Court rejects WTC owner’s damages theory

World Trade Center owner Larry Silverstein has lost another round in his battle with insurance companies over the claims that arose out of the September 11 terrorist attacks.  Judge Michael Mukasey of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has held that insurers will be required to pay the “actual cash value” of the destroyed property, but only the “replacement cost” of the structure.  It is estimated that the cost to rebuild is less than the value of the buildings before their destruction.

Unlike many insurance contracts, which give the insured the right to choose which measure to accept, SR International Insurance used a form that specified that cost of replacement was the “default” measure of damages.