Victory for the Industry

This past Fourth of July weekend, the insurance industry celebrated a small victory in their push to keep the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) alive past its Dec. 31, 2005 sunset date. Following the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s (NAIC) Summer National Meeting in June, the U.S. Treasury Department announced its decision to extend the “make available” provision of TRIA through 2005, which will require insurers to make terrorism coverage available.

Applauded by industry associations such as the NAIC, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), and the American Insurance Association (AIA), The Treasury Department’s decision allows the industry to focus on applying more pressure on Congress to extend the entire TRIA program until 2007.

Across the nation, talk of a TRIA extension has been the hot topic for the industry. No summer conference would be complete without the keynote speakers touching upon the issue.

“We simply don’t believe that the marketplace is currently prepared to take on the entire risk of providing coverage for major acts of terrorism. A short-term, two-year extension of the TRIA program should give the industry the appropriate financial back up it needs in order to avoid negative economic consequences and instability,” said Ernst Csiszar, NAIC president and director of insurance in South Carolina, in a press release.

For now, associations are working together in support of the bill introduced by four members of the House of Representatives to extend TRIA for two more years. There’s no doubt that the industry will be watching closely to see what happens next.

In other news, we are proud to announce that Mark Wells, the editor and publisher of Insurance Journal and InsuranceJournal.com and CEO of Wells Publishing Inc., was recently awarded the Insurance Marketing Communications Association’s (IMCA) 2004 Golden Torch Award. Wells was honored with the award for his work in the insurance industry over the years, earmarking his achievements with Insurance Journal and InsuranceJournal.com, as well as his charitable efforts on behalf of the insurance industry.

In addition, we are also proud to announce that InsuranceJournal.com was awarded the 2004 Best of Show Award for Insurance Websites at the IMCA. We work hard to make Insurance Journal and InsuranceJournal.com the most valuable provider of insurance news and information for you. And on that note, please remember that we always welcome your feedback to improve both our print editions and our Web site. So if there’s something you’d like to see, please e-mail me at cbeisiegel@insurancejournal.com.

I hope you had a safe and happy Independence Day weekend.

Topics Market