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Property

Overview

Property risks are insured under a variety of policies. Most catastrophic losses to property are covered in a special multi-peril policy. Employee theft and other crimes are covered under various policies. There are special policies covering AU's fine arts, valuable papers, and electronic data processing equipment.

Facilities Maintenance should be contacted for immediate attention to damaged or destroyed university property. Facilities Maintenance will then assess the extent and cause of the damage, and make any necessary repairs to the property. All incidents involving property losses must also be reported in a timely manner to University Police. After a preliminary investigation, an incident report is filed by University Police and a copy is forwarded to the Office of Risk Management. The overwhelming majority of incidences of damage will not meet the universities property insurance deductible, so Risk Management will determine the appropriate action to follow on a case-by-case basis.

Contact the Office of Risk Management directly for information on how to submit a claim.

  • As a general rule, personal property is the responsibility of the owner. The university will accept liability only when the property loss or damage results directly from the negligent acts of AU employees.
  • Property loss or damage claims must be submitted to Risk Management as soon as possible after the incident.
  • To file a property loss or damage claim, a brief statement must be provided describing the incident and specifying the items damaged and their values. An authorized university official must attest to this information and provide a brief explanation of the events leading to the incident.
  •  It is important to provide proof of purchase or appraisal values of the items in question, and to keep the damaged items until final resolution of the claim.
  • The claimant must provide full name, address, social security numbers, and other personal identification deemed necessary.  

The Office of Campus Life encourages students who reside on campus to participate in a personal property insurance plan administered by an outside agency, or to make sure their personal property is covered under their parents’ insurance policy. Applications for the personal property plan are mailed to the students at the beginning of the fall semester and are also available at the beginning of the spring semester.