Prepping for the next terrorism attack on U.S. Soil is on the minds of many insurers as the country nears expiration of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (TRIPRA) in December 2014. That's equally so for insurers and clients seeking January 2014 terrorism contract renewals.

The fear throughout the industry is not "if," but rather, "when" another assault on the U.S. occurs—and conversely, not "when" the industry pays those claims, but "if" it is able to. Industry experts fear the federal government could fail to renew TRIPRA, causing upheaval and diminished capacity as insurers pull out of the market.

For the record, terrorists are saying their work is not yet done. In an audio speech released online Sept. 12, Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged small-scale attacks inside the U.S. to "bleed America economically." The terrorist leader suggested provoking the U.S. with a few attacks "here and there" on American soil, to both keep the U.S. in a constant state of tension and to force the country to increase military and security expenditures, further taxing what he called America's weak point: the economy.