AMERICAN OFFICES

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 35, 11 February 1931, Page 10

AMERICAN OFFICES

SAN FRANCISCO PAY-OUTS

The New Zealand representative of certain overseas insurance companies writes: — "In yesterday's issue of the 'Evening Post' the Prime Minister is reported to have explained that after the disaster at San Francisco in 1906, all British insurance offices had paid out on claims, despite the fact that the Americans did not do so. "This statement, if correctly reported, is quite contrary to fact, as tho under-mentioned certified figures will show. The largest sums paid by insurance companies at San Francisco wore as follows —figures stated in dollars: AMERICAN OFFICES. Dollars. Hartford Fire Insurance Co. 10,276,500 Firemen's Fund 8.200,408 Aetna 4,230,241 Connecticut ' ~.. 8,360,152 German-American 4,051,437 Gcrmania Fire 3,830,157 German Illinois 5,139,422 Hamburg Brcnen 4,394,276 Homo Now York ........ 3,194,007 Insurance Co. of North America 4,650,000 National Fire 3,601,701 Phoenix of Brooklyn .... 5,294,120 Traders' of Chicago ..... 3,748,000 Trans-Atlantic 4,000,000 x■•■■' BRITISH OFFICES. London Assur. Co. ....... 8,291,390 London and Lancashire Ins. Co. ' 7,789,088 Alliance Assur. Co 3,499,247 Atlas w. ■ 4,650,091 Caledonian \ 4,894,102 Commercial Union 2,940,551 Liverpool, London, and Globe 4,752,094 Northern Assurance Co. .. 4,186,955 North British and Mercantile Co 3,983,244 Phoenix Assurance Co. ... 4,370,868 Royal Insurance Co 6,746,801 Royal Exchange Assuranco Co 5,425,145 Union Assurance Co 4,453,385 Sun Insurance Co 3,122,712 New Zealand Insurance Co. ,2,065,006 There were 243 insurance offices involved in the San Francisco conflagration. ' '■ ' The above-mentioned table has for purposes of brevity excluded all offices which paid less than three million dollars, with the exception of tho lastmentioned New Zealand company, which is inserted for comparative purposes. The Prime Minister is evidently not aware of the fact that air the large American insurance offices, and all the large English offices met their liabilities in San Francisco generously and well, onco they realised that their policies did not sufficiently and clearly exclude the risk of fire .caused by the earthquake. \\ The sum of approximately 60 millions sterling was paid by 83 non-American insurance offices and 160 American insurance offices.