WTC Insurance Battles End With $2B Silverstein Win

NEW YORK CITY-Years of insurance battles following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are over and what New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer calls the last major barrier to rebuilding Downtown has been removed. The debate originally hinged on World Trade Center master-lease holder Larry Silverstein’s claim that the attacks represented two separate incidents, while a syndicate of insurers held to the supposition that the attacks were one event. With this week’s $2-billion settlement, the dispute has been settled.

According to a statement from Spitzer’s office, to date, the insurance companies have paid nearly half of the total $4.7 billion the courts allowed Silverstein. So the settlement approaches the full court-outlined amount. Under the terms of the settlement, the amount each of the seven named insurers will pay will remain private. Insurers included in the agreement are Travelers Cos., Zurich American Insurance Co. and Swiss Reinsurance Co.