How Insurance Is Morphing With the Terror Threat: QuickTake Q&A

When terrorists strike in Tehran or London, in Paris or Manchester, England, the toll typically is measured by the lives lost and injuries caused. Certainly that’s the gravest tally. Yet terrorism extracts a wider cost to victimized communities in terms of economic waste -- the lost productivity of those killed and wounded, the expense of rehabilitating and caring for the injured, damages to property, income lost to disrupted commerce. Insurers, who make sure such risks are widely shared, have had to adapt their policies, and they increasingly lean on government backing.

Typically yes, if the damage is to buildings and vehicles owned by individuals. Coverage of business properties has become more complicated. In most Western countries, insurers these days provide that kind of coverage only with government help.