The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-11-10
The Valued Policy Bill.
[St. Adams Messenger

The people of New Hampshire now have
a valued policy law, which makes the fire
insurance contract gambling scheme and
bid for incendiarism instead of an indemnity
for the unfortunate, and as result all the
companies of other states, formerly repre-
scented there, have withdrawn from the
state, and the business men are compelled
to rely largely for their indemnity upon
small companies located at a distance and
not represented in New Hampshire, such as
the Mutual of Pennsylvania, Mount Holly
of New Jersey, German Savings of Illinois,
Potomac of Washington Fargo of Dakota,
Monarch of Iowa, Louisiana of New Or
leans, Falls City of Kentucky, Common
wealth of Illinois, Council Bluffs of Iowa,
National Mutual of Kansas, Insurance Com
pany of Dakota, Home of Nashville, Manu-
facturers of st. Louis, Universal of Phia-
dephia, Hope and Pelican of New Orleans,
and, until the manager left the town, the
Anglo-American of Washington, with the
same style of policy and form of settlement
in case of loss as they had under the old
law, in the safest and best companies in the
world. The farmer in New Hampshire who
formerly paid $40 per thousand insurance
for five years, now pays $3.50 for three
years. The manufacturers and merchant s
rates bave been materially raised, and in
many cases doubled. A dozen or more
small companies have been organized in
New Hampshire, but they are of course
unequal to the task of carrying the whole
insurance of the state. 1t was argued in
the New Hampshire legislature that the
companies were only threatening, and
would not withdraw if the law passed, but
New Hampshire and Vermont are too UNI
profitable for companies to take the chances
under valued policy law. From the re-
port of Superintendent Reinmund of the
Ohio insurance department for 1885, in
which he recommends repeal of the valued
policy or so-called Rowland law in that
state, which has been in force since July
LIST, 1880, we find that the average ratio of
losses to premiums in Ohio for the five years
since the passage of the Rowland law u
has increased seventeen per cent. The
destruction of property by fire has increased
twenty per cent, while the increase for the
same period throughout the whole country
has been only four and twenty-two-hun-
dredths, giving loss to the commonwealth
of the state of over S3,000,0O0 in five years
as compared with the rest of the country
and of nearly S4,0O0,0O0 as compared with
the previous five years in her own state
n Wisconsin is the only other state
in which similar law has been in force
for length of time sufficient for reliable
deductions. The increase of loss ratio in
that state is also remarkable. The figures
from the official reports of the Wisconsin
insurance department for eight years pre-
vous to the decision of the supreme cour'
of the state, holding the law constitutional
and the eight years succeeding, when il
may be said to have been in full force ant
influence show nearly the same results az
in Ohio an increase of loss of premiums o
eleven and eighteen-hundredths and an in
crease of ratio of loss to amount insured o
eleven Der cent,