More Schumer Reinsurance Bill Detail

By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor

NU Online News Service, March 14, 10:32 a.m. EST,Washington?Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y, yesterday releaseda bit more of an outline concerning his plan for federal terrorismreinsurance.

Mr. Schumer first referred to his proposal for federalreinsurance legislation in a talk at the joint legislativeconference of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, theReinsurance Association of America and the American InsuranceAssociation, all of Washington.

The Senator in his initial description said only that it wouldbe a simple bill under which the federal government would step into pay losses if private insurance is not available.

According to a brief description released by his officeyesterday, the proposal would establish a three-year program tocompensate those who suffer a loss caused by terrorism up to anaggregate cap of $100 billion.

In order to qualify for compensation, both the claimant and theappropriate state insurance commissioner would have to certify thatthe claimant was unable to obtain "reasonably priced" insurance forterrorism losses.

The description did not say how the Treasury Secretary, whowould administer the program, would determine whether insurance was"reasonably priced."

Sen. Schumer in his appearance at the conference said that hislegislation did not include provisions for tort reform, which wasone of the items that bogged down and ultimately sank a reinsurancemeasure in the Senate last year.