Lance Ewing says it's pretty obvious his business was interrupted by the Sept.11 terrorist attacks. After all, his company, GES Exposition Services, a LasVegas-based convention services provider, suffered losses when trade shows werecanceled following the attacks. But Ewing, GES' senior director of insurance andloss prevention, might be out of luck; it's unclear whether his businessinterruption insurance will compensate him for the losses.

He's not alone. Many companies indirectly affected by the attacks are nowtesting their business interruption insurance policies to find out what ?businessinterruption really means. Though these policies clearly cover losses related tophysical damage, risk managers say it?s uncertain how companies that didn'ttake a direct hit but nonetheless suffered might fare.

Bob Hartwig, chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute, anindustry-funded trade group, says physical damage is the only way a businessinterruption policy is triggered. But Mark Miller, a lawyer with GreenbergTraurig in Washington, cites three clauses in business interruption policiesthat could provide coverage: The sue-and-labor clause covers costs a businessincurs when it acts to minimize losses and might apply to firms that paid forincreased security; civil-authority clauses, which cover losses caused bygovernment action and clearly cover airlines and others affected by the FAA'sshutdown of airports; and contingent business interruption coverage, which paysfor losses suffered because of damage to another business.