The US insurance industry has lobbied hard for the US Senate to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) but some senators are continuing to hinder the plan.

Industry lobbyists told the Senate last week that the Act has assisted them in offering terrorism risk insurance since the September 11 attacks, but some Republicans called the program an “un-needed subsidy for a profitable industry”.

The Act was passed in 2002 to create a federal program of shared public and private compensation for insured commercial property and casualty losses from terrorism.

The insurers argue Congress must extend the program beyond December 31 because without the TRIA they may not be able to offer coverage and construction projects throughout the US could come to a halt.