STRANGE POLICIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 99, 29 April 1933, Page 8 (Supplement)

STRANGE POLICIES.

ROMANCE OF LLOYD'S.

INSURING AGAINST EVERYTHING.

LINK WITH SLAVE-TRADERS.

It is a strange freak of circumstance that Lloyd's, founded in a coffee-house late in the seventeenth century for the purposes of marine insurance, should have been a strong factor in the agitation against slavery a century later. Part of its legitimate business was the insurance of slaves, which were then regarded as cargo. Among the curious policies kept at Lloyd's is one dated 1794 issued on goods in the Guipurzcoa sailing from Liverpool to the coast of Africa and thence to Cuba. The ship's value was placed at £3500, that the slaves at £45 each; the rate of premium was 20 guineas per cent, and it was agreed that if a slave "destroys himself through despair, which often happens, it should be regarded as natural death. Threw Them Overboard. The first real attack on the traffic came when the underwriters at Lloyd's refused to pay losses on a cargo of slaves whom the master of the ship had thrown overboard on account of an outbreak of smallpox, to which the conditions of slave-carrying rendered them liable. The case was carried to the High Court, and created a great public sensation. The conditions of this appalling action were ghastly enough to strike the imagination of all who heard of it, even at a time not remarkable for indulgence in the finer sentiments. The outbreak of public indignation was so intense that it was one of the most imporant steps in the agitation which led to the abolition of the slave trade and the emancipation of the Negro. Insurance other than marine now represents a considerable proportion of Lloyd's business. "An underwriter in the course of one working day," it is stated, "may interest himself in a fire risk in Paris or Melbourne, a millionaire's jewels in New York, an earthquake in Japan, or the household goods of a ratepayer in Upper Tooting or Golders Green." Even in the coffee-house period what was known as "gambling risks" were undertaken on, for example, the lives of public men who were ill. It is said that one famous invalid picked up a news sheet for amusement and saw his life quoted at 90 per cent. This was too much for him, and he died from, the shock! Some underwriters in Lloyd's Coffee-House even used to bribe the servants to secure the latest news from the sick bed. One curious policy ... 'is that of the owner of a shop below the Monument who insured against it falling on his place of business} Why Actresses Insure. In our own day Mistinguette, the star i of the Moulin Rouge, started a new fashion in insurance when she insured her legs for thousands of pounds. Another French actress, Cecile Sorel of the Comedie Francaise, "insured her hat, •which was studded with jewels, from being blown overboard on an Atlantic crossing." A Fat Lady in an American circus, finding she wag losing weight, covered herself against loss by such a catastrophe. "Weather risks are, of course, insured every day of the year. One of the most unusual policies was that taken out by a Hollywood film company against any other weather but snow on a day when they were to take a large cast into the mountains for a "shot" which had to have a snow background. Another was that taken out by many scientists who travelled with Giggleswick for the recent eclipse. "The odds quoted against the sky being clouded were £10 per cent, and thousands of pounds were involved. Luckily, however, the sky cleared just in time." Insurance even against twins is fairly common, the demand particularly coming from the United States. The rate was quoted at about seven guineas per cent until a well-known society woman in the United States insured herself heavily after a successful prediction with the aid of X-rays! The rates are no\t much higher. Risks in Trade. In elections firms take out policies against the success of a party which they fear might be detrimental to their business because of taxation or duties. Early last year, prior to the imposition of tariffs, foreign exporters insured their cargoes against delay in reaching British ports. Theatre managers take out policies against death in the Royal family involving the closing-down of their shows during a period of national mourning. Policies were taken out against the postponement of the Coronation of King Edward VIL in 1901, against the reinstatement of the exKaiser to the throne of Germany during November, 1925, against the cancellation of the Derby during the general strike of May, 1926, and against Miss Gertrude Ederle swimming the Channel on or before December 31, 1926—which she succeeded in doing, thus involving the payment of a loss of £1803. The Earliest Air Insurance. The earliest aviation policy, it is believed, was that issued when Claude Graliame-White and Louis Paulhan flew from London to Manchester in 1910; the first airship policy, that on the Schwaben, in 1913. "This Zeppelin," the authors state, "was destroyed by fire, and there was some discussion due to the fact that 'explosion' was specifically excepted, but the matter was compromised. A record of the movements of aircraft, as of ships, is now kept in the 'Room.'" The first insurance taken out against risk of damage by enemy aircraft during the Great War was for £50,000 on the building of Threadneedle House, and dated September 7, 1914. Such are 'the manifold activities of Lloyd's to-dav. The evolution of this, " the most important and practical corporation in the world," with 1500 special agents in various ports, makes an absorbing story.