New insurance options available for study abroad
Becca Watts
/Reporter
Beginning this year, Elon students have the opportunity to
insure their study abroad experiences through
iTravelInsured®. The insurance covers trip cancellation,
interruption and delay for reasons such as a terrorist
incident, a natural disaster, medical quarantine and
emergency illness, injury or death of the traveler, or that
of a family member.
iTravelInsured also provides compensation to lost, damaged
or stolen luggage and emergency medical and dental expenses,
as well as other benefits.
“We live in a really uncertain world,” said
Larry Basirico, dean of International Programs. “You
just don’t know if there will be an outbreak of
pandemic flu or a terrorist attack. Students need to be very
clear that this insurance is not for deciding they no longer
want to go. It’s only emergency
situations.”
The study abroad office makes non-refundable payments to
vendors up to a year in advance. Because Elon could lose
money if students withdraw from a program, the office used to
force students to be liable for the entire cost of winter
term study abroad programs after Sept. 15.
Now, the 2007 Winter Term insurance policy will cost $125,
and students would be able to recoup most of the
program’s cost if something were to happen.
“September is a long time from January, and anything
could happen between now and then,” said sophomore Sara
Portoghese, who will be traveling to London this Winter
Term.
Students going abroad this Winter Term will automatically be
enrolled in the iTravelInsured program and charged the fee,
unless they sign and return an Insurance Waiver Form to the
Isabella Cannon Center for International Studies for a
receipt no later than Sept. 15. Basirico said more students
are likely to obtain the insurance this way. “This is a
statement on our part that this is important enough to get
it,” he said.
The insurance program will be available to semester study
abroad programs, but will cost $295 and students will only be
able to recoup about half of the trip’s total cost in
case of an emergency.
Basirico said they opted for a policy that is more
affordable to students, as opposed to a new policy that
covered an entire semester’s
cost.
The study abroad office staff members will consider billing
the insurance directly into the Winter Term and semester
program costs next year, according to Basirico.
The study abroad office decided to offer insurance to
students after Elon’s senior staff asked every office
on campus to have a pandemic flu plan.
“I started thinking, what if there was an outbreak of
pandemic flu and winter term programs had to be
canceled,” Basirico said. “What if there was an
outbreak on Elon’s campus and students couldn’t
go?”
Basirico and his team began working on the plan early this
summer. The August terrorist scare in London further
supported their decision.
“I went to Europe in the winter of 2005, and I’m
not sure if I would have gotten the insurance (if I had the
choice then),” junior Jacqueline Del Giorno said.
“But now that international terrorism is becoming more
prevalent, I think I would take the trip insurance more
seriously. I think that spending $125 is a good choice to
make in order to ensure that all of your bases are
covered.”
Basirico said that although students are encouraged to use
this new insurance policy, they have a right to decline it.
“But if I could have peace of mind for $125, I would
take the peace of mind,” he said.
For more information on the insurance, contact
iTravelInsured at (866) 347-6673 or (317) 655-4505 or the
Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies.
Contact Becca Watts at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247. | 
