Volume 2

The insurance cyclopaedia : being a dictionary of the definition of terms used in connexion with the theory and practice of insurance in all its branches, a biographical summary ..., a bibliographical repertory ..., an historical treasury ..., and also containing a detailed account of the rise and progress of insurance in Europe and in America ... / by Cornelius Walford.

Date:
1871-1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The insurance cyclopaedia : being a dictionary of the definition of terms used in connexion with the theory and practice of insurance in all its branches, a biographical summary ..., a bibliographical repertory ..., an historical treasury ..., and also containing a detailed account of the rise and progress of insurance in Europe and in America ... / by Cornelius Walford. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    12/648 (page 8)
    Commissioner, in which the amount distributed was ;£4i,ooo, upon a gross amount pr«ved of ;^i54,ooo. Of that ;^^4i,ooo only ;^23,ooo was distributed as dividends ; the remainder, ;^i8,ooo, having been applied to the payment of preference debts, payments to the court, payments to solicitors, payments to official assignees, etc. . . . The gro^s amount of liabilities was £190,000; the pro- perty sold realized ^^28,280 ; and the debts collected, 1389 in number, amounted to ;£i3,545, or an averag'- of £<) \^s. each. The charge of the oiEcial assignee for collecting and distributing this sum was £^^^i(>, or p.c. In 1849 the inst. V Union du Co7nmerce was in full operation in Paris. The total amount of pol. opened and subs, in that year in the Department of the Seine alone was ;^2,527,240. The actual mercantile transactions entered upon or declared under these pol. amounted to 1,223,205, and on this sum alone the, premiums were charged. Such prems. amounted to £']l(>'). From this, however, had to be deducted the share of the risk which the insurers themselves bore in the transaction. This amounted to £2061 of the prems.—leaving a net sum applicable to the casualties of the year of ^^Gl]. . Against this the claims for losses incurred by subscribers amounted to ;^^225l—leaving a bal. for the reserved fund of £2^6^,. Further, a sum of £6']^ was expected to be re- covered from bankrupts' estates : thus making a total reserve for the year of ;^304l — equal to 135 p.c. on the claims on losses indemnified. In 1849 also there was a meeting of La Societe Mutuelle in Paris. No bal.-sheet had been circulated, but from a para, in the ann. report it appeared that the So. wasir^a high state of prosperity, since, but for some disagreement between the ex-director and the executive, the whole of the contributions due for 1849 would not have been required— that indeed one-half would have sufficed. ^ In 1850 we find some important details regarding La Skurite Contmerciale, wh^ch had then been in operation for two years. The total insurances granted had reached the large sum of ;^31,537,291. At the end of 1850 the number of members was 1216. In that year the premiums amounted to £\^, 745, while the losses notified were 311 in number, amounting to ;^678o. The asso. had been able to grant to the ins. '' payment of the largest proportion of actual losses which was permitted by the constitution and laws of the So., viz. 90 p.c , and beyond this a sum of ;^3842 was carried to the reserved fund. In 1851 the operations were not so favourable—the year had been distinguished by numerous failures. The insured were reimbursed only about 80 p.c. of their losses. The bus. of the So. had assumed considerable proportions. At the end of 1851 there were 1868 members, who were insured for ann. bus. transactions amounting in the aggregate to ;^l6,102,400, and the losses during the year were nearly .j^ioo,000, of which, as we have seen, it was believed about ^80,000, that is 80 p.c., would he. made good to the members— 90 p.c. being the maximum of indemnity allowed to the members by the regulations of ^ the So. It was pointed out that in this class of bus. difficulties would always be experienced in obtaining a proper classification of the insured. Thus many of those who were described as wholesale merchants were found to be in some degree retail dealers, and instead of paying a prem. of ^ p.c. in the former capacity, ought to have paid 1^ p.c. in the latter. It was a feature of the So. to collect information by its agents of the relative credit of merchants and traders in different towns in France—this not only to facilitate the safe operations of commerce, but as a means of securing its own success by encouraging caution in its members. In 1851 no less than 28,517 inquiries were answered; while in the preceding year the number had only been 7573'—showing ^ the utility and practical value of such a Co. in commercial enterprises. In 1850 there was pub.: A Review and Synopsis of the Alercantile Guarantee Sos. estab. on the Continent, practically applying the principle of Ins. to Commercial Transac- tions. From this we have already quoted. In 1850 the Commercial Debt Ins. Co. was projected, with a proposed cap. of ;,^5oo,ooo [power to increase to 2 millions]. The outline of the scheme was as follows : The directors proposed to issue pol. of i/ti/emnitj to traders against a moietj/ of the loss arising from the failure of their debtors, on such ordinary commercial risks as the directors might deem eligible, and at rates of prem. commensurate with the several risks, with the view of ultimately extending ins. to entire debts, as the bus. and prospects of the Co, might progress and circumstances justify. The arrangements for effecting this contract were to be, both witti insurers and insured, as simple and expeditious as the ordinary routine of a banking account, or any other form of ins. Mercantile and Mattufaciuring Houses in every branch of trade might have the floating balances of their accounts current, including bills of exchange, as well as open accounts, protected by the guarantee of this Co., to an extent equal to their own risk ; Retail Dealers desirous of opening or continuing accounts current with wholesale houses of first-class respectability would find themselves thus enabled to purchase from the best markets to much greater advantage, by being enabled to furnish a guarantee for a proportion of the liability incurred. Pol. were to be granted, either for single transactions, or for specific sums, and fixed periods, to cover to the extent specified the bond fide transactions of the debtor with his creditor. ^ _ Claims arising under these pol. were to be settled for at the periods, and on the conditions stipulated : and every facility was to be afforded for prompt settlements. Rates of f rem. had been already fixed on a graduated scale, on such terms as would give satisfaction to the public, and afford ample remuneration to the Co. Bills of Exchange—It was to form no part of the ordin. bus. of this Co. to guarantee a B. of exchange per se, for the purpose of facilitating its discount— such a process might have the effect of creating artificial paper—it would therefore be sufficient for this purpose to secure the transactions on ■which the B. of exchange were founded, thus rendering these documents more secure in the , bands of the moneyed interest.