All testifying members at congressional hearing support TRIA renewal
Ernest Csiszar, former director of insurance in South Carolina and former president of the NAIC, was most open to such changes being made in the case of a renewal: “While I’m in favor of renewing TRIA for an extended period of time, I also think we can take steps to make it more market-friendly.
“First, I suggest we take a look at that $100 million trigger – I think it can be set much higher than it is,” Csiszar said. “I would caution that there are still some modeling problems with this, I would caution that here are still problems with the data, but I would take a close look at that trigger.”
When asked directly what he could recommend as a new trigger, Csiszar pointed to industry loss warranty triggers of $10, $15, $20 billion, of which $20 is the most popular, saying that somewhere in that range would be effective.
He was also the first to suggest the government charging for TRIA in a way that’s comparable to the National Flood Insurance Program, in an attempt to pool funds, effectively setting aside billions for potential terrorism losses.
