St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-06-23
THE ST. PAUL LIFE.
A Rejected Claim and a Charge
Made

If the people who have been repeat
edly warned to place no confidence in
temporary insurance companies, doing
business OH the assessment plan, would
form separate colony of their own the
population would exceed that of the
largest city in the Union twice over.
st. Paul people, and in fact residents
throughout the entire state of Mime
sofa, have suffered sufficiently, it would
seem, to prevent further indiscretion in
insurance matters, but from facts gath
cred by the GLOBE it is plain that their
sufferings are not yet over.
There is in St. Paul an organization
doing business under the name of the
st. Paul Life association, with offices in
the Union block. 1t is an outgrOWth of
the st. Paul branch of the old Kaw Life
association, of Kansas City, which failed
some years ago. A receiver was ap-
pointed, and after the furniture, etc.,
had been disposed of E. B. Watson,
manager of the.St. Paul branch, with
some of his Kaw associates, got together
and in September, 1856, organized the st.
Paul Life association. 1t is run on the
same plan as the Kaw association, in that
it writes joint policy on man and wife
and promises to pay notmore than 50, 600
to the survivor. The association issued
policies to members of the Kaw assOcia-
tion, in place of the ones they held.
1t is alleged that in the month of July,
1887, the st. Paul Life association issued
a Joint policy to William r. Edgerly and
wife, of st. Paul, who paid assessments
as they were levied upon them, with
the expectation that the survivor would
receive $4,000 on the death of the other.
On May 5, 1888, it is alleged, Mrs.
Edgerly called at the office of the asso-
citation to pay an assessment which had
fallen due. The secretary, William f.
n elson, it is alleged, refused to receive
her money, explaining that Mr.. Watson,
the manager, was absent in Iowa. and
he himself knew nothing about the
business, though Mrs. Edgerly claims
that the actual reason for not accepting
the money was because Mr.. Watson had
learned that Mr.. Edgerly was sick.
Edgerly died soon after this, and upon
presentation of the claim the assOcia-
ton ignored and refused to pay it. Mrs.
Edgerly at once placed the claim in the
hands of her attorney, who called upon
the company for the amount due.
The explanation of Messrs. Viguers,
Nelson and Watson, officers of the as
sOciation, for not paying the claim is
reasonable. The regulations of the as
sociation printed OH the policy require
that all assessments made must be paid
within thirty days after notice is sent
to the insured. In case the assessment
is not paid within thirty days the policy
lapSeS and can only be made good again
by the insured making out health cer-
tificate, which states that he or she is in
the same health as they were before the
lapse. This certificate attached to the
policy makes it good again. In the case
of Mr.. Edgerly the officers claim, and
their books show. that he had
and that his policy had lapsed. The
association presented a health certifi-
cate for his signature which was not
filled out, and in the meantime he died.
The association then consulted their
attorneys, who gave them the opinion
that Mr.. Edgerly, at his death, was not
member of the association, and there
fore the claim of his beneficiary could
not be paid.
Securing the above the GLOBE re-
porter was led to make further investi-
cations. A circular was secured which
gives the following persons as the pres
sent list of officers:
VIM n. Viguers, president
VIM. f. Nelson, secretary and treasurer.
Z. b. Watson. general manager.
j. G. Nelson, NJ. D., medical director.
Morphy & Gilbert, counselors.
Rev. John Allison, director of agencies.
G. r. Graham, superintendent of agencies
The plan of the association is to
charge $40 to join, SIS policy fee and S5
annual dues on joint policies. This all
goes to the association. and in addition
to this it keeps 10 per cent of all money
collected on each death assessment.
The following shows the report of the
association to the state insurance de-
partment. published May 1, 1888:
Number policies in force Dec. 81,
1890 OH
Number written during 1887 -. 661
Number terminating during 1887 464
Number in force Dec. 81, 1857. 709
Receipts in 1887 SIS, ,759 90
Amount of losses paid in 1887. 1,162.50
Ten per cent of assessments go to
reserve fund, which would be S129.17
for 1887. The losses paid and the re-
serve fund for 1887 is S1,29S.67, which