The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, FEB. 3, 1883. FIRE INSURANCE.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 66, 3 February 1883, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, FEB. 3, 1883. FIRE INSURANCE.

Th k perusol of the prospectus of the Government Insurance ocpartmenr, and an ex on;i nation of the admirable tables provided for the inVt-mation of intending: insurers, tog-ether with tl'e extreme clearness of explanation given in the accompany' ">g letter press, has exci'ed in cur minds a desire to see the Government extend their operations in the direction ot Fire Insurance. There nre many reasons why | fire policies, if issued by the Government, would be eagerly sought aiier. First, from the absolute security the State would g-ive to the insurer. Secondly, tlie less premiums r hat the Government would be able to charge, as con pared with Foreign or New Zealand offices. As the Government wovk could be done with very little addition to iho present stall' employed at the bead office, and posfniaste s would be as competent to take a rbk on a horse as on a man's life, the thing 1 appears feasible enough. It is still mmc so when we consider the enormous dividends paid by Fi<e Insurance Companies, their large and extensive burtd'.Dfys, their reserve funds placed on sti^e mortgages yield ing in themselves a fair interest on tbe capital, their hundreds of well paid directors, managers, clerks, in spoctors, agenls, »tc Tbe enormous sums that are paid out of the j.ocke^ of unfortunate insurers to maintain these, and which fro to swell the wealth of capitalists who find means, in many cases, to spend the greater part of their incomes in oilier lands. Whereas, if .insurers were able to pay for fire risks accepted by the Government, the money would go to swell the revenue and actually assist to re duce taxation in some degree. Of course, on the other hand mu^t be considered the rights of ve?ted intereat?, but only so far as the interest of insurers are concerned. For it . ist be borne in mind that insurers .vho have been unfortunate enough to suffer loss by fire, have, in nearly every case before the value of the policy i« paid, to put up with plenty of annoyance and obstruction on the part of Insurance Companies, who are not too delicately minded to take advantage of the smallest error of the sufferer, and submitting him to the hnmiliatiou ot a coroners inquest, with all its unple tsant accompany men ts of "lawyers to watch the case," detectives, et lioc genus omn*. Of course we are aware that in many cases these enquiries are caused by the ignorance or timidity of a local agent who is afraid to exercise his own judgment, or who has not the courage of his opinions or to face the directors of his company and declare the lo«s to be a fair one, and recommend it to be p. id at once. Hill the insurer has to suffer. Cases do occnr where a 10-s is paid promptly, biu only where ihe amount id very trifling and the circumstances surrounding tli* fire make it alino?t impossible for the most obtuse or timid agent to hold back, or attempt to evade the conditions of the policy. With Fire Insurance Companies the order of things is purely one sided. Directors appear t> believe that after the premiums of the insurer have be^n paid into ihe funds of the company, that no further obligations exist, or if they doadmicany they aye :<• beev:.ded on the slightest pretext, and payment is an evil to be shunned. We firmly believe that it -the Government followed the course we recommend, not only would insurance Companies be compelled to charge only fair rates, but the present combination under which they are working to compel the paymerts of high premium would be broken down, and the capital invested in them would yet yield a fair I'i'Hirn per .cent. The Government ] olicies would be held in .equal or highest, esteem, fbr the excellent ri : as6n tliWt th* Government could insure at the lowest' rates, and claims would be psid without so many I wetu-y heartburnings, as arc caused by private compauics.