Hotel Industry Turns to 9/11 Legal Framework to Navigate Pandemic Insurance

Coronavirus may not be as unprecedented as it is billed, at least when it comes to liability and risk insurance. The U.S. hotel and travel industries are turning to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, a measure signed into law in 2002 following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as a model in crafting pandemic risk insurance for businesses in light of coronavirus. U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, introduced a bill — the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act — this week which would require insurance companies to offer business interruption policies that cover pandemics and guarantee there is enough funding to cover such losses. The move comes after many hospitality companies threatened lawsuits against their insurance providers over pandemic exclusions from business interruption insurance. “The PRIA legislation is a critical step in building the policy framework to navigate out of the economic crisis that has resulted from the pandemic and help ensure it never happens again,” said Tori Emerson Barnes, U.S. Travel Association executive vice president for Public Affairs and Policy, in a statement. “9/11 exposed the need for