FALLEN POWER LINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23221, 19 June 1937, Page 14

FALLEN POWER LINE

THE INSURANCE QUESTION K SOLICITORS TO ADVISE Recently one of the Manawatu-Oroua Power Board lines broke and a dog was killed by coming into contact with the fallen wire. The owner claimed damages from the board, which passed the claim on to its insurance company. The company paid the claim but stated in a letter to the board that it was only as an act of grace, and was not to be taken as a precedent. The company said it was unable to see that there was any legal liability on its part. When the matter was mentioned at the board meeting this week Mr J. A. Nash said he thought the matter should be cleared up, in view of possible future claims of a similar nature. He could see no act of grace about the company's action. The chairman (Mr J. Boyce): If this is not what we are paying the company for, what is it? . The secretary said the position was that the company would pay out where there had been negligence on the board’s part. The particular line break was evidently regarded by the company as an act of God. Mr M. A. Eliott: But when a ship goes down at sea it is an act of God. and yet the companies pay. The board decided to refer the matter to the solicitors of the Power Boards’ Association as the matter was considered one of Dominion-wide interest.