The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1882-04-06
The Insurance Trick Which has
Succeeded too Often,

Mr.. L. ". Seibels, of Coluubis,
has been in Newberry several days act
ing for the Queen Insurance Com
pary in adjusting Henry kcBuedy's
less b. FIRE. He offered to settle at
S1,1Sl.75 on the house and sl92 on
loss aud damage to furniture; but
Kennedy refused '-HerGj5.
Does this paragraph not contain
food for thought? Did that COM
psny act rightly OF honestly in taking
money on a policy which they openly
refuse to pay as soon as the house
is burnt? If the Queen Insurance
Company can look at the lot on which
the house stood, and after scraping IN
its ashes ascertain to within twenty
Eve cents Of its value, why could they
not have approxImated the value of
the same house before it was burnt?
The Insurance Companies ought to
be men of good business capacity, bat
if they or their agents Sho csu make
q personal inspection CT the property,
before insuriDg, lack the judgment or
business tao. to approximate the true
value of a building, and then take the
premium on policy. no matter what
the amount, they should be made to
pay. If the agent of the Queen In
surauce Company had entered into
solemn contract in writing to buy
KenDedy's house at any specified
price, be could have held them to
compliance with their part Of that
agreement, and We see 10 reason why
Kennedy should lot get the money
which the conpapy promised on his
policy if his house should be burnt.
This EaJ ef beating unfortunate
policy holders ous OF a portion ii :kei'
Just dues has gone On long enough.
Such a course deserves the ccndeu-
nation Of all god uen. Of course
the Queen Insurance Company claim
that they propose to pay to Kennedy all
that his house was worth for burning
purposes, while denying their ob!iga-
tior to pay him the insuEab!e value.
This seems ike game of Heads, /
wiz Tails, you lose Kennedy may
have paid the premium on the com-
paDy's admitted insurab!e value for
life time, ani they have quietly
pocketed the excess, but after it has
been laid in ashes. it has been saddeo-
ly discovered that it is not DOW worth
as much Is i: was when tie company
were annually taking kenDedy's
money. We believe our citizens de-
serve tha, protection which the Leg
islature aud the Courts Only can give
in such cases, ard We hope that Ken
oedy MAJ have the manhood to put
his claim 10 Court, where the Queen
Insurance Company may plead their
Inability to estimate the zslue OF q
house before it is burnt. while prov
ing themselves adopts a: figures when
the tune comes FOX them to paE.
If the companies feel proud CT
'bssti0g' the Policy-holders out Of :
portion of their just dues, Why DO
they not publish 10 their annual |
statements. the amounts which they
have made to the COMPANY by their |
in the business Of taking |
premiums on policies which the?
may have avoided the Just pay. |
nenI?
Our sd7ice to every policy holder |
u case of FIRE. IS, to demand the pay
nent to the last cent which the CON-
oaoies may have promised There is
,os a jury in South Carolina that will
Interfere with their contract. When !
hey received the premium on the pol
cy they we're bound BY their agree
nent to pay the sum mentioned when
he property should be destroyed, and