Moody 19s: Life Companies Lag On Terrorism

U.S. life insurers and reinsurers generally are way behind property-casualty carriers in identifying terrorism risk exposures, a rating service says.

“With few exceptions, most U.S. life insurance respondents seem satisfied with their current capabilities, and they indicated no plans to expand or develop them,” according to a survey report by analysts at Moody’s Investors Service, New York.

The analysts studied how life insurers evaluate their exposure to terrorism and what life insurers are doing to manage it.

Terrorism could affect life insurers’ insureds and investment assets, and a biological, chemical or nuclear attack could be far more costly than the 9-11 attacks were, according to Laura Bazer, a Moody’s analyst who helped write the report.