He told the conference in New York its focus is on rebuilding communities, rather than potential insurance losses and is a better way to deal with natural catastrophes than the current system.

"We need a different system to provide a financing mechanism to rebuild our communities," he said.

The system he's advocating would have the following components:

oHomeowners, condominium or renters policies provided by insurers that would be all-perils policies, excluding terror risk. The policies would cover floods, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis

oA public-private partnership that calls for insurers to provide the initial homeowners policy with a limited exposure. In other words, the policies would be capped at some dollar amount.

oBeyond the cap, coverage from a state facility would kick in.

oAbove that second level of coverage, a federal backstop would kick in.

oThere would be a heavy mitigation program.

Before providing those details, Mr. Garamendi explained how he and the other commissioners got there.

There are "two radically different views" following a catastrophe, he said. Insurers are focused on questions about potential losses, appropriate premiums, and whether they can continue to provide coverage without some kind of back-up. For devastated communities, on the other hand, the question is "'What's left behind?'" he said.

Turning to the situation in post-Katrina New Orleans, he asked, if 50 percent have no flood insurance there, then "how do you rebuild that community?"

"The wealth of that community is gone," once the homes are destroyed. And without insurance, he said, it will take decades to rebuild the city.

"We need a different model," he said.

Further supporting his view, he noted that under the current model, insurers are "running away" from Florida. Turning to another speaker at the conference, Hemant Shah, CEO of RMS in Newark, Calif., he asked "What's the chance of an earthquake in California, Mr. Modeler?"

"That's why the insurance industry isn't there," Mr. Garamendi said, when Mr. Shah replied that it was very high. If an earthquake happens, they're out of business, he said, noting that only 14 percent of Californians have earthquake coverage.

You're left with a community without an ability to rebuild when it happens. "And it's going to happen," he said.

But several audience members who own homes in California countered his scenarios of dire consequences with what Mr. Garamendi came to refer as "the Air Force One" mentality. These people are "betting that the President is going to show up and money is going to fall out of the plane."

He conceded that an after-event a federal bailout of a storm-torn community is "not a bad bet." But "anybody who thinks the federal government is distributing that money effectively or efficiently" in the Gulf "hasn't "been reading the newspapers."

High premiums for limited coverage force many California homeowners to gamble that it won't happen this year. And those that do buy policies live in the riskiest areas, creating a small risk pool, exacerbating the situation.

"We need to create a large risk pool," he said, advocating a plan that spreads the risk "across the nation." Under such a plan, Californian would "pick up some Florida risk for hurricanes" and vice versa.

Mr. Garamendi called the plan a "pre-funded" plan, referring to the fact that insurance premiums are paid in advance. He also noted that the insurance would be "risk-based." That will be "a hard-sell" for an elected commissioner. But those who want to live in California "are going to have to pay" for the privilege, while Montanans will pay less, he said.

"Do we have a shot at it?" he asked. "We have to," he said, noting that, at the summit, modelers presented scenarios of a hurricane on Long Island, an earthquake in the Midwest, and terrorism on the West Coast==all possible scenarios that would wipe out the economy in those regions.

Audience members expressed doubt about the possibility for insurers to get sound rates to pay for the type of broadened coverage Mr. Garamendi is advocating.

"Politically, it's easier to wait for the event and borrow money from our grandchildren," Mr. Garamendi said. "But we ought to take personal responsibility for our own safety."

"It's better to pre-fund these things. [And] the appropriate rate==premium==to pay for it has to be there."

Mr. Garamendi said the commissioners plan to take their plan to Congress, rather than counting on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. "That would take a century," he said.

The insurance conference was sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Standard & Poor's, Black Diamond Group, Morgan Stanley, and LeBeouf Lamb.