Insurance groups, including the International Risk Management Institute, have beenclear in saying that. "It's a very interesting issue," says Rich Thomas, a St. Paul attorney specializing in insurance coverage issues.

Property-casualty insurance companies have been less eager to comment on the subject. For instance, The St. Paul Cos., a major commercial property liability insurer with an undetermined exposure to the World Trade Center calamity, says it simply has not addressed the war exclusion issue. The company has focused on helping its clients and its own New York operations recover from the attack, says David Monfried, a spokesman for the St. Paul-based insurer.

Yet there are indications that they are ready to pay, says Bob Hartwig, chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute. In 1993, insurers paid $510 million in insured losses as a result of the World Trade Center bombing, he says.