GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Silverstein Camp Files Counterclaim to Swiss Re Complaint

NEW YORK CITY-World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein has responded to charges by reinsurer Swiss Re that the developer is attempting to pull of one of history’s greatest double-dips. In a 23-page document filed yesterday afternoon, Silverstein asks the court to dismiss the case with prejudice, order Swiss Re to promptly pay its 22% share of the undisputed $3.6-billion first claim and agree to acknowledge the second claim for an additional $3.6 billion.

In a statement that mirrors the official document’s aggressive stance Silverstein says, “Swiss Re should put its money where its mouth is. No one disputes that the attacks on the World Trade Center caused losses substantially in excess of $3.6 billion. If Swiss Re is serious about living up to its promise to pay claims on a fast track, it should pay its 22% share of the $3.6 billion policy immediately so that we can fund the reconstruction of the World Trade Center, while we continue to litigate whether Swiss Re owes its share of an additional $3.6 billion.”

Swiss Re earlier this week released a statement saying that it had advanced its share of an initial $75 million payout on World Trade Center-related claims. According to Jacques Dubois, CEO and president of Swiss Re America Holding Corp., Silverstein asked for $136 million up front but “the insurers got together and agreed to pay $75 million.”

While Dubois and Silverstein remain at loggerheads on the overriding issue of whether the trade center attacks constitute one or two occurrences, Dubois tells GlobeSt.com that Swiss Re is determined to settle all claims swiftly and completely. “Swiss Re is morally obligated to pay 100% of what it owes,” Dubois says. We want to speed up the process of rebuilding and get the matter settled so we know whom to pay and how much to pay.”

On Monday, Silverstein filed suit against Ace Bermuda, which insured the trade center for $298-million. The suit, which advances the same argument the developer is hashing out with Swiss Re, claims that the September 11 bombings were two separate events and that Ace Bermuda therefore should double its payout.