A federal appeals court has upheld separate jury verdicts that took different views of whether the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center involved single or multiple insurance claims.
The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York affirmed jury verdicts reached in April and December of 2004 that declared the attacks were one and two events, respectively. The case pitted several insurers against developer Larry Silverstein.
The Appeals Court ruling did not have any problem with the fact that opposite interpretations were given to two different policies. "This all-or-nothing supposition is mistaken because it assumes that the congruent coverage was achieved during the binder period, and ignores overwhelming evidence that different insurers issued interim binders governed by different forms," the ruling stated. "These forms were designed with different interests in mind and, not surprisingly, yielded different results."
The court went on to stress that the differing rulings were not a manifestation of judicial error, "but rather a reflection of the fact that the parties were at various stages of negotiating coverage when the two hijacked airplanes destroyed the WTC."
Earlier in the week, St. Paul Travelers said it had agreed to honor Mr. Silverstein's claims for rebuilding the site after reviewing the implications of a transfer of ownership to the Port Authority of that portion of the complex ready for rebuilding. But not all the details of the payment have been worked out, the company said.
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