FIRE INSURANCE RATES. THE EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATIONS PROTEST.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 128, 31 May 1904, Page 5

FIRE INSURANCE RATES. THE EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATIONS PROTEST.

WHAT THE UNDERWRITERS SAY. The vexed question of fire insurance rates was again raised at the meeting of the Executive of the Employers' Association last night. The meeting was not open to the press, but as the matter it ono of considerable importance a representative* of the Evening Post made enquiries to-day with a view of discovering the opinions of both the employers and tlia insurance companies. The point of view of "the employers ii this: — Tho efficiency of the Wellingtoa Fire Brigade has admittedly greatly increased in recent years, more especially sinco the appointment of Superintendent Hugo. Now there is no city in the colony with a brigade so well able "to deal with a tire as Wellington, and tho Association holds that the rates which obtained previous to this increase of efficiency ought not to obtain now, and that the insurers ought to share in the benefit of the improved appliances, which must have consideiably benefited tht companies. Tho Association holds thai figures prove their contention. It is reckoned, on information which is regarded as credible, that for the last five yean the Wellington insurers have paid £60,000 yearly in premiums, br a total of £300,000. The Association considers ' that a period of five years is sufficient to base the calculation upon, more especially as it is about coincident with th* improvement of the brigade's appliances. « .Further, in that period Wellington hoa t experiehced some of the biggest fires in its history, sucli as the recent outbreak at Kempthorne, Prosser and • Co.'s, and the Hawker-street conflagration in 1802. From the reports published by the Fir« Brigade's Committee of the City Council it is shown that for the year ending 31st' March, 1900, the insurance companies recognised claims totalling a little ovei £8000; 1901, £15,000; 1902, £54,000 (including tho Hawker-street fire) ; 1903^ a littio less than £10,000; 1904 (incla* sive of £37,000 in connection with Kemp* tborne, , Prosser "and Co.), £45,000. Th* totals for the five years come to a little under £134,000, as against £300,000 paid in premiums. That is regarded by the Association as a sufficient reason why there should be an adjustment of the. rates to tho altered conditions. Then, again, the Association is enabled to compare tho rates -here with thoso ruling in other parts of th© colony. The-, whole of the Dunedin rates ar© on the same basis as what is known ns "Block A" in Wellington, and from 10 to 20 per cent, lower tlran those ruling over the other parts of tho Wellington insurance district. The rate there on detached wooden houses is 9s, less 2s for plastered houses; brick houses, detached, 3« 6d; stores, brick, parapet walls, Ba. These rates ore very much below Ui« Wellington rates. In Christchurch th^ rates are also lower — factories in brick 10s and lls; retail establishments in brick, from 9s to 12s ; bakehouse in brick, 10s; dwell inghouses, wooden, tfully detached and plastered, Bs, unplastered 9s j in terraces of over four, unplastered, 16»; dwellinghouscs, brick, fully detached, 3ju 6d. ' Further, when the Fir© Brigade ap. pliances were improved in Auckland a year or so ago there was forthwith a reduction made in tlie rates because of tlia increased efficiency. The reason given to tho Association of the non-reduction of the rates was that at the time the Underwriters' Conference sat at Auckland m February there was a shortage of water in Wellington. Mr - A. E. Kernot, Chairman of tho JNew Zealand Underwriters' Association had a different story to tell. Th© losses of insurance companies doing business ia the colony, he said, considerably exceeded £300,000, which was very much in excess of the revenue for th© same periodFurther, many of tho trade risks mentio*. Ed by tho Employers' Association are coasiderably lower in New Zealand than they are in Australia, As to Wellington, it is not at oil a good hazard from th« physical point of view, but the experience of insurance companies has been fair, ly favourable, except that periodically iarg* losses have wiped out profits. If he went on to say, tlie water supply on the higher levels had been better them was no doubt tho conference of underwriters at Auckland in February lasti would hay« reduced the rates in the higher areas of tho city, and when that reform is effected no doubt the rates wiH CO ? T ] 6^ down - The mtcs in Wellington, said Mr. Kernot, nr© higher than in somo other parks of New Zealand. Wellingtoa is a wooden town, and where the rates are lower, such ns Christchurch and Dunedm, the buildings aro chiefly built of brick and stone. Then, again, the physical conformation of Wellington has to be token into consideration. The streets being narrow, there is a danger of a fir© cmssmg from one side to the other. Many ofnees have for years considerably restricted their business in Wellington be* cause of the "conflagration hiteard," which can never be disregarded, more especially in a city constructed on the Ijnos of WeTMmgton. Ihis, of course, means a large loss of revenue, but experienced underwriters with world-wide knowledge, have, stated Mr Kernot, given the mailer car£ ful consideration, and have laid dowa their policy on the above lin.\«.