my son's back pack was stolen at school this past friday and inside it was a very expensive ipod and his cell

Question

phone. he's reported it to the school that it was stolen. is it likely that my home owner's insurance will cover this loss and will i need to file a police report in order to file a claim with my insurance? please help. i just don't know what i need to do.

Answer 1

Check with your agent first to see about the Homeowner's insurance. It's likely that if anything, your deductable may be too high to cover any significant amount. Also beware of filing for trivial amounts (like this). Home insurance companies, like auto, could cancel on you if you make too many claims.

Maybe have your son spread the word around that there's a police investigation which may scare the culprit into returning the backpack and contents.

Answer 2

First thing you should do is check to see what your deductible is on your homeowner's policy.
Second is to see how much it would cost to replace these items, and whether: a) the combined value is greater than your deductible; b) if the combined value is greater than your deductible, is it large enough to make it worth it to file a claim (i.e. your deductible is $500, the value of all items stolen is $625, you would only receive $125 which may not make it worth it). These first two steps need to be done as soon as possible.
Third if the loss is large enough to make it worthwhile to file a claim, you will have to report the theft to the police, once again as soon as possible. Once you have the police report (it may just be a report number, but in any case get the name of the officer who takes the report) report the claim to your insurer.
Keep in mind that you may have a claims free discount that you will probably lose if you file the claim, which will have to be a factor in step two when deciding whether it is worth it to file a claim (it may take a few years before you will get the discount back). Also if you file too many claims in too short a time period, the insurer may decide not to renew your policy, which means you will incur significant costs in trying to find a new insurer (assuming you can find one). Good luck.

Answer 3

Since it had expensive electronic equipment in it, you should most likely report it to the police. The school can only do so much to help the situation, especially if, by chance, it wasn't a student who took the backpack. You should also make sure that you cut off the service to the cell phone so that whoever has it won't try to run up the bill.

Answer 4

I am an insurance agent and this is what i would do: file a report to the police, and estimate the damage. If its going to be a small claim such as $500 or less then don't file the claim!!! its better to pay out of pocket then to have your rates go up. you can pay for higher insurance rates because of one claim up to 5 years. I had a client who put in a $250 claim with her prior company and they raised her rates $120 a year on her home for the next 5 years that is about $600 more in premium. She would of been better off paying out of pocket. She came to my agency because we were only going to charge her about $70 more than what she was paying befor the claim. have your kid help pay for it, its a learning lessen to every one.

Answer 5

It may be covered under your homeowners policy (less your deductible) but check your coverage. There are a lot of things like portable electronic equipment (iPod's) that are excluded.

Call you agent and ask if they are covered. If you have a $500 or $1000. deductible though, it's not going to be worth filing the claim.

Answer 6

Your homeowners will cover it, subject to your deductible, but you WILL need to file a police report. Keep in mind, some homeowners policies do NOT cover cell phones.

The school is not responsible - especially if it's a public school, it's subject to the governmental immunity laws.

Answer 7

Report it to the police. There is a way to track cell phones if they are turned on.

Answer 8

I just don't know!!!! When I went to school, all I had to worry about was someone stealing my Lunch bag. Forget about it...buy another backpack, Ipod and cell phone, send him on his way. Or, let him keep them at home so he can "STUDY" at School. Don't you remember that desk drawer the teacher had...full of stuff that was taken away from kids so they would focus on studying?

Answer 9

You should have had him file a police report right away. I bet his ipod and cell have been sold for crack money already.

Answer 10

You should report it to the police. One question why would you let your son take the ipod to school. He doesn't need his ipod in school, that's why kids aren't learning in school.