With September just around the corner and school just about to start, the rituals of preparing our children for being away from home for university or college begin with compiling a checklist of things to do before the school year starts; one item that most of us overlook is insurance. Your main question should be, "how will my child be protected while away from home, and what can I do to help?"
The two types of insurance to first consider are auto and home insurance.
Auto Insurance
Rules and regulations pertaining to your driver"™s license and auto insurance can vary from the province you currently live in to other provinces. Contact your current insurance provider to discuss the implications of driving while residing in a different province, and how it may affect your current auto insurance policy.
In some provinces it is fairly simple to keep and use your current license and insurance of your home province. For example, if you reside outside of Alberta but will be staying there for the school season, as long as you are a full time student in a school in Alberta and are listed as the primary driver and registered owner of the vehicle, your current license and insurance will be accepted. If you"™re in Quebec but reside outside this province, just being a full time student suffices to keep your current license and insurance of your home province.
Other provinces have a few more stipulations that must be followed in order to comply with the provincial law. For example, if you"™re in Ontario during a typical school season your current insurance and license will be accepted. If you will be in Ontario for more than 6 months with the same calendar year, then you will need to obtain on Ontario license and register the vehicle as well.
For further information please visit:
Alberta — www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/
Quebec — http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/index.php
Ontario — http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/
British Columbia — http://www.icbc.com/insurance/insura_getsta_whofor.asp
Saskatchewan — http://www.sgi.sk.ca/
Manitoba — http://www.mpi.mb.ca/english/registration/Reg_Who.html
Newfoundland and Labrador — http://www.gov.nf.ca/
New Brunswick — http://www.snb.ca/
Nova Scotia — http://www.gov.ns.ca/
Prince Edward Island — http://www.gov.pe.ca/
Home Insurance
It is also a good idea to think of home insurance for your children while they are away from home. Being away from home for school, your children are likely to have various options for living arrangements and may have very expensive items with them for school, (for example a laptop computer) that you want to protect against theft or damage. Whether they are living in a dormitory residence, house or apartment, it is a sound idea to inquire and confirm what type of insurance if any will protect your child and his or her belongings.
If renting an apartment or home, you may want to consider tenants insurance which can provide you with peace of mind as it will protect your pocessions and provide you with liability coverage. Lastly, your child may already be covered, through your existing home insurance policy (up to a particular amount). Speak to your insurance professional to confirm whether or not you have coverage and if so up to what amount, as well as what other options are available depending on your child"™s living arrangements while studying away from home.
