Omaha daily bee., 1918-07-12
INSURANCE NOTES
SOLD TO BANK ARE
UP BEFORE BOARD
Controversy Between ChaICo
Bank and Health Company
Aired Before State OFF,
ciaIs in 0mah..

That agents of the Mutual Benefit
Health and Accident association, 400
City National Bank building miSrep-
resented the terms of the company's
policies to policy holders was charged
Thursday morning at a hearing con-
Quoted at the court house before the
state insurance board. The board S
investigating charges of misconduct
on the part of Clair c. Criss, treasur-
er of the association, and agents of
the company, among them w. =.
Jenkins and J. L. Leonard.
1t was also testified before the
board that the German-American
State bank of Chalco, Neb., holds
$4,000 in notes which agents of the
company accepted in lieu of cash oay.
ments of premiums, as the rules of
the company provide.
Several witnesses who had pur-
chased and signed policies of til
company after solicitation by agents
testified that they were told bv
agents of the company that the poll
cles included not only an accident la
blllty clause which would provide a
sick benefit, but also regular life in.
surance provisions. For this they
gave notes for $29, they said.
Only Accident Insurance.
But when they received the actual
policy. they found that the insurance
provided only an accident and sick
benefit clause and that the life clause
was restricted to death by accident.
they said. A policy holder could ,ot
collect the insurance should be die
natural death or die from disease.
I. E. Zachary, barber, 1907 Park
avenue, testified that six weeks after
signing notes for premium on two
policies, he called Leonard's attention
to the alleged discrepancy between
Leonard'S earlier statement to him
and the actual language of the policy
Zachary testified that Leonard re-
piled that he himself had been de-
ceiyed by the company.
Owen Ward, aged 73, Sarpy county
farmer, testified that he was y
preached by three agents of the com.
pan and asked his age. He rln,ied
Well, how old do you think I ann"
"Sixty-five," he said that they an
swered. No further mention was
made concerning his age, and so he
was insured, he says, and did rot
learn until later that the rules of the
company forbid the insuring of peo-
pie over 20.
Clair c. Criss, 9O2 South Thirty.
eighth street, treasurer of the com
pany, declined to make statement
yesterday.
Agents Accept Notes.
H. S. Weller, president of the in
surance company and vice presiden,
OF the Richardson Drug company,
stated yesterday that the company
1ever accepted notes or anything but
cash in payment Of insurance prem
inns, but that he understood hat all
insurance agents are in the habit of
accepting notes from policy holder.
on their own responsibility. Some
agents in and about Chalco had done
this, he said, and had easily sold them
t) the German-American State bank |
there.
When he learned that as much as
$4,000 worth of these notes had been
bought by the bank he wrote to the
bank to tell the officers that the in
surance company was not authorizing
any such procedure on the part of its
agents. Nevertheless. he said, the
bank purchased $4,000 worth addi-
tiona1 of these notes.
Recently Weller appeared betore
the state insurance board of which
the governor is an ex-officio mem
Der, and testified that the company
could not be liable for the action of
the bank in purchasing the notes.
The state board is only taking
dispositions in the case at present The
hearing will be held later at Lincoln
Fred Armburst is cashier of the
Cba1co bo,,I-