SILVERSTEIN CLASHES WITH INSURERS OVER WTC LIABILITY

A dispute has arisen between US businessman Larry Silverstein and the insurers of New York’s World Trade Center (WTC) over whether the September 11 strikes on the twin towers of the WTC constitute two occurrences or one for insurance purposes. Mr Silverstein acquired the lease to manage the WTC complex in July and is seeking payment for each of the two hijacked airliners that hit the 110-storey towers, arguing that since there were two strikes he is entitled to collect twice on his $3.6bn cover. The insurers of the WTC complex — which include Chubb Corp, Swiss Re, Germany’s Allianz and Bermudian insurers ACE and XL Capital — have insisted, however, that since the attacks were co-ordinated they count as a single event. With so much riding on the outcome, a spokesperson for the American Insurance Association, which represents the liable WTC insurers, admitted yesterday that “this is something that is going to be debated for a very long time”. Willis Group Holdings brokered the WTC cover and has said that it is “working with [Mr] Silverstein and the insurers and underwriters to bring this matter to an amicable solution as quickly as possible”. History would appear to be against Mr Silverstein, however, since analysts have pointed out that it is “rare” for an insured party to collect on more than one occurrence on the same policy.