JURY RULES FOR SWISS RE IN WTC CASE:

Swiss Re has received a favorable verdict more than 2 1/2 years after it filed a declaratory relief action against Silverstein Properties, the master leaseholder of the World Trade Center. On May 10, the federal jury ended its deliberations by accepting the giant reinsurer’s position that the parties were bound by the language of the “WilProp Form,” which defines the loss of the twin towers as one event, i.e. an “occurrence or series of occurrences.” Swiss Re, the largest carrier in the group that insured the WTC, is thus liable for only one recovery of $877 million, roughly 25 percent of the total coverage. The jury decided in favor of eight other insurers in a decision reached the week before. The precise meaning of the Travelers form, however, is still at issue and will require a second trial. Three companies, Zurich American, Royal Indemnity (a unit of Royal & SunAlliance USA) and Twin City Fire Insurance were found by the jury to have accepted the terms of the Travelers form. They will join Travelers, Allianz as primary carrier and with SCOR as reinsurer, IRI, Tokyo Marine, Gulf and TIG as participants in the second trial to define their liability under the Travelers form, which does not have the restrictive language of the WilProp Form. A third trial could be necessary to determine the exact amount each carrier is responsible for. No date has been set for the trial, but it is expected to begin soon.