Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
July 15, 2004 at 08:00 PM
Insurers Taking Steps To Better Manage
Group Life Terrorism Risk
By
A chilling new report details the potential magnitude of a major terrorist event on lives lost and the ripple effect those casualties would have on U.S. life insurers.
The report, prepared by Risk Management Solutions, Newark, Calif., illustrates the vulnerability of both the United States and insurers to a terrorist attack using “several extreme but plausible scenarios” to detail the risk associated with terrorism. Terrorism is one of several risk management topics addressed by the report entitled “Catastrophe, Injury And Insurance.”
Among the scenarios used in the RMS report are a synchronized attack deploying 2-ton truck bombs at 3 locations, a medium-sized anthrax attack and a major anthrax attack. In all 3 events it was assumed that the attack took place during peak work hours in downtown Chicago.
The report emphasizes the fact that potential clusters of people would be affected by a terrorist attack. It cites U.S. Census Bureau statistics that cities continue to grow: The U.S. metropolitan population has tripled since 1950 and now half the nation lives in cities with over a million people. Additionally, the report says, urban workers have increased by more than 50% over the past 25 years.
The number of people in a single location is also increasing, the report says, explaining that more than 3 times as many people work in high-rise structures over 12 stories compared to 20 years ago. The RMS report also cites information from Skyscrapers.com that says some 140 new skyscrapers are currently under construction in New York and Chicago.
This is how the devastation of a bombing in a major urban area is described in the report: 95% of people standing within 100 feet and a third of everyone within 200 feet would be killed; people could be killed up to .8 miles away; and, for survivors, pressure impulse waves could cause serious damage to ears and lungs.
However, RMS does note that bombs of a ton or more are rare because large amounts of explosives must be amassed.
The shift in demographics cited in the report coincides with another shift, the growth of group life insurance in force.
That growth is detailed by the American Council of Life Insurers, Washington. Group life insurance in force, measured by face amount, grew to $6.9 trillion in 2002 from $4.2 trillion in 1992. The purchase of group life insurance was $1 trillion in 2002, up from $440 billion in 1992, according to ACLI.
