Workers' comp was high on everyone's mind after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Snow says: “Immediately after 9/11, all the insurance companies were asking questions they hadn't asked before about aggregation of risk for your employees; then it kind of died down. Now lately I think people are starting to think about it again.”

A real challenge for risk managers is finding ways to mitigate the effects of a terrorist attack. “That's really a hard thing to do for risk managers,” Snow says. Nationwide, some courthouses have put up traffic barriers, and some public buildings have limited garage access. But it's tough mitigation from a workers' comp point of view.

“If you're starting from scratch, you can begin to do those things. Also you can do retro-fitting around existing buildings,” says Snow. But it's not something that can be put in place in every building in a given city: “It's not a quick, easy or inexpensive fix.”

The risk managers that have property schedules and banking requirements in their agreements for TRIPRA cover are likely the ones most concerned about its renewal, Snow says: “Jan. 1 renewals are not that far off. You don't know if the program is going to be there next year, and that's the biggest issue now for risk managers: not knowing when the program is going to be available.”

RIMS members are encouraged by the numbers of companies and organizations that have come out in support of TRIPRA, from large brokers like Marsh and Aon to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The Senate Banking Committee is even meeting on it.

“One of our concerns at RIMS is that a lot of the senators and people in the House of Representatives who were around when TRIA was first implemented—and even when it was renewed and extended—are gone now. You don't have the same people in Congress that have the institutional knowledge around the creation of TRIA. That's a big concern as we figure out how to educate the member of Congress on TRIA.”

It's also part of RIMS' ongoing educational efforts for risk managers, she says. RIMS recently released a white paper, Terrorism Risk Insurance Act: The Commercial Consumer's Perspective, a product of the external affairs committee to promote education on TRIA/TRIPRA and Terrorism Insurance. RIMS members also try to spread the word by speaking at conferences and testifying before Congressional committees.

“Those are the basic things we're doing: educating our members and Congress, and getting our faces in front of them when we can. We're also working with other groups that are in support of TRIPRA. We're trying to keep it out there in front of people's faces so we can get the extension.”

Insurer groups, too, are doing their part to push for a TRIA extension. Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association, says, “Terrorism risk presents unique challenges for businesses across the U.S. The unpredictable nature of terrorism – an intentional act – makes it a risk that insurers can only cover through a public-private partnership like TRIA. TRIA has stabilized the market, protected taxpayers, and made terrorism coverage widely available while providing predictability for an orderly economic recovery following an event. AIA is hard at work laying the groundwork for reauthorization as the issue continues to gain traction on Capitol Hill.”     

The big takeaway that a lot of people had after the Boston Marathon attack was the vulnerability of the venue. Now, it seems, a terrorist attack can happen at any event.

And while the Boston event has yet to be declared a true act of terrorism, Snow says it might be a moot point: In most people's minds, she says, the Boston bombing is already a terror event because of the scale of the destruction, the media attention and those killed.

Crafting a permanent solution to the recurring TRIA extension problem will be difficult because as terrorism risk changes, a permanent solution might not always be the best solution. That said, Snow does note that a long-term solution would be ideal so that risk managers were not faced with the recurring prospect of TRIA's expiration.

“When people think about terrorism, they think of New York and Washington, D.C. and those areas of the country. Unfortunately, that really tragic event in Boston made people aware of it again. That says to people that it could happen anywhere.”