WTC: One Event Or Two?

Akos Swierkiewicz, CPCU
President
IRCOS
Morrisville, Pa.

To The Editor:

Thank you to David Thamann for posing this question to his insurance industry readers, and for an educated response. We are privileged to relate our professional opinions, where reasonable minds can differ.

The insurance policy language will or should decide the issue. Shame on the underwriter if the language isn't established in place prior to the loss, and isn't clear and concise. The property should have been defined as one or two sites in the policy prior to the loss (one risk or two, separately insured). I don't know the answer, since I haven't read the policy.

The definition of occurrence (if found in the applicable policy) should prevail, if it reads "continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general conditions"--this is considered as arising out of one occurrence. The concerted terrorist plot, conceived to bring down the towers on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, in my opinion, certainly meets this definition.

Wes Anderson, CPCU, AIC
Corporate Claims Manager
Agway Inc.
Syracuse, N.Y.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, November 4, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.