INSURANCE OF MEAT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 492, 27 April 1909, Page 10

INSURANCE OF MEAT.

As insurance premiums . and all other • charges naturally , como'back upon tho'pro- ;> ducer iii the • end,' the following paragraph' : from "Cold Storage" (London) will, intorfcst Now Zealand stockowiiers:— ,'. "Messrs."Weddeiy 'Review' drew attenl tion to rising rates in tho , insurance of • frozen and chilled meat, and suggested that ' the underwriters sliould differentiate between ■ good and bad risks at works, on the various .. ships, and in the various stores,, instead of treating all, risks as equal. Insurance com-, panics- havo not dono this in. the, past, in fact,. tho underwriter has, been (linfortun--1 ately for/tho producer) much too passive. His position,: has been,, this. ..''When-ho has found claims'increasing, and has had to . allow them, he has adjusted his financial position by raising premiums. Thero havo been some very heavy losses on frozen cargoes of lato years; for instance, Sucvic, Paparoa, and tho 20,000 cases of boned beef condemned last year at Glasgow., In. addition to this class of claim, there is that made in the ordinary.; way of holders of documents. It is, I : believe,-tho custom for the great : bulk of consignees to give'notice-of-claim; a-s . a nominal thing,' on. the arrival of -the ship with the goods. As : the' policy only runs for 30 days after the vessel docks, and as there may be some delay, in discharge, ■ such , a courso may he considered necessary.- ■ If a survey,has been called,for, it is always,possible to detect damage of somo sort or de-' grce. So in ono'way and another'th'o underwriters come to the conclusion that insuring frozen meat is not a paying game. Many have retired., and rates have.'risen rapidly. As for chilled beef , from South ■ America, to; a great extent this-cannot be covered at all, and, whero it is insured,- the rate of premium is £5 or '£6 ipor ' cent." s - ■