INSURANCE RATES

Southland Times, Issue 20013, 29 October 1926, Page 8

INSURANCE RATES

STATE MONOPOLY MOOTED. AN UNWISE MOVE. (Per United Press Association.) Auckland, October 28. In moving the adoption of the annual report of the South British Insurance Company, the chairman, Mr W. R. Wilson, expressed the opinion that New Zealand would be very foolish to seriously consider State monopoly of insurance, as had been mooted in one or more of lhe Australian States. There was the greatest objection to a community being deprived of its freedom to choose where it would insure. Competition for insurance was getting keener and more and more intense. The reduced insurances, caused by falling values and the disturbed trading conditions, induced underwriters to extend their fields of operations. The result was that rates were quoted, not on the merits of the risks, but for the purpose of getting business. There was food for ser-. ious thought in the fact that in the accounts now presented the premiums represented risks covered in the aggregate to the extent of several hundred million pounds, and the net lasses borne by the company exceeded half a million. Assessment of risks demanded knowledge and experience that rates be quoted adequate to meet losses and build up a reserve. The fact that the year’s profit from operations of this magnitude was over £82,000 showed how closely the rates were calculated.