SWISS RE UNDERWRITER INSISTS WILPROP FORM GOVERNED WTC COVER

Swiss Re underwriter Daniel Bollier reiterated in the World Trade Center insurance trial yesterday that he offered to provide 22% of the WTC’s property cover based on the Willis Group’s WilProp form and that the cover was accepted on July 17, 2001, some seven weeks before the September 11 disaster. The WilProp form is at the centre of the dispute in the WTC case, as it clearly defines an insurable occurrence and would limit insurance payouts to WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein to his $3.55bn policy limit. Mr Bollier admitted to the court that he asked for increased sublimits, changes to wording in the special perils clause, and other changes, but had never rejected the WilProp form outright. Under questioning from Silverstein attorney Herbert Wachtell, Mr Bollier also admitted receiving a copy of the Travelers form in an email from Willis containing a revised binder agreement later in July 2001. However, he said that he ignored the Travelers form because he was only concerned with looking for changes in the sublimits. He also said Willis had never given formal notification of a switch to the Travelers form, adding that the switch in forms was not clear until Willis issued a “notice of loss” after the September 11 disaster.