Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt, now co-chairman of a group promoting a federal catastrophe program, said yesterday his organization is seeking input from insurers to develop a new approach for managing disaster risk.

Mr. Witt, a leader of ProtectingAmerica.org, made his remarks to insurance executives at the 2006 Annual Conference of the American Association of Insurance Services in Sarasota, Fla.

According to a report of his remarks from AAIS, Mr. Witt emphasized the importance of sound building and land use policies to avoid and mitigate losses from natural and man-made hazards.

“This is a dialogue we have to have,” he told the group. “If you look at the cost of disasters today, it's just astronomical.”

Spearheaded by Allstate in the aftermath of its record catastrophe losses last year, ProtectingAmerica.org is a nonprofit group that has been promoting a plan for state and federal layers of protection from catastrophe losses.

The American Insurance Association has formally opposed such a scheme, while the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and Property Casualty Insurers Association of America have expressed doubts.

Mr. Witt acknowledged that the insurance industry has for the most part remained skeptical of such funds, but said the search for some sort of solution must continue nonetheless.

He said that if an event were to occur today with the same magnitude as the Great San Francisco Earthquake the insured losses could reach $200 billion, but the California Earthquake Authority has only a fraction of the capital it would need to address them.

Only 14 percent of Californians have earthquake insurance, in part because the deductibles for the coverage are so high, Mr. Witt noted.

Citing predictions that disasters will become more frequent and severe, Mr. Witt called on the audience to remain open to ideas that might make insurance coverage more marketable to carriers and affordable to consumers.

“We have an opportunity to start a dialogue,” he said. “It's probably the most important thing any of you can do over the next year for the nation.”

The AAIS is a national advisory organization that develops policy forms and rating information used by more than 600 property-casualty carriers throughout the U.S.

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