laptops, iPods, gaming systems, and whatever else he could get his hands on. He was even so bold as to go into occupied apartments at night and steal students’ belongings.
As with any serial burglar, a devious nickname was coined by all of us students, and he quickly became known as “The Logan Lurker”. For a couple of weeks, we kept hearing stories about a new burglary that had happened the night before or about how The Logan Lurker had gotten away with his latest crime. One night, The Logan Lurker even hit an apartment in my same complex, just a building over from mine.
A couple of my roommates and our neighbors attempted a stakeout one night hoping to catch the Lurker, each taking a watch during the night. Despite their grand schemes, the dragnet came up empty. Finally, after a few weeks of the community being on edge, the police received a call early one morning about a burglary. The police brought their K-9 companions and were able to track down and finally catch the famed Logan Lurker. The Lurker eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced for his crimes and the stolen items were returned to their rightful owners.
For many students heading away for college, Renters Insurance isn’t on the top on their shopping list. In fact, it probably isn’t even their list at all. However, this story illustrates that things do happen and your belongings aren’t always safe. Renters Insurance can be a great way to protect your belongings while living away from home.
Perhaps 10 years ago, students might have been able to get by without having Renters Insurance. But students now are heading to school with more valuable items such as laptops, iPads, mp3 players, TVs, gaming systems and more. I look at what my roommates and I owned, and between the computers, guitars, and other belongings, there was a lot of value there. With more valuable items, the need for Renters Insurance is much greater.
And here’s the good news: Renters Insurance is cheap! Usually in the neighborhood of $125 a year. I’m not sure how many boxes of Mac ‘N Cheese that equals, but you get the idea. It’s cheap. For students who are still dependents of their parents, they may already have coverage under their parents’ homeowners policy. Typical homeowners policies provide coverage for up to 10% of the contents limit for an off-premises property, such as a student’s belongings at school. Be sure to check your own policy to see if you might have this coverage.
Without Renters Insurance, if the Logan Lurker hadn’t been caught, many of the victims would have had no funding to replace their stolen items. For a student working two part-time jobs to save enough money for tuition, having a laptop stolen could be devastating. However, Renters Insurance can be a good solution to help protect a student’s belongings at a very affordable price.
