FIRE INSURANCE PREMIUMS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE EVENING POST.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 74, 26 September 1881, Page 2

FIRE INSURANCE PREMIUMS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE EVENING POST.

Sib — There are m the City of Wellington buildings of theinsurable value of .£1,500,000 independent of Government establishments. Supposing that 25 per cent, of this amount i 3 uninsured, there is £1,125,000 worth of house property now paying on an average 12s 6d per cent, more for premiums than twelve months since; it follows that the owners or insurers are mulcted of Borne per annum too much, without taking into consideration the contents of the buildings, which are overcharged in the same ratio. Why do insurers submit to be fleeced when the Legislature has provided means by which it may be prevented. The Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1877, permits any number of persons, not less than seven, forming themselves into a society, with limited liability, for the object of carrying on in common any labour, trade, or handi^ craft other than banking, providing rules for its management, the protection of it 3 capital from peculation by its officers, their appointment, duties, and qualification, the withdrawal or transfer of shares, the division of profits, investment of its funds, the auditing of its accounts, the settlement of disputes, and other matters for the protection of its members and the general public. A society formed according to its provisions, for the pnrpose'of insuring the property of its members only, would no doubt be bhccesaful and tend to burst the-insnranca ring, the members of which are banded together for the purpose of obtaining hi?h rate 3, instead of takng every risk on it 3 merits and at a fair premium. I am, &c, O. Moody.