President Bush signed H.R. 2761 into law yesterday, extending TRIA by seven  years. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Reauthorization and Extension Act (TRIREA) expires on December 31, 2014. The House-Senate compromise covers domestic acts of terror and provides that the government will pay $100 billion of the aggregate losses for a conventional attack once insurers have paid out a 20 percent deductible.

TRIREA also mandates a year-long study of the need to cover nuclear, biologi

In a game of legislative chicken, the House passed a compromise bill yesterday to extend TRIA by seven years and to remove language  regarding coverage of nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological attacks. But the compromise bill still retains key differences from the Senate bill in terms of the amount of the trigger for the program, group life insurance coverage, and a reset provision.

The Senate has refused to negotiate with the House to change the Senate v

Business Insurance recently hosted a free webinar on protecting people in the age of terrorism. The panel of experts discussed business continuity and recovery plans, communication and chain of command, disaster drills and evacuation plans, partnering with local public agencies, and assessing risks and hazards pertinent to one's business, among other things. Interestingly, approximately 75% of the attendees at the webinar indicated that their companies had business continuity pl

The Congressional Quarterly Today reported this week that the Senate is nearing a resolution on "pay-as-you-go" budget issues that have hindered attempts in both chambers to extend TRIA. Essentially the Senate is proposing to accelerate the annual repayment plan whereby the insurance industry would repay the federal government for coverage, up to a certain level.

Assuming that the Senate's plan wins broad support, the Senate bill could be on the floor by

On November 2, 2007, Lloyd's 360 Live Debate in New York welcomed leaders and decision makers from the business, insurance, government and academic communities to debate the threat of terrorism and political violence to global business. Lloyd's, which insures 93% of the Dow Jones and 92% of FTSE100 companies, launched the 360 Risk Project series six months ago to better prepare businesses for changing terrorism and political violence risks, including home-grown terrorism, and to do more to ta

Unlike the House, the Senate has refused to include any provision for group life insurance in its TRIA extension bill. The Senate compromise covers only property and casualty. The life insurance industry, led by the American Council of Life Insurers, has intensified its lobbying efforts to get group life added to the bill. They argue that a federal backstop program is needed because the life insurance market can't adjust to cover terrorism events.

Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., was the

The Bush Administration and a Senate Panel have agreed to extend TRIA for seven years. A key element of the compromise was the removal of the requirement contained in the House version for covering nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological (NBCR) attacks.

The Senate version calls for studies on NBCR coverage and on a "reset" mechanism for deductibles in areas of "unique capacity constraints".

Both the Senate and House versions provide that the federa

Despite the threat of a White House veto, the House last week overwhelmingly approved the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007, which would extend coverage under TRIA for 15 years and expand its coverage to include domestic acts of terrorism among other things.

One of the most controversial aspects of the House bill is coverage for nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological events (NBCR). Some insurance groups say they don't know how to insure for NBCR ris