Chartis-owned company, Lexington Insurance Co., has released a new form of coverage geared toward colleges and universities, to help them to protect themselves against the tuition losses that they face from international students who are enrolled, but who withdraw as a result of a catastrophic event at home.
Lexington’s senior vice president and executive from their property division, Erik Nikodem, explained that data from the Institute of International Education says that there were over 700,000 international students enrolled in universities and colleges in the United States during the academic year from 2010 to 2011.
Nikodem explained that these international students are generally paying a tuition rate at a premium and are receiving either no funding from the university or college, or very little. Should a catastrophic event occur in their home country, requiring the student to withdraw from their enrollment, then this can lead to a significant financial impact on that school.
The new Lexington Insurance product is called HELP – International Catastrophe, and it is the initial element of coverage from the insurer’s suite for Higher Education Loss Protection. It can be endorsed to the property insurance policy from Lexington and it becomes effective when a catastrophic event – such as an earthquake or flood in a foreign country – occurs, instead of being triggered only when a physical damage or loss occurs directly to the university or college’s property.
Lexington Insurance, which has American International Group Inc. as a parent company, says that this new product for these higher education institutions offers vital protection for the higher financial risk that they face when they enroll students from other countries, especially when those students come from areas of the world that are more prone to catastrophe.
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