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Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Text Block [Abstract]  
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, 2020. 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, 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 state and local governments and territory obligors that National insures are under financial and budgetary stress. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic may present additional but unknown credit risks to National’s insured portfolio. Puerto Rico had been experiencing significant fiscal stress and constrained liquidity, and in response, the U.S. Congress passed PROMESA. 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 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 COVID-19 and the Company’s Puerto Rico exposures.
Recoveries on Puerto Rico Losses
For recoveries 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 financial guarantee VIEs that are eliminated in consolidation. In addition,
COVID-19
may present additional but unknown credit risks to MBIA Corp.’s insured portfolio. Refer to “Note 1: Business Developments and Risk and Uncertainties”, for further information on
COVID-19.
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, 2020 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 potential 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 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
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had settled all of its
put-back
claims relating to the inclusion of ineligible loans in securitizations it insured, with only its claims against Credit Suisse outstanding. In the litigation brought to pursue these claims, Credit Suisse had challenged the Company’s assessment of the ineligibility of individual mortgage loans. In November of 2020, following a trial and post-trial briefing, the court overseeing the litigation issued a decision declaring that MBIA Corp. had succeeded in establishing that a majority of the loans in the transaction were ineligible. In January of 2021, the Court issued an order declaring that Credit Suisse was liable
 
to MBIA Corp. for approximately $604 million in damages. On February 9, 2021, the parties to the litigation entered into a settlement agreement pursuant to which Credit Suisse paid MBIA Corp. $600 million, and on February 11, 2021, the court entered an order dismissing the case. Refer to “Note 19: Commitments and Contingencies” for further information about the Company’s litigation with Credit Suisse. As of December 31, 2020, the Company consolidated 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 fair value measurement.
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, commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”), ABS and CDO collateral). 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. 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, MBIA and certain parties to the Zohar Funds Bankruptcy Cases agreed to a stay of litigation and a process, among other things (the “Zohar Bankruptcy Settlement”) by which the debtor funds, through an independent director and a chief restructuring officer, would 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 Zohar Bankruptcy Settlement has expired, the court has ruled that the monetization process will continue, a decision that was affirmed by the federal District Court for the District of Delaware in July of 2020.
While MBIA Corp. anticipates that the primary source of the recoveries will come from the monetization of the Zohar Assets, significant uncertainty remains with respect to realizable value. In late March of 2020, the original sponsor of the Zohar Funds resigned from her role as director and manager of all but one of the portfolio companies, which companies have debt and equity that comprise, in part, the Zohar Assets. New directors and managers are currently in place at all but two of the portfolio companies, which are all subject to the above-referenced monetization process. There can be no assurance, however, that the recent coronavirus outbreak and/or other developments will not cause the monetization of the Zohar Assets to be delayed or impacted. 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 monetization of the Zohar Assets will yield amounts sufficient to permit MBIA Corp. to recover a substantial portion of the payments it made on Zohar I and Zohar II. In particular, as the monetization process unfolds in coordination with the new directors and managers in place, and new information concerning the financial condition of the portfolio companies is disclosed, the Company may revise its expectations for recoveries. For example, at a June 3, 2020 hearing, counsel for one of the portfolio companies announced that the monetization process for that company would be delayed as a consequence of having to investigate issues relating to the integrity of the company’s financial statements. Failure to recover a substantial portion of the payments made on Zohar I and Zohar II 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, 2020 and 2019 are presented in the following table:
 
    
As
 
of
 
December 31,
 
2020
    
As
 
of
 
December 31,
 
2019
 
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
   $ 1,220      $ 469      $ 911      $ 432  
International and Structured Finance Insurance:
                                   
Before VIE eliminations
(1)
     1,082        780        1,286        749  
VIE eliminations
(1)
     (625)        (259)        (503)        (280)  
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Total international and structured finance insurance
     457        521        783        469  
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Total
   $ 1,677      $ 990      $ 1,694      $ 901  
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
 
(1)—Includes loan repurchase commitments of $604 million and $486 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
(2)—Amounts are net of expected recoveries.
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, 2020 and 2019. Changes in loss and LAE reserves, with the exception of loss and LAE payments are recorded in “Losses and loss adjustment” expenses in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. As of December 31, 2020, the weighted average risk-free rate used to discount the Company’s loss reserves (claim liability) was 0.92%. LAE reserves are generally expected to be settled within a one-year period and are not discounted. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019 the Company’s gross loss and LAE reserves included $30 million and $34 million, respectively, related to LAE.
 
In millions
  
Changes in Loss and LAE Reserves for the Year Ended December 31, 2020
        
Gross Loss and
LAE
Reserves as of
December 31,
2019
(1)
  
Loss Payments
    
Accretion of
Claim Liability
Discount
    
Changes in
Discount Rates
    
Changes in
Assumptions
    
Changes in
Unearned
Premium
Revenue
    
Other
    
Gross Loss
and LAE
Reserves as of
December 31,
2020
(1)
 
$        901
   $ (441)      $ 11      $ (86)      $ 606      $ 8     
$
(9)      $ 990  
 
  
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
 
(1)—Includes changes in amount and timing of estimated payments and recoveries.
 
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)—Includes changes in amount and timing of estimated payments and recoveries.
 
The increase in the Company’s loss and LAE reserves for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily related to an increase in expected payments on certain Puerto Rico exposures and an increase in losses on insured first-lien RMBS due to the decline in risk-free rates during 2020 used to present value loss reserves. This increase was partially offset by actual payments made and favorable changes in future recoveries on unpaid losses due to the decline in risk-free rates on certain Puerto Rico exposures.
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.
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, 2020 and 2019. Changes in insurance loss recoverable with the exception of collections, 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, 2020
        
In millions
 
Gross
Reserve as of
December 31,
2019
   
Collections
for Cases
   
Accretion
of
Recoveries
   
Changes
in
Discount
Rates
   
Changes in
Assumptions
(1)
   
Other
   
Gross
Reserve as of
December 31,
2020
 
Insurance loss recoverable
   $ 1,694      $ (49)      $ 14      $ 115      $ (94)      $ (3)      $ 1,677  
 
(1)—Includes amounts related to paid claims and LAE.
 
           
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.
The decrease in the Company’s insurance loss recoverable during 2020 was primarily due to a decline in expected recoveries on CDOs. This was partially offset by certain Puerto Rico claim payments that are expected to be recovered in the future as well as a decline in risk-free rates on certain Puerto Rico exposures.
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.
Loss and LAE Activity
For the year ended December 31, 2020, loss and LAE incurred primarily related to a decrease in expected salvage collections related to CDOs, an increase in actual and expected payments on certain Puerto Rico credits and an increase in losses on first-lien RMBS due to the decline in risk-free rates during 2020 used to present value loss reserves. During 2020, overall, risk-free rates used to discount loss reserve and recovery cash flows declined. The decline in risk-free rates had the impact of increasing the present value of recoveries, primarily on certain Puerto Rico credits, which was partially offset by the impact of increasing the present value of future claim payments across the Company’s insured portfolio.
 
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.
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, 2020, 2019 and 2018 gross LAE related to remediating insured obligations were $51
 
million, $29
 
million and $23, 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, 2020:
 
    
Surveillance Categories
 
    
Caution
    
Caution
    
Caution
               
    
List
    
List
    
List
    
Classified
        
$ in millions
  
Low
    
Medium
    
High
    
List
    
Total
 
Number of policies
     46        16               219        281  
Number of issues
(1)
     16        3               100        119  
Remaining weighted average contract period (in years)
     6.4        6.4               7.9        7.4  
Gross insured contractual payments outstanding:
(2)
                                            
Principal
   $ 1,422      $ 123      $      $ 3,302      $ 4,847  
Interest
     1,974        54               1,441        3,469  
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Total
   $ 3,396      $ 177      $      $ 4,743      $ 8,316  
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Gross Claim Liability
(3)
   $      $      $      $ 1,088      $ 1,088  
Less:
                                            
Gross Potential Recoveries
(4)
                          1,947        1,947  
Discount, net
(5)
                          (173)        (173)  
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Net claim liability (recoverable)
   $      $      $      $ (686)      $ (686)  
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Unearned premium revenue
   $ 10      $      $      $ 35      $ 45  
Reinsurance recoverable on paid and unpaid losses
(6)
                                       $ 11  
 
(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, 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.