EQUITABLE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8756, 19 March 1890, Page 5

EQUITABLE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION.

The ocventh annual meeting of the Equitable n)| liißurauco Association of Kow Zealand was held in tha hall of the (Jhamber of Oommorco on tho al 3nlinst. Mr J. B. Cailau (chaii'innn of dircc- fci eors) presiik'd, :»:ul there was ;v gi'.oJ attendance uf shareholders. ANNUAL HKI'OUT. 10 Tho annual report was to thu following tic eiTeet:— I. The directors be;; to submit ivport anil balance J'J lhS'J. The receipts for the year i havo been... ... £18 072 10 2 And the expenditure £23,058 1!) IS With appropriation for unadjusted and pro- tl iMble losses ... (!SSI IIJ 5 And written off ... 2,01-1 11 5 £25,713 7 4 i Leaving a ljalaw.ee of .C.'J8.187 !'s Gd to the debit, of M prolit and loss to be carried forward. B l All known Io8»e3 to Iho ond of l-ho yew h vo bren \ included In the appropriation for unadjusted and ji losaeo. Tho two auditors, Messrs O. S. Heercs and Thomas a C.ille.dcr, offer themselves for ro election. t, The Chairman, iv moving the ailontiou of ti the report and; balance stieet, said ; —I fee! 'Jjj certain that, liotivith^tanding the largo, amount at tho dobit of tho profit and 10-a account, I will be able to provo to your satisfaction that the j association is in a far better position co-day than 1' when we laat met.. During the year your I directors have devoted much time and attention { to the reorganisation of the affaira of the $ association, and to removing from the books a j large amount of unprofitable and risky business. 1 This, of course, has cost n largo sum, and conGiderably reduced our income; but the result so , far ha.-< bseu highly satisfactory and eucourag- j ing. The credit and reputation ot the a^socia- £ tion has been re-established, and we have now no 1 difficulty in securing good business wherever we l are operating. Every claim against us has been promptly ra«t, anrt only tho small sum of £670 remained nnpnid at the close of the year. Your directora deemed it advisable to cln^e tlie busint:£r> and cease underwriting in the colonies of j New South "Wales, Western Anstralia, and Fiji, ! as it waa quite evident that for the present no • prolit could be made in these places. In Victoria, , Queensland, and New Zetland a very large number of risks have been removed from the books, j the result being the saving of several thousands jof pounds. Numerous changes have been made in tha representation of the association, the good effect of which is being rapidly felt, and will, it is believed, soon greatly improve the state of affairs. With your permission I will now briefly refer to tho Australian section, and quote a few extracts from the branch inans.go.rß' reports. Tho general mauagcr visited Australia in August last, nnd -made very sctisfactory arrangements for the future conduct of jour business in Victoria, Queensland, and ,' South Australia, and I am pleased to bo able to : state that tho prospects for the future are so ! very encouraging as to warrant your directors in ij confidently asserting that, with ordinary good ;j fortune, tho result will be highly profitable.— 'i The Chairman then quoted from the reports I of the Queensland, Soijfcii Australia, and Vie- ■ torian mp.uaßcrs. Tho Queensland manager, in hia report said: —" I can only conclude by say- ! ing that I have the most perfect confidence in j your future euccess in Queensland, and can ■ assure that nothing will be wanting on my p?rt j to secure a remunerative result for j^ourcornj pany." The riouth Australian manager leI ported:—" The prospects for the future are at j present most encouraging. We have commenced j this year well, us my returns for January will ] show." Tho Victorian manager reported : "Asn :j proof that our business is improving I brg to sub- • mit a statement showing the figures for tho last oix mouths of 1889, actl also for the month of j January 1390, giving un increase of about 300 ! per cent. I consider the future of the company i in Victoria a most hopeFul one. Lof bc-s via shall j j have, cf course, but to make them as light cs : I possible I am in every c:isa Jiceping our lines J well within limits. This, as you will see, nifects \ our income in a ixiea?ure, but I der.m it the most :;. prudent course at the present time. In con--1 elusion, I may say that I havo every confidence :j that we havo a good future beforo us, and that | we shall do a good ar:d profitable business, and | to this end I beg to assure ;ou all the energies of myself: atd staff shall be directed."—These ' ■ ! remarks, tha chairman continued, from experienced men well qualified to judge, speak for j themselves, and justify your directors in looking r hopefully to the future. The general manager, i : who has not jmf; tesn r.ble to got further than . ; Wellington, iufends shortly to visit all the j branches and agencies "in New Zealand l j and make a thorough inspection of the j j business. At the same time, he will be j glad to raoet any shnreholders who may be i desirous of getting information regarding the ' position and prospects of the association. I will j , now refer to the amount owing by the Fire, ■ i Marine, and Accident Indemnity Company, of. ■ '. Melbourne. At tho last meeting it was reported ] • that an award bad been given in our favour for i I j tho full amount claimed. Since then your i ! directors have been obliged to put that com- I i j uany into liquidation, but a3 the liquidator has ! ! not yet finishel Ilia investigation, it is impos- i j eible for me (rnrteh to my regret) to inform you ! i what sum we will recover. I feel certain, how- j . ever, we will not get anything like the amount ; i owing to us. It hno fault of ours that we emnot tell you the exact amen*, the affair being iv ; the hands of t'.e otlicial liquidator, and quite I • beyond the control of your directors. Every- j ! thing, however, has lieuu done by us to bring I : things to a close hs speedily as possible; I j In the life. (Jep.-.rtmcDt the industrial j , section has been closed, and the share- I i holders freed from all liability. This is a sub- j i ject for congratulation, as we could not havrs | t worked the department profitably. Ths ordinary j ; life branch would have been diepns-a of before I now but for a complication iv connection with ] tha deed of trust, and your directors will ask i you lit this meeting to^>a3s a resolution conferi ring on them certain powers which wi)l enable i tbxMn to bring this matter to a conclusion and ! i I relieve you of a heavy liability. I will now ] i I briefly refer to the figures before yon, and com- s • j pare them with those of the previous yeyar. Tho i . I capital i 3 increased by a call of 2s 6d per share : ! having been pjade in accordance with clause 3 of the recommendations of your Committee of In- ! vestigation egreed to by yon. Ths unsettled | ; losses are only £670, against £7854 for tha ] i | previous year. The branch balances are £2512, iiii 3 against £4852. The charges and amounts i written off are £11,937, as against £17,036, being; I a saving of £509!) in the short spann of vivo i months. The losses am £13,806, os against i £26,76-I—that is, £12,953 less. The pre- [ iniums are £16,072, as against £20,624. :] ior £4552 less. This is owing entirely ;j : to the largo sections of business we have !j ■ withdrawn from, and not from any difn- ;j • culty in securing business. As a matter of fact •] I our income is now rapidly increasing. The net '; loss for the current year is 9671, as against j1 s £23,177. Of the above amount no less than, i, ': £7000 wa3 incurred in the first quarter and bo ; i fore ths new management was instituted, and I I of this sum a considerable portion belonged. ;' rightly to tha previous year, being losses with \ i which your directora were not acquainted when. ,j ! they last met you. From the abort; ib will be •:' seen that during the last cine months of the i - year your business has been reorganised, and this ; : reorganisation has been effected aucHheindustrial ■; department closed at a cost to the shareholders of ' only £2070_; and if from this sum could ba -| eliminated items such as interest, &o, which arcs ;| ■ not rightfully charges incidental to under- ■ 1 writing, no loss whatever would have bi-cu made for the nine months from April to December. ■ This, geutlemen, I submit, is a fairly catisfac- ■ tory state of affair?, and is ns much as could ba i 1 reasonably expected in so short a time. Iv con- ; 1 ucctiou with tbe lifedepartment, I do cot think j ■ if. is ■ ccessary for me to say anything, as I havi;: already touched upon it. The figures before", ! you speak for ihernselves, and fortunately the ; • losses have been very light. When the depart- •; ' ment is finally closed it will entail a loss upon ;1 ! tbe shareholders, but it wi:l not be a serious one,, jj 1 and it will be a subject for congratulation when. ■ ! the liability is got rid off. I beg, gentlemen, to ■; ! move ihe adoption of the report and balance; ; sheet; which are before you. ■! i The motion was seconded by Mr Hazlett, J and carried after considerable discussion. { ELECTION 011 DI HECTORS AND AfIDH'ORS. j Mr liniiVES proposed tho re-election of Messrs James Hogg and Henry Guthrie, the reticinjc ; directors. Mr Davib seconded the motion, which was carried nem. con. '■ On the motion of Mr H'Donald, seconded byMr Fbazeh, tho retiring auditors (Messrs C. S. \ Reeves and T. Callender) were re-elected. , THE LIFE DEPARTMENT. ; On the motion of the Cuaihman, a resolution ! was carried authorising the directors to relieve the shareholders of responsibility in connection - with the lii'u department.