If you are a certain age, the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, will probably never be forgotten.
You witnessed scenes of destruction and horror that are still shocking and can’t be erased from your memory.
For property and casualty insurers and reinsurers, the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks was enormous, producing insured losses over $43 billion in 2015 dollars — and is still the largest insurance loss in global history, according to data from the Insurance Information Institute.
Losses were paid out across many different lines of insurance, including aviation, business interruption, liability, life, property and workers’ compensation.
Related: One advisor lost 51 clients, then delivered 30 checks after 9/11
Terrorism insurance
Terrorism insurance became a hot topic in the aftermath of the attacks. Terrorism risk insurance quickly became either unavailable or very expensive.
Congress reacted by passing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act in 2002, which provided an assurance of government support after a catastrophic attack. This has helped keep terrorism risk insurance available and affordable for businesses.
Since its initial enactment in 2002, the terrorism risk insurance program has been revised and extended three times. The most recent extension — the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015 — ensures its continuation until December 31, 2020.
Never forget
As we pause on Sunday to remember the human and financial losses that changed our world forever, here are some numbers that help tell the story of the impact of the events that took place in New York City; Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and Washingon, D.C., 15 years ago this month:
In this Sept. 24, 2001 file photo, Fritz Koenig’s “The Sphere” outdoor sculpture that once graced the plaza at New York’s World Trade Center lies in the wreckage following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The 25-ton, bronze sphere ripped open by the collapsing towers is returning to a spot overlooking the rebuilt site. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Thursday, July 21, 2016, approved plans to move the Koenig Sphere from its temporary place in Battery Park at Manhattan’s southern tip. The sculpture will grace the new Liberty Park overlooking the 9/11 memorial. No date has yet been set for the move. (Photo: Ted Warren/AP Photo)
$43.6 billion (in 2015 dollars)
Total insured losses from the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania, including property, life and liability insurance claim costs. (Source: Insurance Information Institute.)

In this Sept. 11, 2001 file photo, Julie McDermott, center, walks with other victims as they make their way amid debris near the World Trade Center in New York. (Photo: Gulnara Samoilova/AP Photo)
$123 billion
Estimated economic loss during the first 2-4 weeks after the World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York City, as well as decline in airline travel over next few years. (Source: CNN)

Steel I-beams and rubble cover the tracks of the New York City subway No. 1 and No. 9 lines in a tunnel under the World Trade Center, in this undated photo made available in New York, Friday on Sept. 28, 2001. New York City Transit officials determined that the damage was so extensive that more than one mile of the line had to be rebuilt. (Photo: New York City Transit via AP Photo)
$60 billion
Estimated cost of the World Trade Center site damage, including damage to surrounding buildings, infrastructure and subway facilities. (Source: CNN)

In this Sept. 16, 2001, file photo an American flag flies from a makeshift altar overlooking the ongoing investigation of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa. The plane crashed after being hijacked in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Photo: Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)
$40 billion
Value of the emergency anti-terrorism package approved by the U.S. Congress on Sept. 14, 2001. (Source: CNN)

Planes sit on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport after terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York and Washington, D.C., caused the closure of several airports across the country and grounded all air traffic. (Photo: Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo)
$15 billion
This the amount of the aid package passed by Congress to bail out the airlines. (Source: CNN)

Damage to the outer ring of the Pentagon is shown on Sept. 11, 2001, after a hijacked airliner crashed into the building. (Photo: Steve Helber/AP Photo)
$1 billion
Damage to a portion of the Pentagon. (Source: Institute for the Analysis of Global Security)

One of the World Trade Center buildings collapses shortly after two planes crashed into the upper floors of both towers in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Pedro J. Cardenas/AP Photo)
$970 million
Total Federal Emergency Management Authority money spent on the emergency. (Source: New York Magazine)

A collapsed building and a fire truck at Ground Zero on Sept. 12, 2001, after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. (Photo: Shawn Baldwin/AP Photo)