TRIA reauthorised for seven years

The House of Representatives has passed bipartisan legislation to reauthorise the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), as part of Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations legislation. The move sees TRIA remain in place for the next seven years.

The news will bring a huge sigh of relief from across the insurance industry.  John Talley, captive programme manager at the Missouri Department of Insurance, recently wrote that terrorism coverage could become prohibitively costly and difficult to find if TRIA had not been reauthorised.

TRIA was first signed into law in 2002. It was originally set to expire in December 2005, but was extended, first to December 2007, and then to December 2014. On January 12, 2015, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (TRIPRA) extended TRIA to December 31, 2020.

The House Financial Services Committee chair, Rep Maxine Waters, introduced House Bill 4634 to reauthorise TRIPRA on October 11 this year, amid widespread bipartisan support.

The Republican leader of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry said Committee Republicans had secured protections requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to analyse and address the vulnerabilities and potential cost of the growing threat of cyberterrorism.

The Export-Import Bank and the National Flood Insurance Program were also reauthorised as part of the recent legislation.