Washington taxpayers and the State Fund will get significant financial relief from the federal government in the event of an act of terrorism that results in catastrophic losses to the workers compensation system.
The law requires that workers compensation coverage includes losses due to terrorism, and Washingtons workers and employers have always been covered.
But under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, the federal government will now pay the bulk of a catastrophic loss that results from an act of foreign terrorism once the deductible has been paid.
Congress passed the act in response to what happened in the insurance industry following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The attacks on the trade center have, so far, resulted in 5,000 workers compensation claims in excess of $3.5 billion.
Following the attacks, a significant number of private insurers stopped writing workers compensation coverage because of the risk, and because of reinsurance became too expensive or non-existent.
Reinsurance is the way the public and private insurers protect themselves against catastrophic losses by diversifying the risk.
Under the new law, Washingtons State Fund is responsible for paying a deductible that would amount to about $51 million.
Once the deductible is met, the federally guaranteed reinsurance fund will cover 90 percent of any losses above that.
The expense would be spread among the other states and commercial insurers.
In the event of an attack in another state, Washington would share the cost of paying that claim.
Labor and Industries manages the states workers compensation system. It provides coverage for 163,000 employers and more than 1.9 million workers – about 70 percent of the states labor force.
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act also will benefit the 30 percent of Washingtons workers employed by the 400 companies that are self-insured, by making it more affordable for those companies to reinsure against catastrophic losses that result from acts of terrorism.
For more information, visit Labor and Industries Website at: www.LNI.wa.gov.
