Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-07-12
INSURANCE RATES
AND FIRE HAZARDS
TO BE INVESTIGATED
Continued from page

AOntiuutu Pa6t Il
Councilman Alexander Abrahams
called upon by the chair to speak on
the first point, said that all the state
ments made by the various repre-
sentatives of the insurance interests in
the course of numerous surveys dur
ing the past two or three years had
been to the effect that the establish
ment of a paid fire department would
result in averting a radical raise in
rates, and perhaps the pink Slip" or
a withdrawal of insurance protection
entirely. That a paid department
would lower existing rates was not,
however definitely stated, and the in
vestigations into conditions in cities
similarly situated did not make the
fire committee sanguine of its doing SO.
C. T. Brigham, president of the
Delaware Safety Council, said his
understanding was that the rates
would be considerably increased II
the paid fire department was not in
stalled, though no specific reference
had been made to a decrease. Poor
wiring. tar roofs, rubbish and nine
inch walls were among the causes
making the downtown business sec
tions a poor risk, and the rate here
abnormally high. Sl2 TO Sl3 per
capita. A comparison with the losses
in other cities for the past five years
was even impossible. since these places
have fire marshals while here the con-
ditions are different.
To Keep Down Fire Hazards.
Regarding the latter point. Presi-
dent $. X. Smith of the Department
of Public Safety. said that particular
attention would be paid in the future
to this feature and that the Wilmington
service will be second To none; that
a system of inspection that will count
for something will take the whole city
over and investigate from top to bot
tom and bring improved conditions.
putting fire prevention ahead of fire
killing. important as that is
Albert Bird. of Bird. Ford & Co.
insurance brokers. here made the
comparison with a tea. pot tempest"
before quoted. What the increased
rates were. or If there were any in
creases he confessed that he did not
know; as the revised schedules only
reached him on Friday noon. and i
had been a physical impossibility TO
digest them in the interval. He did
know. however,. that for the past two
or three years, the fire insurance bus
mess in this city had not been on
profitable basis.
He characterized conditions here as
disgraceful for city Of its size; there
being no law TO compel cleaning up,
and the exposure hazard from mans
neighbors. being therefore very high.
Furthermore, Mr.. Bird said, the
conditions were not merely Of recent
date. but Of long standing; and the
paid department not vet functiOning
However. there need be no mystery
about rates, or the reasons for an
increase where one j. asked. 4
consultation with the broker the man
u whom the premiums are paid
would bring detailed statement Of
every item and the reasons for it,
Ill his opinion the whole matter, when
fully understood, will simmer down
to practically nothing.
William j. Hghfield. as a broker,
said that he was proud Of his profess
sion. and of the men in the insurance
business; and resented the imputation
of bad faith on the part Of any of
them. He corroborated Mr.. Bird as
to the new schedule being as yet not
compre hended by anyone. owing to
lack of time. He quoted one recent
instance, however, where the rate on
4 property within two blocks Of the
spot where they were assem- bl ed
where a new rate had been made OF
s135. advanced from an old rate Of
S5 cents. With this new rate, how
ever. went the offer Of q reduction Of
-
rected and is cents if the cellar were
cleaned making the net increase only
5 cents If the insured would only help
ID protect himself; and that small
net increase was largely due to in
creased replacement construction
costs
Councilman Mulvena said that the
council would welcome supervision OF
wiring hy a fire marshal or by the
insurance companies.
Chairman Warner said that APP
parently there was no ground for The
impression that the insurance COM
ranies had shown bad faith. The only
remaining question was as TO the
timeIiness Of a protest.
In order 10 bring this question up.
william d. Mullen moved that such
a protest be indorsed. After some
discussion. George W. Sparks moved
To amend by directing the chairman
{ 80 a .tor.