Property and casualty insurance associations have commented onthe recent passage of House Bill HR 2761, an extension of theTerrorism Risk Insurance Act, called the Terrorism Risk InsuranceRevision and Extension Act of 2007.

“We believe the House made several improvements to the existingprogram that will increase the availability and affordability ofterrorism insurance,” said Ben McKay, senior vice president,federal government relations for the Property Casualty InsurersAssociation of America in a release. “We also think as thelegislation moves through the U.S. Senate further revisions shouldbe made to make certain that the very foundation of the program isnot undermined. In particular, expanding the TRIA program torequire insurers to 'make available' coverage against attacksinvolving nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weaponsof mass destruction is unwise in our opinion.”

NAMIC maintains that while the legislation is a step in theright direction, but they do not agree with all parts of themeasure.

“We commend members of the House for advancing this criticalpiece of legislation,” said Marliss Browder, NAMIC's senior federalaffairs director in a release. “While we wholeheartedly endorsemany of the provisions in the bill, we remain concerned that theinclusion of a mandate for insurers to offer coverage fornon-conventional weapons could jeopardize the ability of small andmedium-sized insurers to offer terrorism coverage – to the ultimatedetriment of policyholders.”

Some feel that the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act needed to beextended in order to take the pressure off of the private insurancemarket in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack.

American Insurance Association President Marc Racicot commentedon the U.S. House vote saying in a release, “A continued, vibrantfederal terrorism risk insurance program remains critical to thenational security and economic well-being of our nation for theforeseeable future. More than simply extending the existingprogram, this legislation takes on the unique challenge ofproviding some measure of insuring against nuclear, biological,chemical, or radiological terrorist threats.”

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