WTC Jury Finds Attacks Are Two Events
NU Online News Service, Dec. 7, 10:00 a.m. EST?A Manhattan federal jury, after eleven days of deliberations, has ruled in favor of World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein, deciding that the hijacked planes that destroyed the Twin Towers count as two separate attacks for insurance purposes.[@@]
Nine insurers in the trial were contending the Sept. 11, 2001 attack was one compensable event. They were: Allianz, Industrial Risk Insurers, Travelers, Royal Specialty, Gulf, Zurich American, TIG, Twin City, Tokio Fire and Marine. Altogether, they represented $1.132 billion of the $3.55 billion of overall Twin Towers property coverage.
The verdict means Mr. Silverstein may be able to collect double the per-occurrence coverage amount from the nine insurers. Still ahead is an appraisal proceeding which will determine exactly how much they owe?the exact, fixed-dollar amount that the nine insurers would pay out to Mr. Silverstein?with the maximum being double their per-event limit. Altogether, Silverstein now stands to receive up to $4.6 billion for the Sept. 11 Twin Towers attacks.
"You sat through one of the longest and most complicated cases ever tried in this courthouse," U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mukasey told the jurors. "You deliberated in the most diligent, careful way."
Mr. Silverstein said after the verdict was announced: "I am thrilled with today's victory. But this is a win for all New Yorkers. Today's decision means an additional billion dollars of insurance proceeds will be available, which, together with Liberty Bonds, will ensure a timely and complete rebuild of the World Trade Center.
"I strongly felt, and the jury agreed, that the destruction of the Twin Towers by two separate airplanes at two separate times was two separate occurrences and that these insurers have an obligation to pay their fair share to help make Lower Manhattan whole again."
The proceedings were the second trial matching Mr. Silverstein against a group of his insurers. The crux of the issue has remained the same throughout both trials: whether the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers should be interpreted as one or two separate insured events.
In the trial that concluded in May, the verdict was largely in favor of the carriers. Of the 13 insurers that were involved, 10?including Swiss Re, with the largest stake at $877.5 million?received favorable verdicts.
The jury found those carriers were bound by the Willis Property ("WilProp") form, which specifically defines an event like Sept. 11 to be only one insurable occurrence, and thus limits insurers to only one payout.
In the first trial about 68 percent of the $3.55 billion of the WTC property coverage had been adjudicated as a single occurrence.
Of the nine insurers represented in the latest trial, three?Royal Specialty, Zurich American and Twin City?were involved because they lost in the first round of proceedings in May, as jurors found these carriers were not bound by WilProp.
During the second trial, WilProp was not the main point of dispute. Instead, jurors were asked to examine whether the Sept. 11 attack on the WTC towers should be seen as one or two events in light of each separate form used by the individual insurers represented.
WTC Phase-Two exposures, per-occurrence, for the nine insurers represented are:
? Allianz: $432.6 million
? Industrial Risk Insurers: $237.2 million
? Travelers: $210.6 million
? Royal Specialty: $127.8 million
? Gulf: $65.0 million
? Zurich American: $45.7 million
? TIG: $9.1 million
? Twin City: $2.5 million
? Tokio Fire and Marine: $1.6 million
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.