State Fire Insurance.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 111, 14 May 1904, Page 3

State Fire Insurance.

SOME INTERESTING FIGURES. The Christchurch Presß, commenting on the statement by its Wellington correspondent, that Mr Brindley hopes to have the State l'ire Instance Department in working order throughout the colony by the end of July, remarks : —"lit is perhaps just as well for the Department that it has not been in Working order since the beginning of the present year, for during the past four months the insurance companies doing business in New Zealand hgve suffered more severely than during any similar period for many years past. We beli.'ve we are well within the mark in stating that the losses sustained by the companies since January i have not been less than £22">,u00. There have been 14 lires, on each of which the insurance loss has amounted to £2OOO or more. The list may be interesting to those who believe that the insurance companies make colossal profits out of their premium revenue. It is possible that in one or two cases the actual amount of insurance loss was a little less than is stated, but, on the other hand, in a number of others the amount stated was actually exceeded, and the total sum of the losses is rather understated than exaggerated. The estimate of £225,000 of the total amount cf the losses experienced by the insurance companies since the beginning of the year includes, of course, numbers of small lires in which the loss insured was under £2OOO, but which in the aggregate amount to a large sum. The total loss from these lires over and above the amount of insurances is considerable, und it must also be remembered that fire losses occasionally occur which are not covered by insurance at all, while apart from all these considerations the loss resulting to a small community like New Zealand is a serious matter. The State Fire Insurance Department is now practically an established fact. As we have stated previously, we consider it an unnecessary departure on the part of the Government, but as the colony will be responsible for the initial capital of £IOO,OOO, and for any deficiency that may arise at any future time, it is to be hoped that it will not meet in its early days with such painful experiences, which would have been much more unpleasant had it not been for the wise policy followed by the companies of building up strong reserve funds in the good years.