The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-10-20
Insurance Trade
 Duped By Racket
Connecticut Commissioner Says Business Being Vic-
 tinlized By Claim Takers

Insurance has best been de- scribed as system whereby the losses of the few are distributed among the many. Failure to realize this fundamental is the cause of much misunderstanding and un- warranted criticism on the part of the public, said Howard P. Dun- ham, insurance commissioner Of the state, in an address Wednes- day over WTIC at Hartford.
 In the last few years there has been an increasing chorus of com plaint that insurance companies are trying to avoid the payment of claims because they are hard pressed, that they are inclined to 'welsh' on their contracts. This suspicious attitude is unjstified as far as the reputable companies are concerned; any company which showed an unwillingness to settle legitimate claims would be ban ished from Connecticut or any oth- CT state in short order.
 It should be borne in mind that in these times insurance companies must pay particular attention to claims in view of the well-known inclination of many persons who are in financial straits and not above cheating to seek to put over illegitimate claims. Reflection should convince those who criticise insurance companies on this score that they would do as the insurance executives are doing if they were in their places. For they will realize that the insurance companies, in a manner of speaking, are the public and are distributing the public's money when they pay claims. Since insurance is a system whereby the | losses of the few are distributed among the many, 1t follows that the greater the losses the more the public must pay in the form of higher rates.
 If the public fully understood the relationship between the payment of claims and insurance rates we would very soon hear few com plaints about the unwillingness of insurance companies to pay legiti- mate claims and 1t would not be long before juries would cease soaking the insurance companies. Many lines of business have been victimized by rackets in recent years and the insurance business | has not been immune. It Is gener- ally known that life and casualty companies have been defrauded out of millions of dollars by organized rings of claim fakers. The opera tions of these rings have been graphically depicted in certain re- cent motion pictures in which ann bulance chasing and similar ,unlaw- full deeds were the themes of the
 stories. The insurance companies
 have had to wage a terrific battle
 against the insurance racketeers
 and the battle is not yet won.
 The Connecticut insurance de- pertinent is often requested to aid persons who have claims against
 companies which for some reason
 have not been paid. Few instances
 are found of wilful refusal by reli- able insurance companies to settle
 claims. Most of the appeals made
 to the insurance department arise
 from a misunderstanding and the
 department uses it's good offices to
 effect a mutually satisfactory set- l clement. This is one of the many
 ways in which the department aids the public. It Is always prepared to
 answer inquiries concerning com panies and agents and to investi-
 gate any complaints of unsound or
 unethical practices.
 Closely related to the subject of
 claims Is the matter of accidents
 and insurance rates. It should be
 generally understood that there is a
 vital relationship between the num-