Treasury Extends Terror Coverage Rules

But Snow says the Treasury Department should wait for the results of the effectiveness study before deciding whether to extend the TRIA program either temporarily or permanently.

"By extending the make available provision, we ensure that our overall evaluation of the program's success is based on information and assumptions that are consistent and that there's no changing of the rules in the middle of the game," Snow says in a statement about the program extension.

The American Council of Life Insurers, Washington, has been lobbying for Congress and the Bush administration to extend TRIA protection to group life policies. Snow does not mention group life in the TRIA extension statement.

The Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism, Washington, a group for real estate investment trusts and other organizations that insure large amounts of commercial property against terrorism, is praising Snow's extension of the TRIA make available provisions and calling for Congress to extend the entire program through the end of 2007.

"Although terrorism insurance coverage is now generally available and more affordable than prior to TRIA's enactment, we see no significant evidence that the private market can function well in the absence of such a backstop," CIAT spokesman Martin DePoy says in a statement.