The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-05-26
ENGLISH INSURANCE WORKERS able
TO ORGANIZE And STOP SWINDLERS.

holds true for Ordinary cash sur
renders.
Haley Fiske. the arch-defender of
all the evils with which industrial life
4 insurance is beset has the following
to say on the quetion of lapses;
Critics of industrial life insur-
ance lay great stress on the large
number of persons who take out in
surance and then after payment Of
/ premiums for varying periods per-
| NIT the insurance to lapse. These
! critics sometimes make the evils Of
lapsing appear much worse than
they really are AS a matter Of
fact, lapsing policyholders are sell
dom the victims Of serious loss.
The great majority Of lapses are
on policies Of less than three years
duration
Such a statement coming from so
great a parsonage as Haley Fiske
S150.000 a year president of the Me
tropolitan Life Insurance Company
must be true. It is, in some respects.
Issue must be taken with Mr. Fiske
when he says that the lapsing policy
holders are seldom the victims of
serious loss" Not only are the policy
holders victims of a serious loss, but
the agent on whose books a lapse oc-
ours is also a victim of a serious loss
Agents Forced TO Overcharge.
Assuming that the life of the aver
age lapsed Yolicy is only one year,
American policyholders, as has been
pointed out in previous article, sus-
tanned last year loss of over so mil
lion dollars.
Now if a fifty million dollar ,oss is
not a serious loss then surely the big
-Four" would not be greatly incon-
venienced if the method of filming
agents for lapses were forthwith dis
continued. After all It is only an an
nual item of 33 million dollars.
As industrial life insurance is con-
stituted at present the agent is forced
to aid and abet the existing over
charging and harsh policy conditions.
The public knows little or nothing
about insurance in spite of its great
social and economic significance. The
agent who makes the weekly visit to
the policyholder's home is the source
of all insurance knowledge to which
the insured has access.
Perpetrates Fraud.
Because any lapse Of industrial in
surance means a heavy fine being
levied against his salary, the agent is
compelled to urge the continuance and
purchase of certain types of policies
which he knows are fraudulent and
unfair. The policy may have been
written years ago, still, unless he is
prepared to suffer financial loss he
must act as an accessory to COM
pany's swindle
The powers that be are doing all in
their power to see that the present
criminal system Of fraud and misrep-
resentation goes on. A new system
based upon equitable rates and con-
ditions for the policyholder, and the
abolition of the decidedly unfair
"lapse and charge" method would give
the institution a more social aspect
than it enjoys today.
Organized in England.
In England practically every ina
dustrial insurance worker is organ
lied. Two unions cover the country
They are the National Federation of
Insurance Workers with headquarters
in London and the National Amalga-
mated Life Insurance Workers with a
total membership of 10000.
These two powerful labor unions
see to it that a high standard of liv-
ing is obtained in their industry and
that better working conditions are
continually introduced.
In addition to safeguarding the ma
terial interests of their members these
workers have a share in the control
and administration of the companies
for which they work.
As the idea of industrial weekly
premium life insurance was imported
to America from England it would be
quite in line with insurance prece-
dent, if that is required, to import
the idea of an agents union
II seems that after all these Eng