BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY’S STOCK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26629, 27 November 1947, Page 6

BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY’S STOCK

INSURANCE MONEY

GESTURE BY UNDERWRITERS P.A. CHRISTCHURCH, Nov. 26. An immediate cash payment of more than £250,000 will be c made to J. Ballantyne and Co. by the fire underwriters of Christchurch on Friday. Payment of this sum, which represents 75 per cent, of the insurances on the stock and contents covered against loss by fire, was decided on by the tinderwriters last week. Thirty insurance companies are concerned in the payment. The chairman of the Special Loss Settling Committee appointed by the Canterbury Fire Underwriters’ Association, Mr M. J. Russell, said to-day that in the ordinary course of events any fire loss, large or small, took time to assess, and in the case of Ballantyne and Co., with the vast amount involved, it might have been months before any payment was made. Ballantynes throughout their history had been staunch friends of the insurance companies in Christchurch, and because of the disaster that had overcome them the underwriters thought it would be an acknowledgment of their loyalty to make this offer, which was an unprecedented one in any case in New Zealand. It was natural that settlement of other losses, such as buildings and rents, must remain in abeyance until the necessary valuations had been made. In a statement announcing the underwriters’ offer of immediate settlement, issued to-day, the directors of J. Ballantype and Co. expressed their deep appreciation of the underwriters’ very generous action.