LIFE INSURANCE TOUTS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 9989, 19 March 1898, Page 5

LIFE INSURANCE TOUTS.

TO THS BDITOR OF THE I>R_SS. i I Sir, —Some few years ago the touts for the Government Life Insuranoe Department and other similar institutions devoted considerable -energy and attention, during certain seasons of the year, to the insurance of the lives ot shearers employed at the various woolsheds in the district. Ido not know if this practice is being continued, but I was told that a considerably large proportion of this class of insurance lapsed after payment of the first or second premiums; Now I find that these touts are giving their attention to the insurance of female domestic servants and are very active and energetic, and when a young woman has been induced to insure she looks upon him as her friend for life, and perhaps the agent in some cases, hopes that he may become even nearer and dearer. When | our tout has succeeded in insuring a life and pocketed the commission he gets thereon, he is not by any means done with his victim, but makes use of her as a decoy to bring fresh flies into his web. He gets her to speak to her friends on the subject, and if she lets him know " her day out" he will go round with her and explain matters to the " expectant fly. I will give you an example how these men work, the facts having recently come to my knowledge. An insurance tout met a young woman whom he had previously induced to insure, j and on the following day called on her at the private residence where she Was employed, had afternoon tea in the kitchen and stopped for an hour and half, thus delaying the maids in their work on a very busy day. The mysteries of life insurance, his recent travels, the merits of a » special brand of bicycle, and small talk generally was yery entertaining, but .all this time our tout did not lose sight of the object he had in view, and succeeded in ascertaining that one of his hearers had a friend who, she thought, might insure; after obtaining certain particulars the "tout" left and promised to call again shortly and let her know what premium her friend would have to pay. He of course kept his promise, and was round again two days afterwards with the information, on this occasion bringing his friends a bag of lollies, and he again stopped to' afternoon tea. Being evidently anxious to learn if the intended fly was ready for his net he called od two subsequent evenings in the same week, but as he did not see the decoy on these occasions he was compelled to call again the following week, arriving just in time for more afternoon tea, and this is evidently the sort of thing that is going on all round the district.

The - female domestic servants in Christchurch are.a very superior class, and most of them are healthy, strong young women, who, under ordinary, circumstances, should their parents, and, consequently, they do not insure their lives with the objectof providing for relatives. The insurance toutknows this very well, and is quite prepared for it, he brings them under another " table" whereby- they will themselves obtain a substantial sum in cash upon attaining a certain age, and this is the bait held out and swallowed; tho premiums under this table are high, the average being from 3 to 4 per cent.

A case, was brought under my notice of a young woman who was induced to insure her life in this way, expecting to get a sum in cash at a certain age. She paid the first premium, nearly £8, drawing the amount out of the small savings in the post office she had succeeded in futting by out of her hard earned wages, n due course the policy reached her, and

afterwards also the demand for payment of the next year's premium. She then hadithpolicy examined and was disappointed at finding that it was not as represented«nd that she will not derive any personal benefit) from the insurance until she reaches the_tge of fifty years, a long, long time to look forward to and pay premiums. Another .inducement held out was that if the premiums are kept up for twelve years the bonus additions would probably keep the poßoy alive for the remainder of the period, a very doubtful result indeed, considering how disappointing the bonus additions have lately been. How many servant jyirls are likely to continue paying these heavy"premiums for periods of twenty-five and thirty years, or even twenty years, while in event of illness or being out of work the policies would have to lapse, and in event' of marriage would the husband continue, to keep them going ?

I am a great believer in life in* surande, and think every married man should insure for the purpose of providing for his wife and family in event of death, but what occasion is there for single women, having uo one depending on them, to insure at high premiums. If instead they would put the money in the Post Office Savings Bank and allow it to accumulate at compound interest, they wonld be much better off, the deposit of £8 a year for twenty-five years would alone amount to £200, and the interest additions would considerably increase the sum. Then in case of illness there would be no anxiety as to the policy lapsing ; but on the other hand there would be a fund to draw upon in case of need, while in the event of marriage they could go to their husbands well provided for, and would not be any tax on his earnings for a considerable time. »

If a large percentage of the insurances effected by shearers lapse it would be interesting to know what proportion of the insurances effected by domestic servants suffer the same fate. Perhaps when Parliament meets one of our members will ask the Government to supply the necessary information. At present it seems to mc that these young women are merely subscribing out of their hard earned wages to the support of these insurance touts. Again, if it is found that this class of insurance is desirable and sliDiild be encouraged, why should not women be employed as agents instead of young men ? Here may be another opening for female services.—Yours, &0.,

Lifk Policy.