"This survey validates what our member agent and brokers have been saying for several months," said Robert A. Rusbuldt, chief executive officer of the Alexandria, Va.-based IIAA.

"The IIAA-AAI study gives Congress clear evidence that there is a problem in the marketplace affecting commercial enterprises that is going to get worse without a legislative remedy," he said.

Rodger S. Lawson, president of the Downers Grove, Ill.-based Alliance, said, "This survey clearly shows that the problem goes well beyond those high-profile projects and extends to businesses across the country. It's an economic issue and a jobs issue that stretches from Wall Street to Main Street."

According to the survey, 80 percent of insurance companies have or will exclude terrorism coverage from their commercial policies.

This is causing anxiety among clients, the survey says. Nearly 20 percent of agents and brokers said that their business clients are calling with concerns and questions about coverage, the survey says.

Moreover, the survey says, 70 percent of agents and brokers reported that nearly all of the clients decline coverage, when it can be found, because it is too expensive.

The survey found that agents and brokers have been forced to try and place coverage in the non-standard market, because it is not available or affordable through standard insurance companies.

On Monday, President Bush urged the Senate to enact a terrorism insurance bill, which would create a federal backstop in the terrorism insurance market, because of the effect of a lack of coverage on the economy.

The House passed a bill last year, but legislation has been stalled in the Senate over the issue of tort reform.