Abstract. A reparametrization of the Generalized Pareto Distribution is here proposed. It is suitable to parsimoniously check trend assumptions within a Point-Over-Threshold model of hazardous events. This is based on considerations about the scale of both the excesses of the event magnitudes and the distribution parameters. The usefulness of this approach is illustrated with a data set from two buoys, where hypotheses about the homogeneity of climate conditions and lack of trends are assessed.