With roughly 19 million students heading to college, car insurance and coverage are among the most overlooked parts of the transition. In this conversation, Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group breaks down what every parent and student should check before move-in day—from confirming whether an existing auto policy actually covers a student away at school, to understanding how each state’s insurance rules can affect your coverage. Adrienne explains why sitting down with an agent to review your household policy is one of the smartest moves you can make when a major life change like college happens.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Adrienne, it’s so great to see you.
Thanks for joining us in the program this morning.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
Thank you for having me on the show.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, really appreciate you coming on. You know, the AAA has this robust history of serving America’s motorists and travelers. So we really appreciate your contribution.
This is a very interesting topic because I think a lot of people, I wanna maybe start out by getting your perspective on this. A lot of people, there are 19 million people going to college, I think, or going back to college. Some of them may or may not have a car.
Some of them may be going out of state. Wouldn’t you agree that insurance coverages and car concepts are probably really overlooked by so many?
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
Yeah, many parents assume their existing insurance policies will automatically cover their students that are away at college. But that’s not always the case. So it’s really important before you, you know, send your student off to college that you take a look at your insurance policies, speak with your agent, and make sure you have the proper coverage that will cover them while they’re away.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Each state, and you know, AAA, I think, believe has offices in all 50 states, may actually have multiple offices in 50 states. So it’s an acknowledgement that each state really has its own insurance commissioner and has its own insurance rules. I would imagine that, you know, you need to, as part of your planning as a parent or as a student, you really need to take a look at what that state requires in terms of keeping your coverages.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
You know, that’s why it’s really important that parents should speak with an insurance expert or a AAA insurance expert so they can do a quick review of your policy to identify any potential gaps or issues that may not be covered while your student’s away at college.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah. You know, I think about my own situation. Obviously, I’m not college age, although I guess I could go back to college.
But I take a look at my insurance coverage at least once a year, once every two years. I would think that before, you know, you want to add little Johnny or little Jane, they’re not really little anymore, but grown Johnny and grown Jane to your policy, you maybe want to look at your carrier and take a look at what some of the thresholds for coverage are because you may need more or less depending on where you’re going to be keeping that car.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
You know, certainly. And a lot of times, again, most of the students that are going off to college are about 18, 19 years old, so they may already be on that policy. That’s why it’s really important, especially if they’re going to take the vehicle with them, or even if they’re not gonna take the vehicle with them.
And that agent can also look at some discounts that you may be missing, like a good student discount or a student away at school discount.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So let’s talk about the discount. Do you have to keep a certain threshold, a good student? Does it mean that, you know, you’re on the Dean’s list or could I get by with like a B, C grade?
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
Again, that’s something best talked about with the agent on, you know, what that good student discount looks like. So again, it, cause it could vary, you know, from carrier to carrier, but again, the agent can tell you what those specifications are.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
You know, one of the big trends is drive and save. It’s called different things from different brands are, you know, just based anecdotally, I’m not asking for statistics. Are you seeing more drivers, especially those with college age kids, work on that model in an effort to bring down insurance costs?
My understanding is insurance costs have kind of really gone up post pandemic and people are looking for ways to save in addition to those discounts.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
Again, that’s why it’s really important for consumers to get with their agent, do a full review of your household and your policy to number one, make sure you’re taking advantage of the various discounts that you can get. And again, when a student, again, when major changes happen in your life and your household, that’s the time to talk to the agent and students going off to college, that’s one of those major changes.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
What happens, let me ask you a couple of maybe what I think are common questions. What if the car, and I actually had this happen to me at Hofstra University when I was a kid, I grew up in Baltimore, my folks were there, my car actually broke down. What do I do if my car breaks down like it did when I was a kid back in my 20s or late teens?
What can you do? How can you protect yourself?
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
So a AAA membership follows the member, allowing students to request roadside assistance, whether they’re driving their own vehicle, borrowing a vehicle or riding with friends. So members can also access discounts that can help offset everyday expenses while your students are at school. So having that AAA membership is really important and it can help your students even when they’re away from you at school.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Darn, should I ask my parents? I don’t know if they had that 30 years ago. Maybe they did, they probably did.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
They did.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
They may have.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
I can speak from experience because 30 years ago I was in college and my family had AAA. I actually had a breakdown on I-75 and I was able to call AAA and at least get to a safe place until my parents could come down and we could figure out what was going on with the vehicle.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, mom, dad, I should have asked you because I know my mom still has AAA coverage. All right, enough about me. Let’s talk about, this is not necessarily tied to car insurance, but about renter’s insurance.
So you get a lot of kids, the dorms now don’t look like when we went to school, Adrienne. I mean, these dorms are like, have ethernet, they got wifi, everything, you name it. They got TVs built in.
Should you have renter’s insurance in addition to your car insurance as part of that umbrella when your kid’s going off to college?
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
So, kids have things like laptops, tablets, gaming system, and other valuable items are common targets for theft. AAA recommends creating a digital inventory of belongings, including photos and receipts when possible. And students should also avoid displaying valuables on social media and make sure dorm rooms and apartments remain locked and secure.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And also probably, Adrienne, don’t leave the valuables on the car seat. That is just, you’re just asking for a thief, someone to come in and break in, break your window, create a whole bunch of problems.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
Yeah, and while many homeowners, let me start that over. While many homeowners assume that their coverage extends to their students while they’re away, some coverage may extend to students living on campus. Off-premises limits can lower that, can be lower than expected.
So, a renter’s insurance policy may provide broader protection for students living off campus.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And my understanding is the universities, hey, look, they’ll teach your kid, they’ll provide food for your kid as long as you have a food plan, they’ll provide dorm, but they really don’t take any liability on to themselves. You bring your car, you bring your possessions, that’s for you to deal with. That is my understanding.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
And again, that’s why it’s really important to sit down with your agent to know what is and what isn’t covered so that you have that proper coverage while your students are away. Like you said, students now have very valuable items that they’re taking with them to college and that’s important in part of studying, especially things like laptops. Those students need those to do that coursework on.
So it’s really important that they’re protected.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, this next question is from out of the blue, but financial literacy has been a very important topic. The concepts that we’re talking about, though you and I are both a little bit more mature than younger folks, do you think this is something that they could or should teach not only in college, but I’m thinking like when you get that license, they should not only teach you how to drive the car, take the test, look at the road signs, but maybe figure out how to pay car insurance, how to find the best gas prices, how to travel at the best rate for the lowest expense.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
Yeah, again, financial literacy is definitely something that’s really important. Our AAA, our Auto Club Group Foundation actually provides grants in our 14 state footprint for financial literacy classes and courses in education. So it’s definitely something that is important.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, before you go, let me just ask you, you have a great service called Triptik, I think it’s called. My mom actually, when she would drive, she would use it. Are you seeing a lot of people still planning, here we are at the end of the summer, are people still planning to take trips?
Are they going out to see grandma, grandpa, maybe go to the lake, whatever kids, people do these days?
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
So travel is definitely still important. AAA, we do travel forecasts, especially for the major holidays. So for the summer holidays, like Memorial Day and 4th of July, we did still see an increase in travel numbers this year compared to last year.
While that increase is slowing, it’s still really important for people to take their travel and take their trips. And it’s really important for families. So we’re still seeing people take their vacations for the summer.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, certainly. I mean, you gotta relax a little bit, especially if you’re going into a new semester in school, you wanna be properly prepared, mentally at least, to get in there. Adrienne, thanks so much for joining us.
Really appreciate yours and AAA’s insight. And look, we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon.
Adrienne K. Woodland of AAA – The Auto Club Group
Thank you for having me on the program.
