In the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse earlier this month, Loretta Worters of the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) spoke with Claims to give readers an idea of the insurance claim implications involved in such a catastrophic loss.

What kind of insurance losses might the industry see from this catastrophe?

I-35 is a federal highway and owned by the federal government. That means it enjoys sovereign immunity and consequently would not have been insured for property or liability purposes. The fact that the bridge was undergoing repairs (probably by private local contractors) means that trial lawyers will attempt to assert that the work was the cause or a contributory factor in the collapse. There also will be suits against state agencies charged with bridge inspections. Other things that will be examined could include whether there had ever been a collision by a ship at the base of the bridge (this has happened before), negligent past repairs, etc.