The sun., 1893-06-13
SUICIDE AND IMPOSTURE.
LIFE INbURAHCS COMPANIES MUST
FORETER GUARD AGAINST 7HEM.


Amount Insured, tho Rrerter the Cou,-
pnny'- Hisk-rrecautions Against Fraud.
1T has taken nearly flfty years for life insur-
ance companies to acquire systcm OF protec-
tlon against fraud which is rational and useful.
andis likely to stand the test OF time"
Tho man who made tho above remark sat In
tho office Of one OF the largest insurance COM
panics In this city. He was mild. benevolent
looking man, who wore old fashioned specta-
cles and had the appearance OF n professor In
q small college. lie didn't look at all like tho
confidential man OF q great insurance COM
pany whose shrewdness dlstrust In human
nature. and experience were relied upon to
save the institution from mistaken He had
been talking about the attempts OF ,winders
to impose upon insurance companies. OF the
numerous cunning schemes devised By them.
and " the utter impossibility OF checking
thom altogether. Until within two years, how
ever he added. the companies were much
more liable to mposition than since that time,
for within the past two years there has grown
up q systom OF protection AMI inspection
which only the cleverest sharpers can defy
with SUCCESS. Then he went on to explain this
new system.
The average citizen. whose life insurance is
limited TO $4,000. does not. 1t seems. require
much attention. The number Of men who in
frauding the companies is SO small that the
ordinary precautions which have been In
vogue for many yoars are sufficient to protect
tho rom panies. Tho effort to apply to them
the careful watchfulness deemed necessary
for larger risks would cost more than the pos
sible loss by fraud would amount to- Insur-
ance companies arc in a business in which
chance necessarily plays q large part They
have learned to calculate upon chance until
they have reduced It almost to 4 certainty.
Tho possibility OF loss BY fraud through
twelvemonth can bs told almost to
dot by the experts. They have decided
that risks under $4,000 do not require
tho same precautions that are necessary
where larger amounts are In question. and.
therefore. tho elaborate inspection system is
reserved for the latter. Not that q small fraud
Is not followed up as closely as a larger one.
Once o fraud Is detected or suspected no
amount OF expense Is considered too great to
deter the company from a thorough investiga-
tion. But tho modern policies are practically
incontestable. and practically only one chance
for contesting q claim remains-when the
company is convinced that the person Insured
is not dead. as is alleged by tho beneficiary
Such has been tho basis OF refusal to pay in
tho case OF John w. Hillman. who was
alleged to have died In Kansas from
an accidental eunshot wound whereas the
ompanies Interested have always m ainta tained
that tho dead body produced was that of an
other man who was murdered by Hill man. the
latter disappearing to parts unknown. That
famous case is also proof OF the assertion that
fraud regardless Of expense. They have al
ready spent more money. probably. In Efforts
to S2onsS. S III. aR %aoR S pssoger 1s s
amounts OF the policies on his, lite.
than those policies we're wo'th And they
convict llillman OF conspiracy AMI murder in
case they Ind him.. Of course there is one
is so rarely encountered that it hardly enters
into tho calculations OF any company. The
surance frauds was that which still remains
unprore1,, the case OF Widow Shann Of New
Jersey. Here. 1t is alleged. the beneficiary
murdered the insured person.
Insurance companies are not an Nious to eS-
pose the methods i,y which they detect frauds.
tions to- the fertile Lrains OF would be swim
dlers. WHICH they are not slew to take adyan-
referred to SAID. the method. nre sure to 10
revealed soonsr or later End it It's, is better to
Garbled accounts placed tefore the public.
, The Inspection system. Ss it Is called, as
y By n ,he
which 1t is founded is that the new methods
OF insurance make 1t i'm perative that nll pre-
fore the policy is issued. 1t is a theory which
mucS better @ % than cure Tor It insists that there
can !e no cure. and therefore all efforts must
@oris Ss Ss 70 peau, "s posy
issued 70 him. The old method OF depend
IS no s0ls anrer on relied apcn
inquiry as to the character. occu patton. hnoits.
medical investieation; ri. larger the amount mt
Of the insurance nrRlied for the more rigid
With cnrsiuI .examination OF tho Iv7 aPnii,
cant: The investigator tres to ,o as little Of
fensive p9ssini but % his
make any effort to Impress the applicant with
m materinl facts are souGhtto be reached through
general conversations. The. object neverthe-
questions which are printed and Kept on ile in
the Inspection tt a. tdep@fitment They are for the
rate blank is used for each applicant, and
away for future reference. The decisi ion u upon BON
the application, is based upon 4. taken with
many strange stories lie in these blanks. and |
MnS Re made GOOD ubS ds there DpP
IN nD some u families: fSs iSsssIsatorf f0%S,s does
not stop with. the inquiries addressed |
ters to I neisRbor and QUESTION hi m. e for that hat
might come to the ears OF the applicant, and II |
indignant 4 and nc withdraw his appiIcaton i But ut
the same result Is achieved by asking the |
applicant for references and making inquiries |
of them. II the applicant refuses to give in
jscted forthwith. The object OF all the inquiries
is to ascertain among other things whether
whether he goes on sprees, whether
the amount OF insurance applied for |
what other insuranee he has what his oeeu
patton ia. The investigator. cares nothing |
about the moral character OF tho applicant.
nor about his occupation. eXcept ip SD far ms
win be accented 9s readily asths ehuTchmeen
cause some disappointed gambler, might
shoot him. II Is said that only .swindlers re-
fuse to give the information TINT Investigators
demand. The average applicant secs the
Justice OF tho inIusition. even though disa-
ereonhe. innsmurh as the policy Is incontest-
able after 1t is Onco issued.
he reason why the new system OF inspec-
tion Ia SO EXPENSIVE is because those ON
ploysd in 1t get biz salaries. and because there
be able to accomplish successfully TWO things
Tending the applicants. When tho applicants
are sensitive. the latter is difficult; when they
n ra lahonaaf ha farm iS li inicult The |