Los Angeles herald., 1892-06-06
SALARY INSURANCE.
IS 1T A BUSINESS THAT CAN He
CARRIED ON PRoFlTABLYf

| ne luSuIduCo uuSlueSS las IuaQo such
rapid progress during recent years that
companies have been started for the pur-
pose of writing risks on almost every
thing under the sun. If you own q
house and want protection against FIRE,
or steam engine and want protection
against explosion, or q plate glass win
dow and want protection against the
small boy who throws stones, you have
only to go to one of number of COM
panies, pay your premium and carry
away your policy.
The business of writing these risks
has been carried on so long that it has
passed the experimental stage. The law
of average is maintained, and the COM
panies carrying such lines, as general
thing, annually report good profits. So
extensive has the insurance field be-
come that it was almost impossible to
conceive anything further for the COM
panies to guarantee, unless it was health
and happiness. Perhaps the very latest
thing in insurance may be step in that
direction. Salary insurance is some-
thing entirely new, and is being ex-
tensively advertised.
If it is possible to write such insurance
on reasonable terms, which will protect
the employee and enable the company
doing this business to meet its contracts,
it should become highly valuable to
working people. If, on the other hand,
it is necessary to impose such conditions
upon the insured as will leave numerous
loopholes, by which the payment of poll
cies may be avoided, then this form Of
insurance becomes valueless to any per-
son, except those who issue the policy.
The stipulations under which you may
obtain salary insurance are briefly re-
cited below. It is left to the readers
Judgment to decide whether it would
pay him to have his salary guaranteed
under such conditions.
The applicant for policy must give
complete history of himself, whether
married or single, size of his family, sal
ary per annum, how long in service of
employer, where employed for ten years
previous to making application, whether
he has chronic disease, and how much
time he has lost by illness during the
preceding twelve months.
The premium is fifteen dollars per an
mum where the salary is less than 81 500
and per cent. of the salary where it is
equal to or in excess of that sum. The
policy covers period of twelve months
and guarantees the insured his salary
for six months after his discharge. It is
claimed that the policy is equivalent to.
contract with an employer that he will
not discharge the employee except for
cause, without giving six months notice.
The policy provides that dismissal
shall not be caused by or through any
willful act or negligence of the assured.
The assured is compelled to give imme-
diate notice of dismissal, and must make
every effort to obtain employment; fail
ing in this the policy becomes void.
When the assured has again secured
employment he must notify the COM
pany, and he will be furnished with
blanks upon which to make proof of the
claim, covering the time he was unem-
ployed If he is unable to secure en-
ployment during six months he must
notify the company and furnish proofs
of loss
Any question as to the liability of the
company may be referred to board of
three arbitrators, one to be selected by
the company, one by the assured, and
these two arbitrators will select third
The decision of two of these arbitrators
shall be binding. The policy further
provides that no suit shall be brought
until the expiration of three months
from the day of filing proofs of loss with
the company, "nor shall such suit be
brought at all unless the same is COM
menced within six months from the
time the right of action accrues, any
statute of limitatiopQtQ the contrary not
withstanding." The company reserves
the right to cancel the policy at any
time by refunding pro rata portion of
the premium.
1t becomes an interesting question as
to what constitutes a willful act or neg
igence. 1t is the experience of thou
sands of workmen in New York that
after they have been employed in one es-
tablishment for years perhaps new
foreman or superintendent is introduced
and the employee is discharged. He has
done his work in a manner satisfactory
to his old employer, but the new one
says he is incompetent. This is cited as
an illustration, of many cases, where
more than the intelligence of Phila-
delphia lawyer would be needed to de-
eide whether the company had good and
sufficient grounds for avoiding payment
of the policy.
President William M. Richards, of the
Fidelity and Casualty company, when
asked his opinion regarding salary in
surance, said: 81 do not like to criticise
the methods Of other companies, which
may compete with us even indirectly,
but I will say that this sort Of insur-
ance must at present be regarded largely
in the nature of an experiment. You
know very we'll that we will insure any
thing that, under the law of average,
holds out a hope of return, but we
would not write salary insurance
Judging from the conditions which the
policy impose, l should say that the COM
pany is safe enough, but l cannot see
where much benefit can accrue to the
employee. Almost without exception,
the class Of employees who could avail
themselves of this class of insurance
have contracts with their employers and
thus have no need for such protection.
New York News.