Parents: don't let graduation dent your insurance

SEATTLE - High school graduation can be an exciting time as young adults and their parents move to a new stage of their lives. Preparing for college, finding a job and possibly a place to live are just a few of the tasks teens will face this summer as they ready themselves for life after high school or college.

During this hectic period, families can easily overlook needed adjustments to insurance policies that cover their young adults. "Graduation is a time to celebrate achievement and a bright future for graduates," said Karl Newman, NW Insurance Council president. "It's definitely not the time to find out that you don't have enough coverage, or the right coverage, if an accident happens."

Often, a family might not need more coverage, just changes in the way the coverage is set up. NW Insurance Council encourages graduates and parents to work with their insurance companies or agents to ensure their coverage needs are met.

Here are a few scenarios that should raise a red flag for graduates and parents:

• A high school or college graduate permanently moves away from home. This creates a possible coverage problem for personal property, since a child must reside in the parent's household for the child's personal property to be covered under the parent's policy. If the graduate permanently relocates, he or she may need an inexpensive Renters Insurance Policy.
• A high school or college graduate takes a summer job as a delivery person for a pizza parlor and uses his or her own car (or one owned by parents) to make deliveries. Since many personal automobile insurance policies exclude deliveries, this creates a coverage problem for damage caused in an accident when delivering the pizza.
• A high school or college graduate gets involved in a volunteer program transporting young people, the homeless or the elderly from one place to another and uses his or her own car (or one owned by the parents). The parents could be liable, according to their auto policy, for injuries or property damage that happen while their child is driving.
• A graduate gets a job and starts driving a family car much more than they used to. If the car is insured through the parents, this could create coverage problems because some policies specify that the car will not be driven to work or will only be driven a limited number miles per day.

As parents and seniors prepare for graduation day, it's important that families check with their insurance companies or agents to see how their coverage may need to be changed. A few minutes adjusting coverage can prevent long-term headaches after this year's graduates continue down the walk of life.

For more information on insurance for graduates, contact NW Insurance Council at (800) 664-4942 or visit http://www.nwinsurance.org.

NW Insurance Council is a nonprofit public-education organization funded by member insurance companies serving Washington, Oregon and Idaho.