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 released a bit more of an outline concerning his plan for federal terrorism reinsurance.
Mr. Schumer first referred to his proposal for federal reinsurance legislation in a talk at the joint legislative conference of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, the Reinsurance Association of America and the American Insurance Association, all of Washington.
The Senator in his initial description said only that it would be a simple bill under which the federal government would step in to pay losses if private insurance is not available.
According to a brief description released by his office yesterday, the proposal would establish a three-year program to compensate those who suffer a loss caused by terrorism up to an aggregate cap of $100 billion.
In order to qualify for compensation, both the claimant and the appropriate state insurance commissioner would have to certify that the claimant was unable to obtain "reasonably priced" insurance for terrorism losses.
The description did not say how the Treasury Secretary, who would administer the program, would determine whether insurance was "reasonably priced."
Sen. Schumer in his appearance at the conference said that his legislation did not include provisions for tort reform, which was one of the items that bogged down and ultimately sank a reinsurance measure in the Senate last year.
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