Evening star., 1919-03-30

! The man who comes to talk insur-
ance seldom receives a cordial well
come. In the first place he directs
the victims attention to subjects
that are not altogether pleasant to
contemplate-illness accident and
| death. In the second place. he is urg-
| ing the payment of more or less
| thing that will not give the payer
pleasure or comfort, but merely pro-
lection for dependents.
| And perhaps the proud possessor of
q brand-new automobile will feel the
same way when he is earnestly ad-
Vised that he should never take his
purchase out on the road until he has
fully protected himself and it against
any chance blow of capricious fate.
Automobile insurance has grown
from very small beginnings a few
years ago to enormous proportions.
When this form Of protection is care
fully selected the car owner is prac-
tlcally immune from pecuniary loss
through accident. No man with a
modicum of good common sense will
ever take car on the road without
being 80 protected.
The understanding of what consti-
tutes satisfactory protection in the
use OF car does not seem to be gen.
orally diffused even in the motoring
community. There are scores of car
owners who have covered their cars
and themselves with policies and yet
are extremely hazy as to the exact
limits Of the protection they enjoy.
This is absolutely wrong. The car
owner should know exactly what
protection he has bought. A brief
glance at what automobile insurance
really means and what the car owner
should look for in his policy if he is
to be really safe will show the fol-
lowing:
Four Kinds of Insurance.
Automobile insurance may be di-
vided into four major classes. First
comes fire risk, which almost every
one carries. then collision damages
TO the vehicle. property damage.
which covers injury done by the car
TO another vehicle or other property.
and finally liability.
Every thinking man will agree that
the last Is the most important. Dam
age through FIRE or collision is limited
to the value of the vehicle involved.
Damages awarded to an injured per-
son in the courts may run as high as
$50, 900. Several verdicts of this
amount have been brought in, and for
the ordinary man this means some
thing like ruin.
Now. liability insurance is the most
expensive Of the lot. On what is
known as the standard policy, for a
car of say thirty horsepower. the
premium for liability insurance will
be IN the neighborhood Of $65. This
is more than twice as much as any
Of the other classes cost, and many
men are tempted to "underwrite"
themselves and save the original out
lay. The only advice to be given any
one trying to save money in this way
is Mr.. Punch's advice to a young man
about to be married: "Don't" Let
were about to buy car and yet felt
that the added cost Of taking ont liza
bility insurance was too much for
him, he should be frankly advised not
to buy the car.
In addition to covering damages as
sessed by the courts for injuries in
fiicted, the standard insurance policy
places the costs OF defending such
suits on the insuring company. Such
companies have the best attorneys
obtainable, as n,inimizing- damages is
part Of their business enterprise They
also pay for medical attention given
at the time of the accident.
The other classes of automobile In
surance are more obviously necessary
and almost every car owner appre-
ciates the need for them. Fire is al
that derives its power from q highly
infiammable liquid like gasoline. Yet
fire insurance is comparatively cheap.
On the standard policy for q medium.
priced car. It will run about SIS per
year. There is not much need for