"A1 AT LYOYD'S"

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8910, 9 November 1907, Page 3

"A 1 AT LYOYD'S"

A COMMON EXPRESSION

Very often the expression "Al at LloydV , is heard, but few people are aware of the real significance of the phrase. Most people know that it is a term used in connection with shipping. As a matter of fact, it is impossible to think of the mercantile marine without Lloyd's.

Lloyd's, of course, is not an insurance company. It is simply a combination of individual members, each bound by common rules. In other words, Lloyd's does uot insure as a body, all business being transacted by individual members. These members divide the risk, each member taking a small portion only. Thus, in the case of a policy for £1000 it is quite probable that the risk would be split up between bers. As the signatures are written on the policy one under the other, the meaning of* the term "underwriter" becomes apparent

While Lloyd's is mostly engaged in marine insurance, still every kind of risk is undertaken; practically the members will insure auy person against any imaginable risk. Sea insurance, by the way, is by far the oldest form of insurance; fire and life insurance are comparatively new compared with the form of insuring against the perils of the sea, The combined capital of the underwriters of Lloyd's amounts to some million pounds/and it is the boast of the corporation that it has never refused to pay a genuine claim, even in cases where it has not been legally responsible.

Iv order to conduct: its business, it is convenient for Lloyd's to classify and register ships. Ships of the firstclass are denoted by the -vvell-kuown mark, Al, the "A" having reference to the quality of the ship, and the "1" to the quality of the equipment. Only the best ships are classed Al.