The Worst Possible College Roommate

Unfortunately even the best insurance company cannot insure you against getting the worst possible college roommate. Personally, my idea of the worst possible college roommate would be one that’s untidy and has poor personal hygiene… However, concerns about your college roommate’s cleanliness seem trivial and unimportant after reading about the problems some students have with their roommates.

Stolen… from your college dorm room?

If things go missing from your dorm room and you’re 100 percent sure you aren’t just forgetting where they are, don’t jump to the conclusion that your roommate’s a thief. It could be that your roommate has genuinely mistaken your possessions for theirs, or that they borrowed them without asking you.

If your roommate has mistaken your property for his or hers, an apology should suffice. If they’ve borrowed things without asking, presuming they’re prepared to apologize and accept they were in the wrong, they accept your ground rules if they want to borrow anything in the future.

Unfortunately, if your college roommate really does steal something from you, you must report it to the police and, if you’re living on campus, the college authorities, too. To protect yourself from any financial loss, such as having to replace the stolen goods, you should invest in renters insurance before going to college or university.

The Bogus college roommate.

It’s common knowledge that some thieves will try and access your dorm in order to steal things by posing as a student. Don’t leave doors unlocked or propped open. I know from experience that some thieves, upon learning that a dorm room is vacant, will even pose as a potential room-mate to gain access.

Just to forewarn you, the actual story ran like this... A week into a new academic year, one of the double rooms in a university dorm only had one occupant. Somehow a bogus student heard about this and knocked on  the student’s door, complete with what appeared to be a fully loaded backpack. Fortunately the student that answered the door was suspicious, and refused to let the bogus student in.

Instead, the studentimmediately alerted the police who, upon apprehending the bogus student, found the backpack contained only cardboard to give the impression of being full. The authorities had been searching for this character for a couple of years, because he –had a history of stealing not just possessions, but also using stolen passports, social security cards and even credit cards to create stolen identities. Having a stolen identity can continue to create problems for many years, so follow the common precautions for guarding against identity theft at all times.

Your College roommate took your car?

Driving a vehicle without the owners consent is, of course, stealing - and against the law. Taking a college roommate’s car without consent, even if it’s returned to you promptly, has to be treated the same way. After all, they may have been driving it without insurance. In the event of an accident, this could create many problems for you, even if you didn’t mind too much about them taking it in the first place. Don’t tolerate this situation, and get law enforcement involved, if necessary.

Car thefts are another concern. With the price of precious metals on the global markets still high, thieves are stealing catalytic converter from automobiles because they contain copper.  This is a real risk for cars not parked overnight in garages. So, if you take your car to college or university, beware of any fellow students that may be seeking to supplement their college loans by taking and selling ‘cat’ converters. And make sure your auto insurance is up to date, too, so you are covered in the unfortunate event of an auto theft.

 

Everyone’s idea of the worst possible college roommate is different. The reality is that you’d just be incredibly unlucky to actually end up with a dishonest one, though. No one wants to deal with the consequences of having a dishonest college roommate, but by being adequately insured, you can at least avoid any financial loss if you were to be the victim of a crime by your college roommate.