The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-04-14
Atwood Jenkins COrrects Err
roneous Impression of Cen
eral Reduction Held by
Many Property Owners.
CITY STANDS ALONE
Bureau Attaches Penalty to
Insurance in Indianapolis
and Terre Haute, Rated
Under Class 2.

That the insurance report made by
the Commercial club committee was
FULL Of discrepancies and inaccuracies,
due to ignorance of insurance busi-
ness, was the statement today OF At
wood Jenkins. Mr.. Jenkins also said
the impression that the Dean schedule
means general reductions for the en-
tire city, since 1t has been placed in
Class 2.
The new insurance rating to be-
come effective when the aerial truck is
in operation, covers only mercantile
risks. Business houses and stocks, re-
gardless of location. will receive the
proportion of decrease guaranteed by
the Sellers bureau in the promised re-
rating-13 per cent on brick buildings,
Z per cent on frame buildings. and 6
per cent on stocks and other mercan-
tile risks.
Dwelling Rate Stands.
THE rate on dwellings has been the
best for several years, and there will
be no decreases" Mr.. Jenkins said.
This rate will remain stationary, but
the factories will be changed ultimate
ly to conform with the new Dean
schedule for manufactures"
Richmond's mercantile rating Is now
the highest in the state, according to
the Sellers bureau. Indianapolis was
placed in Glass on the strength Of
ordinances its council passed. but
when that city failed to enforce the
ordinances, a 5 per cent penalty was
added to premiums. Terre Haute has
Class ratings conditionally, while
Richmond is in that class with no con-
dtions attached.
1t is impossible to estimate the
amount of money which will be saved,
insurance men declared today, by the
new rate.
When asked If the estimate Of $685.
900 made by the Commercial club COM
mittee was correct, Atwood Jenkins
said: THAT was only a guess. l will
not make any guess on it. because too
many guesses have already been made
in the report. To find out the amount
of money saved on premiums, 1t would
be necessary to solicit every man eff
fected, find the amount of insurance
he carries and then have experts fig
ure the new premium.
Loses Set Too Low.
zone of the guesses which amused
insurance men was the estimate OF
losses in 1909. The loss given for
the entire city in that year was $780,
$50, and we paid out Of this office
alone the sum Of $4,000.
1.-THE report also says the losses
last year were $1,000. One Office paid
out $1,000, or $3.50 less than the
amount given for the loss Of the en-
tire city. I know that is wrong. The
estimates of the property endangered
are incorrect. For instance, in the
case of the Colonial building fire. it
was an act of Providence that the
whole business section did not go, but
only the Colonial building is given as
the property endangered.
in 1909, the year of the F. and N.
Lawn Mower company fire, the insur-
ance companies here lost heavily. They
never in reality reap a harvest from
this city. The Robinson factory has
automatic sprinklers installed when 1t
had been paying a rate of $1.25 per
hundred. The rate was reduced to Is
cents hundred, or $1S for $4,000 in
surance a year. If there had been
fire there and we paid $1,000 for the
losses, the people would think we
made a profit Of $4,000, whereas we
loses the SIS and a few hundred in adj
dition.
1T probably will be two months be-
fore the new rates are promulgated,
but rebates will date with the installa-
ton of the new aerial truck. Mr.. Sell
ers said the chnage will cost the in
surance companies $4,000. which will
be spent for engineers, new forms and
printed material, ETC."