9/11’s Costly Insurance Impact

According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), 9/11 was the largest claims payout in global insurance history. The terror attack produced insured losses of about $32.5 billion; the cost exceeded only by Hurricane Katrina.

9/11-related losses were paid out across several lines of insurance, including property, business interruption, aviation, workers compensation, life and liability.

III ranks 9/11 as the second most costly catastrophe in the United States, the only terror-related incident making the list.

THE TEN MOST COSTLY CATASTROPHES, UNITED STATES (1)

($ millions)

(1) Property coverage only. Does not include flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program.
(2) Adjusted for inflation through 2010 by ISO using the GDP implicit price deflator.

Source: ISO’s Property Claim Services (PCS) unit.

‘The 9/11 attack was the largest payout in the history of insurance until Hurricane Katrina in 2005,’ Dr. Hartwig said. ‘Insurers became the nation’s economic ‘first responders’ and as construction progresses on the site of the former World Trade Center, insurance claims dollars continue to play an essential and highly visible role in rebuilding lower Manhattan while also mitigating the overall economic impact of the 9/11 attack.’

Source: III