The TRIA disclosure form is the notice your commercial property and casualty insurer must give you to explain the price and terms of terrorism coverage offered under the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Program. To complete it, review the terrorism premium and the federal government’s share of losses shown on the form, then either accept the coverage at the quoted price or sign the rejection statement your insurer provides.
Why You Received the Form
Every insurer writing commercial property and casualty coverage in the United States participates in the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and must offer terrorism coverage before you bind a policy.1U.S. Department of the Treasury. Terrorism Risk Insurance Program The disclosure is how the insurer satisfies that offer in writing. Participation is not optional for the carrier, but buying the coverage is optional for you.
You should see the disclosure at the time the policy is offered and again at every renewal. The separate notice about the program’s $100 billion annual cap must appear at the offer, at purchase, and at renewal.2eCFR. 31 CFR 50.15 – Cap Disclosure Most insurers combine both into a single document delivered with your quote or renewal package, either on the declarations page, within the policy, or as a rider or endorsement.3GovInfo. 31 CFR 50.14 – Separate Line Item If a broker handles your account, the form usually arrives through the broker, though the insurer remains responsible for making sure it reaches you.
What to Read Before You Sign
Federal law requires the form to show two financial figures: the premium charged for coverage of certified acts of terrorism, and the federal government’s share of compensation for insured losses.4GovInfo. Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 The premium may be stated as a dollar amount or as a percentage of your overall policy premium, so long as the insurer also provides the total or shows how it was calculated.5U.S. Department of the Treasury. 31 CFR Part 50 – Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Regulations The charge cannot be labeled a “surcharge.”
The federal share is currently 80 percent of an insurer’s covered terrorism losses that exceed the insurer’s own deductible, and the disclosure should state that figure.6eCFR. 31 CFR 50.70 – Federal Share of Compensation The cap notice tells you that aggregate insured losses from certified terrorism are limited to $100 billion in a calendar year. If losses exceed the ceiling, neither your insurer nor the Treasury pays its share above $100 billion, and your claim payments could be reduced on a pro-rata basis under Treasury procedures.7Federal Register. Terrorism Risk Insurance Program – Cap on Annual Liability
Most disclosures also define a “certified act of terrorism.” The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, must certify that the event was a violent act dangerous to life or property, caused damage within the United States (or to certain U.S. carriers and missions abroad), was committed to coerce the civilian population or influence government conduct, and resulted in aggregate insured losses exceeding $5 million. The program itself does not activate at all unless aggregate industry insured losses from certified terrorism exceed $200 million in a calendar year.8eCFR. 31 CFR 50.4 – Definitions If an attack is not certified, the program does not apply and your standard policy terms govern any claim.
If the premium and cap language are not easy to find in the materials, ask your broker to point them out. The regulation requires the information to be clear and conspicuous.
Accepting the Coverage
Acceptance is usually simple. If you agree to pay the stated terrorism premium, your policy includes the coverage and the charge appears as a separate line item on your bill. A separate acceptance signature is usually not required beyond agreeing to the full policy terms. When the updated declarations page arrives, check that the terrorism premium is listed and matches what the disclosure quoted.
Rejecting the Coverage
Rejection is more deliberate. Insurers typically attach a rejection statement you must sign and return. The language acknowledges that you are declining terrorism coverage and that an exclusion for certified terrorism losses will be added to your policy. Read it carefully. Once the exclusion is in place, your policy will not respond to a certified terrorism event, and your business is self-insuring that risk.
If you neither sign the rejection form nor pay the terrorism premium by the due date, many insurers treat the silence as a deemed rejection and write the policy without terrorism coverage. The practical effect is the same as signing: no coverage, exclusion added. The difference is documentation. A signed rejection is cleaner evidence that the decision was informed, which matters if the coverage question is ever revisited.
Businesses in high-profile locations or industries considered potential targets tend to weigh the premium differently than businesses in lower-risk areas. The decision is yours; the form only records it.
Returning the Form
Most commercial insurers accept the completed disclosure through the same channels used for other policy documents. If a broker manages the transaction, you sign or initial the form and return it to the broker, who forwards it to the carrier. E-signature platforms are common and create a timestamped record of delivery and response. If you work directly with the insurer, certified mail or a secure upload portal provides the same documentation trail.
After the insurer processes your response, review the updated declarations page. If you accepted, confirm the terrorism premium is listed. If you rejected, confirm the terrorism exclusion endorsement is attached. Errors are easier to fix now than after a loss.
Keeping the Signed Copy
Hold on to every TRIA disclosure you receive, whether you accepted or rejected. If a certified terrorism event occurs and you need to file a claim, the disclosure is your proof of what coverage was in place and at what price. If you declined, the signed rejection form documents that the decision was informed and voluntary; without it, an insurer could face difficulty defending the exclusion.
No single federal rule tells policyholders how long to retain these forms. Keeping them for the life of the policy plus at least six years aligns with common state insurance record-retention periods and audit cycles. Your insurer maintains its own records as a condition of federal reimbursement, but your own copy is the one you control.
One boundary worth keeping in mind: the program is currently authorized through December 31, 2027 under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019.9Congress.gov. H.R. 4634 – Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019 If the program is not reauthorized beyond that date, the disclosure obligation ends with it, and the terms you accepted or rejected on today’s form may not be offered on the same basis at future renewals.