New England Council Urges Passage of Terrorist Insurance Bill

June 14, 2002

The New England Council (NEC), urged the U.S. Senate to pass S.2600, legislation designed to implement a system of terrorist reinsurance coverage of losses from future attacks like those of Sept. 11.

The legislation is designed to protect the both the insurance industry and the banking, real estate, energy, construction and transportation industries from the significant losses they could sustain should another terrorist attack occur in the future, providing a federal backstop for losses in a future terrorist event.

The NEC, an alliance of businesses, institutions of higher education, non-profit and other agencies throughout New England dedicated to promoting economic development, stressed that the six state region was particularly affected by the terrorist attacks, and remains vulnerable to future events.

“As a result of the September 11 attacks, insured losses are expected to total more than $40 billion. A subsequent loss of this magnitude would be devastating for the industry and world financial markets,” stated NEC President and CEO James T. Brett. “Without reinsurance, primary insurers are unable to provide adequate coverage against terrorist attacks,” he added.

Brett stressed the importance of New England’s financial services and insurance companies in the world, reiterating the NEC’s “strong voice in favor of legislation that will address these critical issues.” After urging the Senate to “act positively on this legislation,” he added that a failure to pass it “would have a negative impact on this economic sector which employs more than 400,000 people in New England. The impact will also be felt by the real estate, energy, construction and transportation industries.”|”new, england, council, urges, passage, of, terrorist, insurance, bill

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Legislation

Was this article valuable?

Here are more articles you may enjoy.