Hiscox Boosts Terrorism Risk Coverage Capacity

Specialist insurer Hiscox will drastically boost its capacity to handle U.S. domiciled terrorism risk coverage, even as Congress continues to debate renewing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

Bermuda-based Hiscox said its U.S. terrorism insurance capacity is now at the $200 million mark, in order to address what it sees as “the increased demand for standalone terrorism coverage due to the upcoming expiration of the TRIA law on Dec. 31.

According to a Marsh report published earlier this month, the previous capacity limit for Hiscox USA was $125 million (Source: “2014 Terrorism Risk Insurance Report, April 2014, page 9).

Earlier in April, a bipartisan group of Senators unveiled a bill that would, in part, renew TRIA (in what is known formally as the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, or TRIPRA), but it is also contending with at least three House bills that would extend the U.S. terrorism insurance backstop. With that expiration looming, Hiscox said it is trying to give the market more certainty.

“The upcoming expiration of TRIPRA is driving increased demand for the certainty Hiscox’s standalone terrorism coverage provides organizations of all types,” Jennifer Rubin, vice president-head of terrorism for Hiscox USA said in a statement.

Hiscox noted that its policy doesn’t require government certification of a terrorist attack and has no minimum loss requirements, and that its capacity stands independent of the TRIPRA effort, which requires official government certification that an event was a terrorist act.

Hiscox, which maintains a terrorism insurance underwriting presence in the U.S. in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, said that clients can add nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological coverage to the policy. But there are limits of up to $25 million.