The president of the Albany, N.Y.--based association made his comments today when asked about recent comments from state Insurance Superintendent Gregory V. Serio.

Mr. Bourdeau was critical of the superintendent for being "a little less than forthcoming" in his desire to see acceptable language on exclusions.

He said that 48 states have approved language developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to set threshold damage levels for exclusions, and he is "disappointed" in the superintendent for not suggesting "what would be approved."

Last week, Mr. Serio reiterated his stance on terrorism exclusions to a group of insurance professionals during the Metro Regional Awareness Program, in Brooklyn, N.Y., sponsored by the Professional Insurance Agents of New York, based in Glenmont.

He said the department has received several filings for exclusions that were improvements over previous filings, but they were still under examination. He as rejected language prepared for members of the Insurance Services Office in Jersey City, N.J.

The department, he said, would not approve exclusions "that do not properly articulate the risk to be covered" or are "not in the public interest."

"Where the conflict arises is what does this exclusion really mean," Mr. Serio said.

The NAIC's model language, which was written by ISO, would cap property losses at $25 million and physical injuries to 50 employees or less. Mr. Serio has said that these caps are inadequate given the reality of New York City property values and concentration of workers.

The department remains in discussions with individual companies over language, but no approvals are pending, Mr. Serio said.

Mr. Bourdeau agreed that exclusion language would have to be broader than the ISO language, but discussions to find acceptable language with the department are at an impasse.

"We need dialogue and we are disappointed the department has not engaged us in dialogue," Mr. Bourdeau said.