Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-11-04
MOTOR INSURANCE
RATES INCREASING
Companies Made Cautious by
Frequent Raids Of Auto
mobile Thieves.
SEVERAL KINDS INSURANCE
Fire Rates Are Based on Age
and Value of the
Vehicle.

II Is the owner of the low-priced
new car who pays the steepest rate
for having an insurance company ACT
as buffer against the life of the car
thief becoming one of too opulent ease
at the expense of the car owner S
pocketbook, says w. X. Gibbs In
Motor Age. Incidentally the owner or
a ow-priced car pays almost twice as
much today as he did two years ago
FOR such protection. TWO years ago
the owner of a car listing at 500 or
under could get fire. and theft insur-
ance for $2.75 per hundred; today IL
costs him IS, while the fire protection
alone is reduced from S1.25 two years
ago to 81 today.
In writing fire insurance company
can fix an equitable rate based on pre-
vious experience but in writing theft
insurance this is not so. The eXpe-
rience of last year has no bearing on
this years activity of the car thleI.
Writing theft insurance today is al
most as precarious as writing liability
insurance on motor cars two decades
back. The first liability policy on a
motor car was written February l.,
1898, and the premium was sl1.25.
Today the cheapest Is $22.50 and the
maXiumm for public liability, $3.50
Insurance companies in the last two
years have stepped-up theft rates until
they feel they are too high compared
with other classes OF insurance, yet
even now they feel fortunate II at
the end of a year they do not show
a loss. The theft situation is such that
contemplated the complete elimina-
contemeplat ID the complete eleimina-
ton of theft insurance. The ono
thing that would go the farthest
rd
consequently lower theft Insurance
rates is severe penalty meted out by a
centralized court in each municipality
before which every car theft case
should be brought. Then, and not
until then, will the thief find justice
of the quantity and quality that will
put fear in his heart, the motor car
owner find more dollars in his pocket
and insurance companies will write in
surance at a reasonable rate that Of
fers a profit to them at the end Of the
year.
Two Glasses OF Insurance.
There are two classes of motor car
insurance, but these have Endorsements
which really protect the insured In
five ways. One policy covers loss of
the car by fire or theft; the other is
known as the liability policy. To either
of these may be attached riders-one
for insurlng the car owner against
damage done the property of others,
this rider being known as the property
damage Endorsement, and the other
for insuring the car owner for damage
to his own car. The latter is known
as collision Endorsement and there are
two Endorsements coming under this
head-one is known as the 1925 de-
ductible Endorsement" and the other
full coverage.
In one instance the company Is liable
only for that part of the damage thar
exceeds $25, while in the other it Is
liable for any claim, under s25 or not.
As the car gets older the premium
for insuring it against theft grows
smaller and that for fire, larger 1t
is assumed that an old car is less
likely to be stolen than a new car,
hence the lower rate for theft irssur-
ance, but by the same reasoning, an
old car gets less care and. II we may
be pardoned saying 1t. the owner of an
old car cares less about its burning
than IL 1t were new. OF course, the
older a car gets the smaller the
amount of Insurance one can get on
It, For example, a car three years
old probably will not be insured by
any company In an amount in excess
of 25 to 80 per cent of its value. This
Is on the principle that an old car
insured for more than 1t would brin\
secondhand is a bad risk. In all
cases the premium on a secondhand
car Is slightly higher than on new
car. Thus if you bought a used car,
even II 1t is this years model, insur-
ance on 1t would cost you 10 to 10
cents a hundred more than 1t did the
first owner.
Fire Rates Vary.
In fixing fire insurance the makers
OF these rates base them on expert
ence. This teaches that the older cars
suffer the greatest loss from fire and
thu least loss from theft. In certain
districts a new Ford, for example, can
be insured for an amount that Is op-
tional with the company writing the
insurance at $2.75 hundred for fire
and theft combined, or $3.50 q hun
dred for fire alone. This represents
s1.25 for the theft part of the policy.