The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (called TRIA) was enacted by Congress in November of 2002. TRIA ensures that a business can recover from losses and rebuild if necessary if they are victim of a terror attack. The insurance companies work in a partnership with the government to insure the coverages.
A regular business insurance policy does not cover any losses due to acts of terrorism. This insurance is sold separately and is added to your current policy. These types of additions are often known as a “rider”.
For a claim to be covered under the Terrorism insurance policy, the U.S. Department of Treasury must officially certify the event as a domestic or foreign act of terrorism. The event must be driven by someone or group of people to coerce the government or a U.S. Civilian:
“No act shall be certified by the Secretary as an act of terrorism if property and casualty losses, in the aggregate, do not exceed $5 million. The act must also cause at least $100 million in damage to be considered a terrorist attack.“
Damaged property such as buildings, inventory and equipment are covered by these terrorism insurance policies. In addition, you may be able to recover your loss of business caused by the event.
Although cyber attacks are become ever more prevalent in today’s world, generally a terrorism policy will not cover any losses causes by one. However, such an event could cause damage such as equipment failure or a fire which may result in losses or employee injuries. If you are interested in this type of coverage, you should consider looking into adding cyber liability insurance to your current policy.
If you have questions about whether or not you should look into terrorism insurance please call us at: 651-739-9684.