Takeup rates and premiums for U.S. terrorism insurance are holding nearly steady, according to a survey that Marsh Inc. released Tuesday.

According to the analysis, 62% of firms that the insurance brokerage surveyed purchased property terrorism coverage in 2012. That compares with 64% in 2011 and 62% in 2010.

While the takeup rate has changed little in recent years, it is far higher than just after the 2002 passage of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, the federal backstop was extended through 2014 by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007.

In 2003, the takeup rate was 27%. Since 2005, the takeup rate has hovered within a few percentage points of 60%, according to the Marsh report.

However, takeup rates vary considerably by region. The highest was in the Northeast, where 77% of respondents purchased property terrorism insurance in 2012.

Marsh attributed the high Northeast takeup rate to several factors, including its concentration of major urban areas, the perception that major cities may be at a higher risk of a terrorist attack and fact that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks targeted sites — the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside of Washington — in that area.

By contrast, the U.S. West had the lowest takeup rate, with 53% of companies purchasing property terrorism insurance in 2012, followed by 58% in the Midwest and 63% in the South.

Median premium rates showed little change.

For companies with a total insured value of more than $1 billion, the median premium rate in 2012 was $19 per $1 million of total insured value, down from $21 in 2011. Companies with $500 million to $1 billion of total insured value saw their median premium rate rise to $20 per $1 million of total insured value, up from $19 in 2011.

%%BREAK%%

Median rates for smaller companies — those with less than $100 million of total insured property value — were unchanged in 2012 at $49 per $1 million of insured value. For companies with total insured property values of $100 million to $500 million, the median premium rate was $25 per $1 million in 2012, down from $27 in 2011.

Rates also varied considerably by industry.

For example, construction companies paid the highest rate at a median price of $63 per $1 million in coverage, followed by $53 per $1 million for power and utility companies.

The lowest median rate was paid by food and beverage companies at $14 per $1 million of insured value, followed by educational institutions, where the median rate was $16 in 2012.

The study was based on Marsh's property insurance placements during calendar year 2012 for nearly 2,600 organizations.