Key insurance regulators from across the US will attend a two-day summit in November to discuss plans for a national catastrophe insurance scheme.

The meeting was actually scheduled before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita laid waste to the gulf states. One item on the agenda will be the development of a national risk-sharing mechanism for terrorism and natural disasters. With estimated insured losses from Katrina alone reaching $US60 billion, a scheme to insure for “mega-catastrophes” that has been debated since the 1990s has taken on increased relevance.

“The ultimate toll of Hurricane Katrina will be unimaginable in both loss of human life and financial ruin,” California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said. “As insurers begin to sort through a deluge of claims, and as survivors confront the fact that some losses won’t be covered, it will become painfully clear that a single, national policy is the only answer.”