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Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
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Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves | Note 6: Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves The Company’s insured portfolio management groups within its U.S. public finance insurance and international and structured finance insurance businesses (collectively, “IPM”) monitor the Company’s outstanding insured obligations with the objective of minimizing losses. IPM meets this objective by identifying issuers that, because of deterioration in credit quality or changes in the economic, regulatory or political environment, are at a heightened risk of defaulting on debt service of obligations insured by the Company. In such cases, IPM works with the issuer, trustee, bond counsel, servicer, underwriter and other interested parties in an attempt to alleviate or remedy the problem and avoid defaults on debt service payments. The Company typically requires the issuer, servicer (if applicable) and the trustee of insured obligations to furnish periodic financial and asset-related information, including audited financial statements, to IPM for review. IPM also monitors publicly available information related to insured obligations. Potential problems uncovered through this review, such as poor financial results, low fund balances, covenant or trigger violations and trustee or servicer problems, or other events that could have an adverse impact on the insured obligation, could result in an immediate surveillance review and an evaluation of possible remedial actions. IPM also monitors and evaluates the impact on issuers of general economic conditions, current and proposed legislation and regulations, political developments, as well as sovereign, state and municipal finances and budget developments. The frequency and extent of IPM’s monitoring is based on the criteria and categories described below. Insured obligations that are judged to merit more frequent and extensive monitoring or remediation activities due to a deterioration in the underlying credit quality of the insured obligation or the occurrence of adverse events related to the underlying credit of the issuer are assigned to a surveillance category (“Caution List—Low,” “Caution List—Medium,” “Caution List—High” or “Classified List”) depending on the extent of credit deterioration or the nature of the adverse events. IPM monitors insured obligations assigned to a surveillance category more frequently and, if needed, develops a remediation plan to address any credit deterioration. Remediation actions may involve, among other things, waivers or renegotiations of financial covenants or triggers, waivers of contractual provisions, the granting of consents, transfer of servicing, consideration of restructuring plans, acceleration, security or collateral enforcement, actions in bankruptcy or receivership, litigation and similar actions. The types of remedial actions pursued are based on the insured obligation’s risk type and the nature and scope of the event giving rise to the remediation. As part of any such remedial actions, the Company seeks to improve its security position and to obtain concessions from the issuer of the insured obligation. From time to time, the issuer of an insured obligation by the Company may, with the consent of the Company, restructure the insured obligation by extending the term, increasing or decreasing the par amount or decreasing the related interest rate, with the Company insuring the restructured obligation. The Company does not establish any case basis reserves for insured obligations that are assigned to “Caution List—Low,” “Caution List—Medium” or “Caution List—High.” In the event MBIA expects to pay a claim with respect to an insured transaction, it places the insured transaction on its “Classified List” and establishes a case basis reserve. The following provides a description of each surveillance category: “Caution List—Low” —Includes issuers where debt service protection is adequate under current and anticipated circumstances. However, debt service protection and other measures of credit support and stability may have declined since the transaction was underwritten and the issuer is less able to withstand further adverse events. Transactions in this category generally require more frequent monitoring than transactions that do not appear within a surveillance category. IPM subjects issuers in this category to heightened scrutiny. “Caution List—Medium” —Includes issuers where debt service protection is adequate under current and anticipated circumstances, although adverse trends have developed and are more pronounced than for “Caution List – Low.” Issuers in this category may have breached one or more covenants or triggers. These issuers are more closely monitored by IPM but generally take remedial action on their own. “Caution List—High” —Includes issuers where more proactive remedial action is needed but where no defaults on debt service payments are expected. Issuers in this category exhibit more significant weaknesses, such as low debt service coverage, reduced or insufficient collateral protection or inadequate liquidity, which could lead to debt service defaults in the future. Issuers in this category may have breached one or more covenants or triggers and have not taken conclusive remedial action. Therefore, IPM adopts a remediation plan and takes more proactive remedial actions. “Classified List” —Includes all insured obligations where the Company has paid a claim or where a claim payment is expected. It also includes insured obligations where a significant LAE payment has been made, or is expected to be made, to mitigate a claim payment. This may include property improvements, bond purchases and commutation payments. Generally, IPM is actively remediating these credits where possible, including restructurings through legal proceedings, usually with the assistance of specialist counsel and advisors. The establishment of the appropriate level of loss reserves is an inherently uncertain process involving numerous assumptions, estimates and subjective judgments by management that depend primarily on the nature of the underlying insured obligation. These variables include the nature and creditworthiness of the issuers of the insured obligations, expected recovery rates on unsecured obligations, the projected cash flow or market value of any assets pledged as collateral on secured obligations, and the expected rates of recovery, cash flow or market values on such obligations or assets. Factors that may affect the actual ultimate realized losses for any policy include economic conditions and trends, political developments, the extent to which sellers/servicers comply with the representations or warranties made in connection therewith, levels of interest rates, borrower behavior, the default rate and salvage values of specific collateral, and the Company’s ability to enforce contractual rights through litigation and otherwise, including the collection of contractual interest on claim payments. The Company’s remediation strategy for an insured obligation that has defaulted or is expected to default may also have an impact on the Company’s loss reserves. In establishing case basis loss reserves, the Company calculates the present value of probability-weighted estimated loss payments, net of estimated recoveries, using a discount rate equal to the risk-free rate applicable to the currency and the weighted average remaining life of the insurance contract as required by accounting principles for financial guarantee contracts. Yields on U.S. Treasury offerings are used to discount loss reserves denominated in U.S. dollars, which represent the majority of the loss reserves. Similarly, yields on foreign government offerings are used to discount loss reserves denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Significant changes in discount rates from period to period may have a material impact on the present value of the Company’s loss reserves and expected recoveries. In addition, if the Company were to apply different discount rates, its case basis reserves may have been higher or lower than those established as of December 31, 2019. For example, a higher discount rate applied to expected future payments would have decreased the amount of a case basis reserve established by the Company and a lower rate would have increased the amount of a reserve established by the Company. Similarly, a higher discount rate applied to the potential future recoveries would have decreased the amount of a loss recoverable established by the Company and a lower rate would have increased the amount of a loss recoverable established by the Company. U.S. Public Finance Insurance U.S. public finance insured transactions consist of municipal bonds, including tax-exempt and taxable indebtedness of U.S. political subdivisions, as well as utilities, airports, health care institutions, higher educational facilities, student loan issuers, housing authorities and other similar agencies and obligations issued by private entities that finance projects that serve a substantial public purpose. The Company estimates future losses by using probability-weighted cash flow scenarios that are customized to each insured transaction. Future loss estimates consider debt service due for each insured transaction, which includes par outstanding and interest due, as well as recoveries for such payments, if any. Gross par outstanding for capital appreciation bonds represents the par amount at the time of issuance of the insurance policy. Certain local governments remain under financial and budgetary stress and a few have filed for protection under Title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”), or have entered into state statutory proceedings established to assist municipalities in managing through periods of severe fiscal stress. In the case of Puerto Rico, certain credits that the Company insures have filed petitions for covered instrumentalities under Title III of PROMESA, which incorporates by reference provisions from the Bankruptcy Code. This could lead to an increase in defaults by such entities on the payment of their obligations and losses or impairments in greater amounts on the Company’s insured transactions. In formulating loss reserves, the Company considers the following: environmental and political impacts; litigation; ongoing discussions with creditors; timing and amount of debt service payments and future recoveries; existing proposed restructuring plans or agreements; and deviations from these proposals in its probability-weighted scenarios. In February of 2019, the COFINA Plan of Adjustment was confirmed by the Title III Court and in September of 2019, National agreed to join the RSA with PREPA, other monoline insurers, a group of uninsured PREPA bondholders, Puerto Rico, and the Oversight Board. Refer to “Note 1: Business Developments and Risk and Uncertainties”, for further information on the Company’s Puerto Rico exposures. Recoveries on Puerto Rico Losses For recoverables on paid Puerto Rico losses, the estimates include assumptions related to the following: economic conditions and trends; political developments; the Company’s ability to enforce contractual rights through litigation and otherwise; discussions with other creditors and the obligors, any existing proposals; and the remediation strategy for an insured obligation that has defaulted or is expected for default. International and Structured Finance Insurance The international and structured finance insurance segment’s case basis reserves and insurance loss recoveries recorded in accordance with GAAP do not include estimates for a policy insuring a credit derivative or on financial guarantee VIEs that are eliminated in consolidation. The policy insuring a credit derivative contract is accounted for as a derivative and is carried at fair value in the Company’s consolidated financial statements under GAAP. The fair value of the insured credit derivative contract is influenced by a variety of market and transaction-specific factors that may be unrelated to potential future claim payments under the Company’s insurance policy. Refer to “Note 9: Derivative Instruments” for a further discussion of the Company’s use of derivatives and their impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. RMBS Case Basis Reserves (Financial Guarantees) The Company’s RMBS reserves and recoveries relate to financial guarantee insurance policies, excluding those on consolidated VIEs. The Company’s first-lien RMBS case basis reserves primarily relate to RMBS backed by alternative A-paper and subprime mortgage loans. The Company’s second-lien RMBS case basis reserves relate to RMBS backed by home equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages. The Company calculated RMBS case basis reserves as of December 31, 2019 for both first and second-lien RMBS transactions using a process called the Roll Rate Methodology (“Roll Rate Methodology”). The Roll Rate Methodology is a multi-step process using databases of loan level information, proprietary internal cash flow models, and commercially available models to estimate potential losses and recoveries on insured bonds. Roll Rate is defined as the probability that current loans become delinquent and subsequently default and loans in the delinquent pipeline are charged-off or liquidated. The loss reserve estimates are based on a probability-weighted average of three scenarios of loan losses. Additional data used for both second and first-liens include historic averages of deal specific voluntary prepayment rates, forward projections of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) interest rates, and historic averages of deal-specific loss severities. In addition, for second-lien RMBS backed by home equity lines of credit, the Company assumes a constant basis spread between Prime and LIBOR interest rates. In calculating ultimate cumulative losses for RMBS, the Company estimates the amount of second-lien loans that are expected to be charged-off (deemed uncollectible by servicers of the transactions) and, for first-lien RMBS, the Company estimates the amount of loans that are expected to be liquidated in the future through foreclosure or short sale. The time to liquidation for a defaulted loan is specific to the loan’s delinquency bucket. For all RMBS transactions, cash flow models consider allocations and other structural aspects and claims against MBIA Corp.’s insurance policy consistent with such policy’s terms and conditions. The estimated net claims from the procedure above are then discounted using a risk-free rate to a net present value reflecting MBIA’s general obligation to pay claims over time and not on an accelerated basis. The Company monitors RMBS portfolio performance on a monthly basis against projected performance, reviewing delinquencies, roll rates, and prepayment rates (including voluntary and involuntary). However, loan performance remains difficult to predict and losses may exceed expectations. In the event of a material deviation in actual performance from projected performance, the Company would increase or decrease the case basis reserves accordingly and re-evaluate its assumptions. RMBS Recoveries The Company primarily records two types of recoveries related to insured RMBS exposures: excess spread that is generated from the trust structures in the insured transactions; and second-lien “put-back” claims related to those mortgage loans whose inclusion in an insured securitization failed to comply with representations and warranties (“ineligible loans”). Excess Spread Excess spread within insured RMBS securitizations is the difference between interest inflows on mortgage loan collateral and interest outflows on the insured RMBS notes. The aggregate amount of excess spread depends on the future loss trends, which include future delinquency trends, average time to charge-off/liquidate delinquent loans, the future spread between Prime and the LIBOR interest rates, and borrower refinancing behavior (which may be affected by changes in the interest rate environment) that results in voluntary prepayments. Excess spread also includes subsequent recoveries on previously charged-off loans associated with insured second-lien RMBS securitizations. Second-lien Put-Back Claims Related to Ineligible Loans The Company has settled the majority of its put-back claims relating to the inclusion of ineligible loans in securitizations it insured. Only its claims against Credit Suisse remain outstanding. Credit Suisse has challenged the Company’s assessment of the ineligibility of individual mortgage loans and a trial concerning the dispute was held in July and August of 2019. While the Company’s settlement amounts on its prior put-back claims have been consistent with the put-back recoveries that had been included in the Company’s financial statements at the times preceding the settlements, there can be no assurance that the Company will prevail in its litigation against Credit Suisse. However, based on the Company’s assessment of the strength of its contractual put-back rights against Credit Suisse, as well as on its prior settlements with other sellers/servicers and success of other monolines’ put-back settlements, the Company believes it will prevail in enforcing its contractual rights and that it is entitled to collect the full amount of its incurred losses plus contractual interest due. The Company consolidates the RMBS securitization originated by Credit Suisse as a VIE and, therefore, eliminates its estimate of recoveries from its insurance accounting and reflects such recoveries in its accounting for the loan repurchase commitments asset of the VIE using a measurement process similar to that used for insurance accounting. The uncertainty remaining with respect to the ultimate outcome of the litigation with Credit Suisse is contemplated in the probability-weighted scenario based-modeling the Company uses. The Credit Suisse recovery scenarios are based on certain probabilities of ultimate resolution of the dispute with Credit Suisse and the fair values are determined using discounted cash flow models. The Company continues to consider relevant facts and circumstances in developing its assumptions on expected cash inflows, probability of potential recoveries (including the timing and outcome of the litigation) and recovery period. While the Company believes it will be successful in realizing its recoveries from its put-back contract claims against Credit Suisse, the ultimate amount recovered may be materially different from that recorded by the Company given the inherent uncertainty of the manner of resolving the claims (i.e., litigation and/or negotiated out-of-court settlement) and the assumptions used in the required estimation process for accounting purposes which are based, in part, on judgments and other information that are not easily corroborated by historical data or other relevant benchmarks. Refer to “Note 19: Commitments and Contingencies” for further information about the Company’s litigation with Credit Suisse. CDO Reserves and Recoveries The Company also has loss and LAE reserves on certain transactions within its CDO portfolio, primarily its multi-sector CDO asset class that was insured in the form of financial guarantee policies. MBIA’s insured multi-sector CDOs are transactions that include a variety of collateral ranging from corporate bonds to structured finance assets (which includes, but are not limited to, RMBS-related collateral, multi-sector and corporate CDOs). The Company’s process for estimating reserves and credit impairments on these policies is determined as the present value of the probability-weighted potential future losses, net of estimated recoveries, across multiple scenarios. The Company considers several factors when developing the range of potential outcomes and their impact on MBIA. A range of loss scenarios is considered under different default and severity rates for each transaction’s collateral. Additionally, each transaction is evaluated for its commutation potential. Zohar Recoveries MBIA Corp. is seeking to recover the payments it made (plus interest and expenses) with respect to Zohar I and Zohar II. MBIA Corp. anticipates that the primary source of the recoveries will come from the monetization of the Zohar Assets. In March of 2018, the then-director of Zohar I and Zohar II placed those funds into voluntary bankruptcy proceedings in federal bankruptcy court in the District of Delaware (the “Zohar Funds Bankruptcy Cases”). In May of 2018, the Zohar Bankruptcy Settlement established a process by which the debtor funds, through an independent director and a chief restructuring officer, will work with the original sponsor of the funds to monetize the Zohar Assets and repay creditors, including MBIA Corp. While the stay of litigation provided for in the settlement has expired, on September 27, 2019, the Court ruled that the monetization process will continue, which ruling has been appealed though not stayed. In particular, on October 17, 2019, one of the companies (Dura Automotive Systems, LLC), and certain of its affiliates, filed for bankruptcy protection in federal bankruptcy court in the Middle District of Tennessee (the “Dura Bankruptcy Cases”). On November 1, 2019, the Court overseeing the Zohar Funds Bankruptcy Cases entered an Order directing that, effective November 8, 2019, the Dura Bankruptcy Cases shall be transferred to the District of Delaware. The Zohar debtors have substantial interests in the Dura debtors, and hold secured term loan indebtedness and an indirect interest in the majority of the equity in the Dura debtors. There can be no assurance that the outcome of the Dura Bankruptcy Cases will not have a material adverse impact on MBIA Corp.’s ability to recover the payments it made on Zohar II. Salvage and subrogation recoveries related to Zohar I and Zohar II are reported within “Insurance loss recoverable” on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. The Company’s estimate of the insurance loss recoverable for Zohar I and Zohar II includes probability-weighted scenarios of the ultimate monetized recovery from the Zohar Assets. Notwithstanding the procedures agreed to in the Zohar Bankruptcy Settlement and confirmed by the Court, there can be no assurance that the value of the Zohar Assets will be sufficient to permit MBIA Corp. to recover all or substantially all of the payments it made on Zohar I and Zohar II. Failure to recover such payments could impede MBIA Corp.’s ability to make payments when due on other policies. MBIA Corp. believes that if the NYSDFS concludes at any time that MBIA Insurance Corporation will not be able to pay its policyholder claims, the NYSDFS would likely put MBIA Insurance Corporation into a rehabilitation or liquidation proceeding under Article 74 of the NYIL and/or take such other actions as the NYSDFS may deem necessary to protect the interests of MBIA Insurance Corporation’s policyholders. The determination to commence such a proceeding or take other such actions is within the exclusive control of the NYSDFS. Summary of Loss and LAE Reserves and Recoveries The Company’s loss and LAE reserves and recoveries before consolidated VIE eliminations, along with amounts that were eliminated as a result of consolidating VIEs for the international and structured finance insurance segment, which are included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, are presented in the following table:
|  | As of December 31, 2019 |  |  | As of December 31, 2018 |
In millions |  | Balance Sheet Line Item |  |  | Balance Sheet Line Item |
|  | Insurance loss recoverable |  |  | Loss and LAE reserves (2) |  |  | Insurance loss recoverable |  |  | Loss and LAE reserves (2) |
U.S. Public Finance Insurance |  | $ | 911 |  |  | $ | 432 |  |  | $ | 571 |  |  | $ | 551 |
International and Structured Finance Insurance: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Before VIE eliminations (1) |  |  | 1,286 |  |  |  | 749 |  |  |  | 1,461 |  |  |  | 668 |
VIE eliminations (1) |  |  | (503 | ) |  |  | (280 | ) |  |  | (437 | ) |  |  | (254 | )
Total international and structured finance insurance |  |  | 783 |  |  |  | 469 |  |  |  | 1,024 |  |  |  | 414 |
Total |  | $ | 1,694 |  |  | $ | 901 |  |  | $ | 1,595 |  |  | $ | 965 |
(1)—Includes loan repurchase commitments of $486 million and $418 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. (2)—Amounts are net of expected recoveries. Beginning with the second quarter of 2019, the Company changed its presentation of its insurance loss recoverable and its loss and LAE reserves related to its insured first-lien RMBS exposure. Certain amounts have been reclassified in prior years’ financial statements to conform to the current presentation. Refer to “Note 2: Significant Accounting Policies” for additional information about this presentation change. Changes in Loss and LAE Reserves The following table presents changes in the Company’s loss and LAE reserves for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 . Changes in loss reserves attributable to the accretion of the claim liability discount, changes in discount rates, changes in amount and timing of estimated claim payments and estimated recoveries on such claims, changes in assumptions and changes in LAE reserves are recorded in “Losses and loss adjustment” expenses in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. As of December 31, 2019, the weighted average risk-free rate used to discount the Company’s loss reserves (claim liability) was 1.92%. LAE reserves are generally expected to be settled within a one-year period and are not discounted. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company’s gross loss and LAE reserves included $34 million and $60 million, respectively, related to LAE.
In millions |  | Changes in Loss and LAE Reserves for the Year Ended December 31, 2019 |  |  |  |
Gross Loss and LAE Reserves as of December 31, 2018 (1) |  | Loss Payments |  |  | Accretion of Claim Liability Discount |  |  | Changes in Discount Rates |  |  | Changes in Assumptions |  |  | Changes in Unearned Premium Revenue |  |  | Changes in LAE Reserves |  |  | Other |  |  | Gross Loss and LAE Reserves as of December 31, 2019 (1) |
$ 965 |  | $ | (431) |  |  | $ | 18 |  |  | $ | (54) |  |  | $ | 407 |  |  | $ | 23 |  |  | $ | (26) |  |  | $ | (1) |  |  | $ | 901 |
(1)—Amounts are net of expected recoveries of unpaid claims.
In millions |  | Changes in Loss and LAE Reserves for the Year Ended December 31, 2018 |  |  |  |
Gross Loss and LAE Reserves as of December 31, 2017 |  | Loss Payments |  |  | Accretion of Claim Liability Discount |  |  | Changes in Discount Rates |  |  | Changes in Assumptions |  |  | Changes in Unearned Premium Revenue |  |  | Changes in LAE Reserves |  |  | Gross Loss and LAE Reserves as of December 31, 2018 (1) |
$ 1,013 |  | $ | (354 | ) |  | $ | 26 |  |  | $ | 13 |  |  | $ | 258 |  |  | $ | 15 |  |  | $ | (6 | ) |  | $ | 965 |
(1)—Amounts are net of expected recoveries of unpaid claims. The decrease in the Company’s loss reserves during 2019 primarily relates to payments on certain Puerto Rico exposures and the elimination of COFINA loss reserves due to the consolidation of the Trusts as VIEs. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in loss reserves related to certain Puerto Rico exposures and first-lien RMBS transactions. The decrease in the Company’s loss reserves during 2018 was primarily related to insured RMBS and the payment of an international public finance transaction, partially offset by an increase in loss reserves on certain Puerto Rico exposures. Changes in Insurance Loss Recoverable Insurance loss recoverable represents the Company’s estimate of recoveries on paid claims and LAE. The Company recognizes potential recoveries on paid claims based on the probability-weighted net cash inflows present valued at applicable risk-free rates as of the measurement date. The following table presents changes in the Company’s insurance loss recoverable for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018. Changes in insurance loss recoverable attributable to the accretion of the discount on the recoverable, changes in discount rates, changes in amount and timing of estimated collections, changes in assumptions and changes in LAE recoveries are recorded in “Losses and loss adjustment” expenses in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.
|  |  |  |  | Changes in Insurance Loss Recoverable |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  | for the Year Ended December 31, 2019 |  |  |  |
In millions |  | Gross Reserve as of December 31, 2018 |  |  | Collections for Cases |  |  | Accretion of Recoveries |  |  | Changes in Discount Rates |  |  | Changes in Assumptions (1) |  |  | Other (2) |  |  | Gross Reserve as of December 31, 2019 |
Insurance loss recoverable |  | $ | 1,595 |  |  | $ | (148 | ) |  | $ | 35 |  |  | $ | 70 |  |  | $ | 105 |  |  | $ | 37 |  |  | $ | 1,694 |
(1)—Includes amounts related to paid claims and LAE that are expected to be recovered in the future. (2)—Primarily changes in amount and timing of collections.
|  |  |  |  | Changes in Insurance Loss Recoverable |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  | for the Year Ended December 31, 2018 |  |  |  |
In millions |  | Gross Reserve as of December 31, 2017 |  |  | Collections for Cases |  |  | Accretion of Recoveries |  |  | Changes in Discount Rates |  |  | Changes in Assumptions (1) |  |  | Other (2) |  |  | Gross Reserve as of December 31, 2018 |
Insurance loss recoverable |  | $ | 545 |  |  | $ | (56 | ) |  | $ | 25 |  |  | $ | (13 | ) |  | $ | 1,096 |  |  | $ | (2 | ) |  | $ | 1,595 |
(1)—Includes amounts which have been paid and are expected to be recovered in the future. (2)—Primarily changes in amount and timing of collections. The increase in the Company’s insurance loss recoverable during 2019 was primarily due to estimated recoveries of claims paid on certain Puerto Rico credits, partially offset by amounts received related to recoveries on second-lien RMBS and CDO transactions and a decline in the amount of estimated future recoveries related to CDO transactions. The increase in the Company’s insurance loss recoverable during 2018 was primarily due to the re-establishment of recoveries for Zohar I and Zohar II upon deconsolidation of the related VIEs during 2018 and estimated recoveries of claims paid on certain Puerto Rico credits. Loss and LAE Activity For the year ended December 31, 2019, loss and LAE incurred primarily related to a decrease in expected salvage collections related to CDOs and an increase in expected payments on insured first-lien RMBS transactions and certain Puerto Rico exposures. For the year ended December 31, 2018, losses and LAE incurred primarily related to an increase in expected payments on Puerto Rico exposures, partially offset by a decrease in expected payments on second-lien RMBS transactions and an increase in expected collections from CDOs. For the year ended December 31, 2017, losses and LAE incurred primarily related to an increase in actual and expected payments on certain Puerto Rico exposures, insured first-lien RMBS transactions and a decrease in actual and projected collections from mortgage insurance included in the Company’s excess spread within its second-lien RMBS transactions from the settlement of litigation regarding insurance coverage involving Old Republic Insurance Corporation, Bank of America, N.A. and the Bank of New York Mellon. Costs associated with remediating insured obligations assigned to the Company’s surveillance categories are recorded as LAE and are included in “Losses and loss adjustment” expenses on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. For the years ended December 31, 2019 , 2018 and 2017, gross LAE related to remediating insured obligations were $29 million, $23 million and $42 million, respectively. Surveillance Categories The following table provides information about the financial guarantees and related claim liability included in each of MBIA’s surveillance categories as of December 31, 2019:
|  | Surveillance Categories |
|  | Caution |  |  | Caution |  |  | Caution |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | List |  |  | List |  |  | List |  |  | Classified |  |  |  |
$ in millions |  | Low |  |  | Medium |  |  | High |  |  | List |  |  | Total |
Number of policies |  |  | 45 |  |  |  | 19 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 212 |  |  |  | 276 |
Number of issues (1) |  |  | 13 |  |  |  | 5 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 94 |  |  |  | 112 |
Remaining weighted average contract period (in years) |  |  | 7.3 |  |  |  | 7.2 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 7.9 |  |  |  | 7.7 |
Gross insured contractual payments outstanding: (2) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Principal |  | $ | 1,546 |  |  | $ | 248 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 3,794 |  |  | $ | 5,588 |
Interest |  |  | 2,107 |  |  |  | 110 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 1,668 |  |  |  | 3,885 |
Total |  | $ | 3,653 |  |  | $ | 358 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 5,462 |  |  | $ | 9,473 |
Gross Claim Liability (3) |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 965 |  |  | $ | 965 |
Less: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Gross Potential Recoveries (4) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 2,184 |  |  |  | 2,184 |
Discount, net (5) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (453 | ) |  |  | (453 | )
Net claim liability (recoverable) |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | (766 | ) |  | $ | (766 | )
Unearned premium revenue |  | $ | 6 |  |  | $ | 3 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 39 |  |  | $ | 48 |
Reinsurance recoverable on paid and unpaid losses (6) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 19 |
(1)—An “issue” represents the aggregate of financial guarantee policies that share the same revenue source for purposes of making debt service payments on the insured debt. (2)—Represents contractual principal and interest payments due by the issuer of the obligations insured by MBIA. (3)—The gross claim liability with respect to Puerto Rico exposures are net of expected recoveries for policies in a net payable position. (4)—Gross potential recoveries with respect to certain Puerto Rico exposures are net of the claim liability for policies in a net recoverable position. (5)—Represents discount related to Gross Claim Liability and Gross Potential Recoveries. (6)—Included in “Other assets” on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The following table provides information about the financial guarantees and related claim liability included in each of MBIA’s surveillance categories as of December 31, 2018:
|  | Surveillance Categories |
|  | Caution |  |  | Caution |  |  | Caution |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | List |  |  | List |  |  | List |  |  | Classified |  |  |  |
$ in millions |  | Low |  |  | Medium |  |  | High |  |  | List |  |  | Total |
Number of policies |  |  | 50 |  |  |  | 18 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 233 |  |  |  | 301 |
Number of issues (1) |  |  | 16 |  |  |  | 4 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 102 |  |  |  | 122 |
Remaining weighted average contract period (in years) |  |  | 6.7 |  |  |  | 8.0 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 9.7 |  |  |  | 8.9 |
Gross insured contractual payments outstanding: (2) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Principal |  | $ | 1,604 |  |  | $ | 249 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 5,353 |  |  | $ | 7,206 |
Interest |  |  | 2,118 |  |  |  | 123 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 5,414 |  |  |  | 7,655 |
Total |  | $ | 3,722 |  |  | $ | 372 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 10,767 |  |  | $ | 14,861 |
Gross Claim Liability (3) |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 1,085 |  |  | $ | 1,085 |
Less: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Gross Potential Recoveries (4) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 2,363 |  |  |  | 2,363 |
Discount, net (5) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (670 | ) |  |  | (670 | )
Net claim liability (recoverable) |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | (608 | ) |  | $ | (608 | )
Unearned premium revenue |  | $ | 5 |  |  | $ | 4 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 63 |  |  | $ | 72 |
Reinsurance recoverable on paid and unpaid losses (6) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 21 |
(1)—An “issue” represents the aggregate of financial guarantee policies that share the same revenue source for purposes of making debt service payments on the insured debt. (2)—Represents contractual principal and interest payments due by the issuer of the obligations insured by MBIA. (3)—The gross claim liability with respect to Puerto Rico exposures are net of expected recoveries for policies in a net payable position. (4)—Gross potential recoveries with respect to certain Puerto Rico exposures are net of the claim liability for policies in a net recoverable position. (5)—Represents discount related to Gross Claim Liability and Gross Potential Recoveries. (6)—Included in “Other assets” on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. As a result of the Company changing its presentation of its insurance loss recoverable and its loss and LAE reserves related to its first-lien exposure as discussed above, the amounts in the preceding table related to gross claim liability and gross potential recoveries have both been increased by $108 million as of December 31, 2018 with no impact to the net claim liability (recoverable).

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- Definition The entire disclosure for liabilities related to future policy benefits and unpaid claims and claim adjustments. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 944 -SubTopic 40 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2560295 + Details
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- References No definition available. + Details
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