Well, this weekend was certainly one of the most “bittersweet” moments of my life. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was a great day, one to which you can never imagine how you will react until the day arrives, but anyone who has ever had the good fortune of bringing their child to college for the first time knows exactly what I mean. With Devin being our first child, it was even more emotional as both Ann Marie and I were not sure exactly how we were going to react when we actually had to say, “Good bye”. I will say, however, that after carrying his belongings up four flights of stairs to his dorm room it did make it a very tiny bit easier for us to part ways!

In the days, and even weeks, preceding this day, there were times when I asked my wife if we could possibly pay extra and drop him off a few weeks earlier, as there were moments when, as most of you parents will attest to and you know exactly what I mean, that I was actually looking forward to him leaving! However, on the advice of educators and professionals in this field, we decided to “keep him” until the proper drop off day as they said that it is extremely common for these young adults to “act out”, as they (even though they would never admit to it) are as anxious, or even more so, than their parents. “Yeah, RIGHT!” If I was going away for a year with all expenses paid and three meals a day, I don’t know if I would be so “anxious”! Either way, it was a very tough moment to say good bye as so many thoughts run through your mind at 100 mph, but I’m sure that he will make a fine attorney some day and when he becomes a wealthy Park Avenue lawyer and buys his mommy and me a beach front condo in Southampton, he can also act as the closing attorney…pro bono of course! Still, beneath the tears, hugs, and “remember when” memories, as I have said so many times in this column over the past couple of years, everything I do always relates back to “this thing of ours”. While unloading the car of his books, TV, coffee maker, laptop computer, refrigerator, microwave, designer suits and ripped jeans, along with a host of other items and sealed boxes that I can’t even imagine what they contained, I thought of what would happen in the event of fire, theft, wind, rain, or just plain ole college student carelessness. With that said, I immediately thought that when we get home I need to re-read our homeowners’ insurance contract (yes, I’m one of those who actually reads the policy!) in order to determine exactly what is covered for a “student away at school”, and even more importantly, “what is not covered”. If there is one thing that I remember from my first insurance class thirty years ago and at almost every continuing education class I have attended thereafter, was that “everything is covered unless excluded”.

Hmmm…that’s when the fun begins! Sure enough, I’m not the only parent who has thought of this, and I’m certain that you have advised many a client on the coverage afforded by, and differences by carrier, for students who go away to school. If not, this is probably a really good time to get the word out to all of your clients (perfect excuse to open a business “Twitter” account and “Tweet” this message! Call me if you want help doing it) who may have an “away at school” child in order to make certain that they have their coverage in place for that student. Some suggestions are as follows:

As both the college student and their respective parents plan for the academic year, a “check your insurance” list should absolutely be on their list of priorities. According to the Insurance Information Institute (www.iii.org) students who live on campus in a school dormitory, “most” of their personal possessions are covered under either their parents’ homeowners’ policy or renters’ insurance policy.

However, with that said, things begin to get more complicated when the student decides to rent off-campus or if they own a very expensive computer or any sophisticated electronic equipment for that matter, such as stereos, televisions, etc.

As Ann Marie and I learned firsthand, college students haul off to school a huge and costly array of very personal and expensive possessions. Besides most of their clothing, furniture, books and a host of other items, so many students will also bring very expensive personal electronic items, musical equipment, and sports gear. In fact, students and their families are expected to spend over $33 billion on backto- school supplies this year, according to the National Retail Federation. As one would imagine, theft is a major concern for security officials on college campuses. The U.S. Department of Education reports that in 2008 there were 31,851 campus burglaries, and the National Fire Protection Association reported that there were 6,000 on-campus fires, also in 2008. Most campus fires are related to cooking, so campus officials and parents (and insurance agents) should strongly advise students to be extremely careful about the types of hot plates and microwaves they bring to school. Additionally, portable heaters and lights and lamps (especially halogen lamps) can also pose a fire risk, as well overloading electrical outlets which may also cause a fire.

When packing for school, the Insurance Information Institute recommends that students and their parents do the following:

1. Create a “dorm inventory.” This is a detailed list of every item the student plans to bring to school, along with its estimated value. To make this process easier, the I.I.I. has created free web-based software, available at www.KnowYourStuff.org. Students can note specific expensive items such as a computer, camera or musical instruments and scan into the system receipts documenting their retail value. Having an up-to-date inventory will help determine how much insurance to purchase and will help get insurance claims settled faster in the event of theft, fire or other types of disaster.

2. Contact their insurance agent or company representative to learn about all of their insurance options. They should find out how much insurance coverage the student will have on his or her parents’ policy and if supplemental insurance is needed.

As you are well aware, some homeowners’ insurance policies do limit the amount of coverage for a college student’s off-premises belongings to 10 percent of the total amount of a policy’s coverage for personal possessions. Obviously, and if my Catholic School arithmetic is correct, if the student’s parents’ policy has $100,000 worth of contents coverage in the family’s primary residence, only $10,000 of the student’s possessions would be covered in their dorm room, which from the way my back feels from carrying all of that “stuff”, I don’t believe that would be enough coverage. This is not to say that all insurers limit this coverage, however you should make certain that your clients are aware of the difference in limits that each of the carriers in your agency may provide in their contracts.

The same may also hold true for certain computer, electronic, sports, musical equipment and jewelry as they may also be subject to coverage limits under a standard homeowners policy, so be sure to have this conversation with your insured when discussing what is, and is not, covered while their little darlings are away at school. For students going off to college, the Insurance Information Institute recommends the following, and it is great information to pass along to your clients:

• Leave valuables at home if possible. While it may be necessary to take a computer or sports equipment to campus, other expensive items such as valuable jewelry or luxury watches should be left at home or kept in a local safety deposit box.

• Engrave electronics. Engrave electronic items such as computers, televisions and portable devices like iPods with a name or other identifying information that can help police track the stolen articles.

• Always lock dorm room doors and carry the keys at all times, even if you leave briefly. And not just at night-most dorm thefts occur during the day. Insist that roommates do the same.

• Do not leave belongings unattended on campus. Whether in class, the library, the dining hall or other public areas, students should never leave unattended their back packs, purses and laptops. These are the primary areas where property theft occurs.

Most of all the same advice that you provide to all of your insured applies to the students away at school: they need to be aware, be smart, and take whatever precautions necessary to protect themselves and their belongings from harm. “Are you listening, Devin? Be sure to tell this to all of your buddies in school, too. Good luck, pal, and I sure do miss you.” Once again Alpha Group in western NY has totally outdone themselves at their annual golf outing and dinner event. Held this year at the beautiful Holiday Valley Country Club in Ellicottville, NY.

Linda Kruszka of Main Street Insurance Agency, Inc. in Attica, NY, along with Nancy and the rest of her committee arranged for a wonderful day of golf, lunch, and dinner, and was a fantastic opportunity to just have fun with some of western NY’s agents and carrier folks. This year’s theme was Mardi Gras, and you certainly organized a party that certainly rivaled any that I’ve ever attended on Bourbon Street.

Thanks to insurance agents Jan Rogers and Mick Walker for the laughs as these two guys made fun of my plaid shorts all day (don’t the rules of golf state that you are supposed to wear plaid while golfing?), and Jan I think you were just upset because my hair stayed in place all day and yours didn’t...even with those Mardi Gras hats on!

Also, thank you to Julius Aebly from Walsh Jones Agency in West Seneca, NY, for lending me a set of golf clubs so that I didn’t have to shuffle mine off to Buffalo via LaGuardia Airport. Glad you “fixed” the clubs since we last played together, as they worked so much better than when I used them last year!

To Bob Florio of Erie Niagara Insurance Company, thanks for showing David Iandanza of Dryden Mutual Insurance Company in Dryden, NY, and I where “reverse” is located on the golf cart. Dave and I were such fast learners and were so excited that we now had “reverse” on the cart that we may have used it once too many times. If you see Dave in your agency ask him about it, as I’m sure he’ll love to tell you the story!

Congratulations to my foursome which consisted of Nancy Power of Merchants Insurance Company in Buffalo, NY; Jeff Ireland of J. Edwards Insurance Agency in Panama, NY; Dave Iandanza of Dryden Insurance Company and myself, as we were and took the prize for placing last. I don’t want to brag, but I know that I was one of the largest contributors to our final score with some of the tee shots that I had! For our concerted effort, we were each awarded a fantastic prize of a Calloway Gift Card...I’ll lose a game any day for that prize!

Also, thanks for all of the laughs during dinner from those who were seated at my table like Kevin Johns and Lorenzo Jackson from Travelers Insurance Company; David Nagle from Alleghany Insurance Company; Wendy Mingas of Allegany Coop Insurance Company; and David Iandanza (Dave was also my golf cart partner). I’m still laughing from our conversations and Gumbo jokes.

One final “Thank you” to my good pal Tony Kubera of Russell Bond Agency in Buffalo, NY (Tony, you and I have known each other for many years, since we first met on the convention scene… probably 20 years ago? Where did the time go?!), and to the other “experienced parents” who have also dropped off their children at college at one time or another and offered me such good, sound advice. I very much appreciate it, and I thought about it, and used it, when Ann Marie and I said “Good bye” to Devin over the weekend. Everything you guys said, was absolutely true. “Thanks, guys.” Oh, and one more “thing”! “Many thanks” to all of the insurance agencies and carriers that have been following me on Twitter @ MLoguercioJr. Coming this fall, look for a new video Tweet that I will be regularly posting that will include clips of many of the insurance related events that we talk about in this column. I think I’ll call this, “Loguercio @ Large”!

Well, thanks for taking another walk around the neighborhood with me, and stay tuned to this column as the fall convention season is about to come into full swing. We will certainly be talking about a number of conferences in our area. See you there!