STATE FIRE OFFICE.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXV, Issue 1804, 21 December 1912, Page 7

STATE FIRE OFFICE.

SAVING TO PUBLIC. REDUCTION IN PREMIUMS. Some instructive figures are contained in a circular which has just been issued to insurers by the State Fire Insurance Office. The circular states that the office has been in operation eight years. "The State Fire Office stands for cheap rates —the cheapest rates possible—now and for all time. "The State Fire Office lias accomplished much. It. lias saved the people over £1,250,000 in reductions in premiums. It has made a profit of o 31* £20,000. It has built up a reserve fund of £33,000. It lias a premium income of £53,000 a year. It has policies current totalling £13,000,000. It lias assisted the Farmers' Mutual Associations by accepting their excess lines. It has conducted its business at a lower cost than any private insurance company. It has not cost the Govern ment a single penny jpiece. (The whole cost of the establishment and the working expenses of the office have been paid out of its premium income.'') Every policy, it is pointed out, is guaranteed by the State; the office stands as a guarantee that excessive rates will not be charged in futue; the office is owned by the people, and operated entirely in their interests, and all profits remain the property of the people. The support of insurers "will assist to compensate the State Fire Office for the loss in premium income through many private mortgagees compelling insurances to be placed with proprietary companies, to the disadvantage of the State office.''

The State Fire Office, it is said, had caused a reduction of per cent on dwellings, offices, and the like, and contents thereof, in 1905, thereby giving insurers freo insurance for one year out of every three, as compaed with rates current, prior to 1905. A reduction of 10 per cent was also made on trade risks. When the office has a sufficient reserve fund, bonuses will b paid to policyholders out of profits. Appended to the circular are some striking figures to show reductions in individual premiums brought about by the State Fire Oflice.