INSURERS WIN KEY DECISION IN WTC PROPERTY CASE

Insurers won another battle in their efforts to limit losses from the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster when federal court judge Michael Mukasey ruled in late December that jurors in the case might be told of an earlier appeals court ruling in the insurers’ favour. The earlier appellate ruling upheld a lower court’s ruling that property cover written for the WTC was based on a form that interprets the destruction of the WTC complex as a single occurrence for insurance purposes. The appellate ruling also said that a jury would determine whether policies written by 20 or so other carriers for the WTC would interpret the disaster as a single event or two. WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein has argued that the crashes of separate aircraft into the WTC’s twin towers entitle him to double his $3.55bn policy limit. His insurers, led by Swiss Re and Travelers, say that he deserves no more than his policy limit, as the disaster was based on a single, co-ordinated terrorist attack. Judge Mukasey also urged the two sides to reach a settlement out of court. “I guess I will resolve it for you, but it is going to be a lot more painful process than if you resolve it yourselves”, he said.