December 27, 2007: President Bush Signs TRIA Extension
CIAT is pleased that President George W. Bush signed H.R. 2761. The legislation extends the federal government's
terrorism risk insurance backstop for seven years beyond the expiration of the existing terrorism risk
insurance law at year-end
Read the CIAT statement.
Compare the new legislation with the original TRIA and 2005 extension.
December 18, 2007: CIAT Statement on House Passage of Terrorism Insurance Extension
CIAT commended House members today for their leadership in passing H.R. 2761. The legislation would extend the federal government’s terrorism risk insurance backstop for seven years beyond the termination of the existing terrorism risk insurance law at year-end.
Read the CIAT statement.
November 16, 2007: CIAT Statement on Senate Passage of Terrorism Insurance Extension
CIAT expressed its support for the Senate's passage of a bill that would extend the federal backstop for terrorism risk insurance.
Read the CIAT statement.
October 16, 2007: CIAT Commends Senate Banking Committee Action
CIAT commends the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs for its bipartisan
passage of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (TRIPRA).
Read news release.
October 10, 2007: RAND Study Finds TRIA Benefits Taxpayers
A study by the RAND Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy shows taxpayers save money and businesses are better protected with a federal terrorism risk insurance backstop in place.
Read news release.
Read the study.
October 9, 2007: Fitch Ratings Cites Need For TRIA Extension
Fitch Ratings released a statement supporting the need for an extension to the federal terrorism risk insurance backstop. Fitch cited the direct and immediate effect the expiration of TRIA would have on the CMBS industry.
Read Fitch's report.
Read CIAT's response.
September 19, 2007: CIAT Applauds House Passage Of TRIREA
CIAT commends today’s House action in passing H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act (TRIREA) of 2007. H.R. 2761 would extend and improve the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act (TRIEA).
Read the news release.
September 7, 2007: CIAT Urges House Support
CIAT sent the following letter to all members of the House yesterday urging their support for H.R.2761.
August 1, 2007: CIAT Applauds House Financial Services Committee For Passage Of TRIREA
CIAT said it strongly supports the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act (TRIREA), H.R. 2761, as it was marked up by the House Committee on Financial Services, and urges passage of the legislation when it comes before the full House membership.
Read the news release.
August 1, 2007: House Financial Services Committee Passes TRIREA
The House Committee on Financial Services passed H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 (TRIREA). The legislation next will be taken up by the full House membership.
Read the news release.
July 30, 2007: CIAT Letter to House Financial Services Committee Endorses H.R. 2761
In a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, CIAT voiced its strong support for H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act (TRIREA). The Committee is scheduled to mark-up the legislation on July 31.
Read the letter.
July 26, 2007: House Subcommittee Passes TRIREA
On July 24, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises passed H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007. The legislation is scheduled to be marked up in the full House Financial Services Committee on July 31.
Read the news release.
July 23, 2007: CIAT Sends Letter in Anticipation of Mark-Up
In anticipation of the July 24 House Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored
Enterprise mark-up of HR2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act (TRIREA), CIAT has sent the attached letter outlining its position.
Read the letter.
June 21, 2007: CIAT's Christopher J. Nassetta Testifes Before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
In testimony before the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises of the House Committee on Financial Services today, Host Hotels & Resorts President and CEO Christopher J. Nassetta, representing the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT), said that the broad-based coalition of commercial insurance policyholder groups supports the recently introduced Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act, TRIREA (H.R. 2761), which would extend the federal government backstop for terrorism risk insurance for an additional 10 years. Nassetta thanked the Subcommittee for developing a “long-term solution that focuses the government role on what the private markets have been unwilling or unable to do: enabling policyholders to purchase insurance for the most catastrophic conventional terrorism risks; addressing NBCR (nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological) risks; and enhancing market capacity.”
Read Nassetta's testimony.
Read CIAT's Press Release.
June 18, 2007: Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Introduced in House
Rep. Mike Capuano and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank introduced the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 (TRIREA). The bill, H.R. 2761, would extend the federal backstop for terrorism risk insurance for 10 years.
Read an outline of H.R. 2761.
April 24, 2007: CIAT’s Joseph P. Ditchman, Jr. Testifies Before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
On behalf of CIAT, Joseph Ditchman, senior vice president of the commercial real estate brokerage Colliers Ostendorf-Morris, testified today representing the National Association of Realtors before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises. Ditchman said the greatest terrorism risks are “virtually uninsurable without some sort of Federal program in place.”
Read Ditchman's testimony.
April 23, 2007: CIAT AND AIA Announce Joint Principles
For TRIEA Modernization
CIAT and AIA announced a set of common principles that the two organizations believe Congress must consider as it prepares to take up legislation that would renew the federal backstop for terrorism risk insurance.
Read the news release.
Read the principles.
March 5, 2007: CIAT’s Stephen L. Green Testifies Before the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance,
and Government Sponsored Enterprises
On behalf of the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT), SL Green Realty Corporation Chairman Stephen L. Green testified today before the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises of the House Committe on Financial Services in new York City. Green's testimony emphasized the critical importance of developing a long-term solution for ensuring against terror.
Read Green's testimony.
February 28, 2007: CIAT’s Arthur M. Coppola Testifies Before Senate Banking Committee, Outlines Principles for Modernizing TRIA
On behalf of the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT), The Macerich Company President and Chief Executive Officer Arthur M. Coppola testified today before the Senate Committee on banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Coppola’s testimony hammered home three critical points regarding CIAT’s position. CIAT believes the Federal role should focus most heavily on what the private markets have been unwilling or unable to do: enabling policyholders to purchase insurance for the most catastrophic conventional terrorism risks; ensuring adequate capacity in high risk, urban areas; and providing meaningful insurance for nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (NBCR) risks.
Read the media advisory and testimony.
View the Senate Banking Committee hearing on "Examining the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program.
October 4, 2006: RIMS' Terry Fleming Discusses Dangers of Removing Federal Terrorism Insurance Backstop
Terry Fleming, Director of Risk Management for Montgomery County Maryland as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), sat down with the hosts of The REIT Report podcast to discuss the current state of terrorism risk insurance in the United States. This issue continues to remain important to both the public and private sectors with present legislation set to expire at the end of 2007.
Listen to the REIT Report.
October 3, 2006: CIAT Notes PWG Report Finds Continued Modeling Challenges For Terrorism Insurance Risk
The President's Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) released released its analysis of the long-term availability and affordability of insurance for terrorism risk, as mandated by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005 (TRIEA). The Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT) agreed with the report's assessment that: "The greater uncertainty associated with predicting the frequency of terrorist attacks along with what appears to be a general unwillingness of some insurance policyholders to purchase terrorism risk insurance coverage makes any evaluation of the potential degree of long-term development of the terrorism risk insurance market somewhat difficult.”
Read CIAT's response.
Read the PWG Report.
September 27, 2006: CIAT’s Christopher Nassetta Testifies Before Joint Hearing, Spells Out Absence of Private Reinsurance Market and Need For Federal Long-Term Solution
On behalf of the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT), Host Hotels and Resorts, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Christopher Nassetta testified today before a joint hearing of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Financial Services. Nassetta’s testimony hammered home three critical points regarding CIAT’s position. First, the key market conditions that necessitated a federal reinsurance backstop in the wake of 9/11 to ensure the availability and affordability of terrorism risk insurance have not changed. Second, as proven in 14 other industrial countries, there is a need for a long-term, public-private partnership with a role for the federal government to make terrorism risk insurance available. There will be no effective market for this insurance without such a partnership. And third, CIAT stands ready to assist Congress in determining the most appropriate long-term solution.
Read the media advisory and testimony.
September 26, 2006: CIAT Supports GAO Findings, All Forms of Terrorism Insurance Would Fail Insurability Criteria
The Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT) agrees with the findings of the GAO report, particularly that for very practical reasons the private market is unable to provide coverage for nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological risks. However, while the GAO report focused only on NBCR risk, the plain and simple fact is that the same four criteria for insurability apply to all terrorism risk insurance assessment – no matter whether the attack comes as a cloud of Anthrax spores or a hurtling airliner carrying 10,000 gallons of aviation fuel. As a result, there will be no meaningful coverage for terrorism risk without federal involvement—and a comprehensive, long-term solution to this issue is essential.
Read the news release.
September 26, 2006: GAO Report Finds Private Market Unable To Insure NCBR Risks
A comprehensive report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released today underscored the necessity for creating a long-term federal terrorism risk insurance backstop and that all evidence suggests a private market solution, specifically for nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (NBCR) attacks, is not and will not be available. The GAO report stated that, “Given the challenges faced by insurers in providing coverage for, and pricing, NBCR risks, any purely market-driven expansion of coverage is highly unlikely in the foreseeable future.”
Read the GAO Report.
September 26, 2006: Policyholders, Insurers United On Need For
Long-Term Terrorism Risk Insurance Solution
Many Americans think of homeland security in terms of safeguards to protect our transportation systems, urban centers and ports from terrorist attacks. But, according to the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT), the U.S. economy, itself, is a terrorist target. At a CIAT media briefing today, representatives from CIAT, The Real Estate Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Risk and Insurance Management Society and American Insurance Association underscored that an effective homeland security program must include provisions to ensure the long-term availability of affordable terrorism risk insurance to safeguard the assets of the businesses that fuel the nation’s economy.
Read the news release.
Listen to the news briefing.
September 19, 2006: Long-term Solution for Terrorism Insurance Needed
A Best’s Review article cites a consensus within the insurance industry that a long-term solution is needed to replace TRIA, and that, without a federal reinsurance backstop, insurers will largely exclude this type of coverage from their policies.
Read the article.
September 8, 2006: Without TRIA, Terrorism Insurance Market is Virtually Nonexistent, Marsh Report Says
TRIA and TRIEA have enabled a viable terrorism risk insurance market, according to a Marsh, Inc. report. Insurance costs have decreased, and take-up rates among Marsh clients increased from 27% in 2003 to 60% in 2005. However, insurers’ responses to the expiration of TRIEA at year-end 2007 vary, with some refusing to provide any coverage. There is no market for terrorism risk insurance, absent the federal backstop, the report concludes.
Read the report.
June 30, 2006: House Members Call For Terrorism Insurance Report To Address Critical Issues
Seven U.S. House members sent a letter calling on the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) to address five specific concerns in its report to Congress on the long-term availability and affordability of terrorism risk insurance. The House members urged that the report, which is due Sept. 30, address “the lack of a vibrant terrorism reinsurance market, difficulty in calculating terrorism risk, impediments to a functioning private insurance market, efforts to increase take-up rates and reduce government exposure, and the specific challenges posed by nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (NBCR) attacks.” The letter also asked the PWG to answer several additional questions by Aug. 1.
Read the letter.
May 1, 2006: CIAT Urges Working Group To Further Analyze Long-Term Solutions
The President's Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) solicited public comments concerning the long-term availability and affordability of insurance for terrorism risk. CIAT submitted the policyholders'perspective on selected questions while also encouraging the PWG to follow-up this mass solicitation with a more detailed discussion with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, representatives of the insurance and securities industries, and representatives of policyholders, as spelled out in its mandate by Congress.
Read CIAT's comments.
January 4, 2006: Treasury Department Offers Interim Guidance Concerning Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act
The Treasury Department has issued interim guidance on the implementation of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005. Of particular interest to policyholders, insurers have until Jan. 31 to offer terrorism insurance to those policyholders whose coverage was scheduled to lapse with the Dec. 31, 2005 expiration of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.
Read the interim guidance.
December 22, 2005: Terror Insurance Backstop Extension Signed Into Law
President Bush has signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005. CIAT spokesperson Marty DePoy called the two-year extension "welcomed and necessary."
Read CIAT's statement.
December 19, 2005: Congress Extends Terrorism Insurance Law
Congress agreed to send President Bush a two-year extension of a post-9/11 law providing federal insurance backup for catastrophic losses suffered in a terrorist attack. The House passed the bill Saturday by voice vote. The Senate passed it Friday, also by voice vote.
Read the story.
View a side-by-side comparison of provisions of the recently passed Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005 with
current law.
December 15, 2005: CIAT asks lawmakers to "make backstop's extension a priority"
In letters to House and Senate leaders, the multi-industry Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism has asked that they "make the backstop's extension a priority - and a reality."
"To end the session without action on this necessary program will deal a cruel blow to the nation's economy," yesterday's letters stated.
Read the House letter.
Read the Senate letter.
December 13, 2005: Compromise Sought on Terror Insurance
The Associated Press reports that Congress has a few days left to decide the future of the federal terrorism insurance backstop. "Given the overwhelming support both in the House and Senate, we remain optimistic," CIAT's Marty DePoy told the AP's Jim Abrams.
Read the story.
December 7, 2005: Full House Approves Backstop Extension
The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved legislation that would extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for two years. The vote was 371 to 49.
Read CIAT's letter to House members.
Read the Associated Press account of the vote.
December 5, 2005: Actuaries Warn That Major Attack Could Overwhelm Insurers
Estimating that terrorists could cause insured losses of up to $700 billion, depending on weapon type and location, the American Academy of Actuaries believes permanent federal legislation is necessary to make terror coverage widely and readily available.
Read the press release.
View the analysis.
November 28, 2005: CIAT Rebuts Wall Street Journal
In a letter to the editor, CIAT has described a recent editorial in The Wall Street Journal as "at odds with the facts."
Read the letter.
November 18, 2005: Senate Approves Terror Backstop Extension
The U.S. Senate has approved legislation calling for a two-year extension of the federal terrorism insurance backstop.
Read the Associated Press account.
November 16, 2005: CIAT Pleased By House And Senate Action
Business insurance consumers have expressed their support for legislation calling for extension of the nation's terrorism insurance backstop that was marked up by the House Committee on Financial Services and Senate Banking Committee.
Read the House letter.
Read the summary of House legislation.
Read the Senate letter.
Read the summary of Senate legislation.
Read a comparison of House and Senate legislation.
November 18, 2005: The Economist favors backstop's extension
The Economist reports that the U.S. government still has a role to play in insuring against a big terrorist attack ("Horrible business - Terror insurance," Nov. 19). The influential magazine has concluded that in the current environment, "the same government that regularly warns of terrorist threats must still have a role to play in a solution that safeguards America's financial security. It would be better to plan ahead than wait for a rushed, Katrina-style bail-out after a big attack. Amid all the uncertainties, one thing seems clear: any such bail-out would be more costly and lead to even greater market distortions without an extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act today."
November 9, 2005: Governors Urge Quick Action on Terror Backstop
More than half of the nation’s governors have signed a letter to congressional leaders urging them “to act quickly and ensure that our businesses can continue to be protected against the threat of terrorist attacks.”
Read the letter.
November 9, 2005: Ad campaign urges Congress to keep terror insurance backstop in place
CIAT is among several groups participating in an advertising campaign with a goal of reminding Congress that America’s economic security is at stake as we near the expiration of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.
View the ad.
October 27, 2005: State Legislatures Urge Backstop's Extension
The National Conference of State Legislatures has urged congressional leaders to pass "a clean, short-term extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act before it sunsets."
Read the letter.
October 27, 2005: CIAT Asks Oxley To Move Backstop Legislation
In a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley (R-OH), CIAT has asked him to do all he can to have the committee quickly report legislation “encompassing a workable and comprehensive terrorism risk insurance program for a reasonable period beyond 2005.”
Read the letter.
October 26, 2005: RAND finds little terror backstop cost to taxpayers
A new study by the RAND Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy offers the first comprehensive estimate of how losses from large terrorist attacks would be distributed among various stakeholders under TRIA. The authors found that the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act is effective at sharing financial risk and concluded that, “Overall, the role of taxpayers is expected to be minimal in all but very rare cases..."
Learn more about the study.
October 24, 2005: Oxley "Totally Committed" To TRIA Reauthorization
Insurance Journal reports that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley told a meeting of insurers key members of the House are "totally committed" to the federal terrorism insurance backstop's reauthorization.
Read the story.
October 16, 2005: Expiring backstop threatens to leave businesses exposed
"The federal government's agreement to back companies that offer terrorism insurance expires at the end of the year, bringing the prospect of sky-high premiums and scarce coverage for local companies in 2006," according to a report in the Pittsburgh Business Times.
Read the story.
October 3, 2005: Terror Insurance Still At Risk, Hartford Courant Editorializes
"It would be unthinkable to leave the coverage of losses from terrorism to pure market forces," according to an October 3 editorial in the Hartford Courant.The newspaper concluded that "Hurricanes Katrina and Rita should have blown away doubts on whether the government must play an important role in establishing a safety net for the economy."
September 21, 2005: Capitol Hill Symposium To Examine TRIA's Future
The Cannon House Office Building's Caucus Room will be the site of a symposium on terror insurance on Friday, Oct. 7 from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon. Several top experts will present their independent analysis of TRIA and the long-term need for terrorism risk insurance at a time when Congress is debating the program's future details.
See symposium details.
August 1, 2005: Moody's says failure to extend terror backstop would
have "serious effects"
Tad Philipp, managing director for Commercial Mortgage Backed
Securities (CMBS) at Moody's Investors Service, says its is very clear
"that failure to extend TRIA in some form would have serious effects on
affordability and availability [of terrorism insurance coverage]."
Phillip's comments came in a Moody's report on CMBS.
July 27, 2005: CIAT Witness Outlines Policyholders' Principles During
House Subcommittee Hearing
Testifying on behalf of CIAT during a hearing of the House Financial
Service Committee's Subcommittee on Capital Markets on "The Future of
Terrorism Insurance" James E. Maurin, chairman of Louisiana-based
Stirling Properties, asked lawmakers to keep two principles in mind.
First, any terror insurance program should include a requirement for
insurers to "make available" insurance against the terrorism peril.
Second, the program needs to be comprehensive in nature (including
coverage for nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological attacks, as
well as domestic acts of terrorism.
Read the testimony.
July 14, 2005: Terror insurance backstop extension likely?
A temporary extension of a federal terror insurance backstop is
"looking more likely after a pair of congressional hearings," according
to a MarketWatch report.
Read the story.
July 7, 2005: The Washington Times calls for "more and better" terrorism
insurance
"Congress must focus on getting coverage for Americans and their
businesses against the prospect of the unthinkable, but all too
possible," according to an editorial in the The Washington Times.
Read the editorial.
June 30, 2005: Policyholders Reject Treasury Study as Flawed
CIAT today characterized the U.S. Department of Treasury's assessment
of the terror insurance marketplace as flawed, and called on Congress to
immediately schedule hearings on the issue.
Read the statement.
Read Treasury's report.
June 8, 2005:
CIAT Seeks President's Help In Extending TRIA
CIAT has urged President Bush to once again exert his leadership in
securing the nation's economy from terrorist threats by calling upon
Congress to quickly pass legislation that improves and extends the
Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.
Read the letter.
June,2005: Exclusions likely if TRIA expires, according to Moody's survey
A survey of commercial line insurers by Moody's Investors Service has found that in the absence of TRIA, "it is likely that widespread terrorism exclusions will again become the norm for commercial line policies" and that private reinsurers are unlikely to fill the reinsurance capacity void if the backstop expires.
Read the report.
May 26, 2005:
TRIA Must Be Extended, Writes CIAT's DePoy
In a guest article written for GlobeSt.com, CIAT Steering Committee Coordinator Marty DePoy has warned that, "TRIA's expiration will leave us exposed and unprotected*just as we were after Sept. 11. Who among us wants to go down that road again? TRIA has succeeded. It's still needed. It must be extended."
Read the column.
April 5, 2005:
CIAT Expresses Strong Support For Senate Legislation
In letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL),
CIAT has expressed its strong support for the Terrorism Risk Insurance
Extension Act of 2005 (S. 467).
Thanking Sen. Shelby for scheduling an April 14 hearing on the
Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, policyholders asked him to move quickly
in advancing S. 467. "It is essential that the entire Senate debate and
move toward final passage of this important legislaiton at the earliest
possible date," the coalition wrote.
Read his Letter
March 9, 2005:
CIAT Welcomes Introduction of Terror Backstop Measure In
House
Policyholders have reacted to the introduction of legislation in the
U.S. House of Representatives that would extend the terrorism risk
insurance program.
See the attachment for details
February 18, 2005:
Policyholders Commend Sponsors of Senate Bill to Extend Terror Insurance Backstop
Policyholders represented by CIAT welcomed word that the U.S. Senate
has taken the first step in the debate to ensure that this necessary
coverage will be available into next year.
See the attachment for details.
February 17, 2005:
Fed Chairman Questions Ability of Private Market Alone to Insure Against Terrorism
One day after CIA Director Porter Goss said terrorists are intent on
striking Americans and the homeland, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan told members of congress he has yet to be convinced the
private market alone can adequately insure against the continuing threat
of terrorism.
See the press release.
February 3, 2005:
S&P Says TRIA's Expiration Will Leave Policyholders Unprotected
A new report by Standard & Poor's (S&P) Ratings Services concludes that
without the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), "property/casualty
insurers will cease to offer this coverage or offer it only at extremely
high rates." TRIA is set to expire on December 31, "leaving insurers
and, ultimately, policyholders without protection in case of another
major terrorist attack," according to S&P. CIAT is urging Congress to
extend the federal terrorism insurance backstop through 2007.
January 11, 2005:
"New" CBO study misses the point on terrorism risk
CIAT believes a "new" paper by the Congressional Budget Office is
anything but. Its author raised the same issues in remarks delivered
nine months before enactment of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act!
See the press release.
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