Insurance.
The following is a brief summary of the insurance business in the
United States in its principal forms: The first
fire insurance in the colonies was written in
Boston by the
Sun Company (
English) in 1728.
Some insurance was done in
Philadelphia in 1752.
The first
fire insurance policy issued in the
United States was in
Hartford.
Conn., in 1794, under the unofficial title of “
Hartford fire insurance co.”
Sixteen years after, in 1810, the Hartford
Fire Insurance Company was organized.
From 1801-10 there were 60 charters issued; 1811-20, 43; 1821-30, 149; 1831-40, 467; 1841-50, 401; 1851-60, 896; 1861-70, 1,041.
From Jan. 1, 1880, to Dec. 31, 1889, property of the citizens of the
United States was insured against fire and accident on ocean, lake, and river, and by tornado, to the amount of over $120,000,000,000, for premiums of $1,156,675,391, and losses were paid of $647,726,051, being 56 per cent. of the premiums.
The condition and transactions of fire companies doing business in the
United States on Jan. 1, 1899, were as follows:
Number of Companies. | Capital. | Assets Exclusive of Premium Notes. | Net Surplus | Cash Premiums Received during Year. | Total Cash Income during Year. |
315 Stock | $72,123,389 | $349,947,651 | $153,820,864 | $164,868,505 | $183,312,322 |
160 Mutual |
Number of Companies. | Paid for Losses during Year. | Paid for Dividends during Year. | Expenses other than Losses and Dividends during Year. | Total Disbursements during Year. | Risks Written during Year. |
315 Stock | $106,169,209 | $15,847,761 | $61,361,044 | $184,398,572 | 1$18,000,000,000 |
160 Mutual. |
In 1900 the aggregate property loss by fires was $138,000,000, and the aggregate insurance loss was $82,000,000.
Life insurance was not known before the sixteenth century.
The first life insurance company, “The amicable,” was established in
London,
England, in 1706, and insured at uniform rates persons between twelve and forty-five years of age. In 1734 it guaranteed a dividend for each deceased member not less than £ 100. This was the first insurance for a definite sum at death, whenever that might occur.
In 1762 the Equitable Assurance Society of London began to rate members according to age. At the close of the eighteenth century there were eight companies transacting, in a more or less complete form, the business of
life insurance in
Great Britain and
Ireland.
The Presbyterian Annuity and Life Insurance Company of
Philadelphia, the first life insurance company in the
United States, received its charter from
Thomas Penn in 1759.
The Penn Company for Insurance on Lives was chartered in 1812, and the Massachusetts Hospital
Life Insurance Company,
Boston, in 1818.
The assessment system of
life insurance is based on the plan of collecting assessments on living members to pay death losses as they occur.
In this plan the assessments during early years are less than the premiums of regular companies; but they increase rapidly, and often become impossible to collect in later years.
Since its appearance (about 1865) as an insurance business, aside from fraternal organizations, this system has rapidly extended.
The first accident insurance company established in the
United States was the
Traveler's, of
Hartford, Conn., in 1863; the first steam-boiler insurance company,
Hartford, Conn., was chartered in 1866; and plate-glass was first insured in 1870.
Most of the States have established departments or bureaus of insurance, for the supervision of the companies and the enforcement of the laws requiring their solvency to be maintained.
The mainten-
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The condition of the regular level premium companies on Jan. 1, 1900, and the business of the preceding year were as follows
2:
| | | | | | New Policies Issued. | Policies in Force. |
No.
of Cos. | Assets. | Premiums Received | Total Income. | Payments to Policy-holders (Losses, Dividends, Surrenders, etc.) | Total Expenditures. | No. | Amount. | No. | Amount. |
69 | $1,595,208,408 | $291,842,264 | $365,368,062 | $159,987,686 | $250,296,121 | 4,374,373 | $1,843,421,533 | 12,871,797 | $7,774,280,005 |
The following shows the condition and business of assessment companies and orders
3:
| | | | | | Membership. | Insurance in Force. |
No.
of Cos. | Assets. | Assessments Collected. | Total Income. | Payments to Policy-holders. | Total Expenditures. | Admitted During the Year. | No. of Members. | Amount. |
129 | $27,256,440 | $48,102,875 | $49,211,098 | $38,426,477 | $44,980,522 | 570,338 | 2,345,002 | $3,920,189,844 |
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Life insurance table of mortality, American experience.
Age. | Number Living. | Deaths Each Year. | Death Rate per 1,000. | Expectation of Life Years. | Age. | Number Living. | Deaths Each Year. | Death Rate per 1,000. | Expectation of Life Years. | Age. | Number Living. | Deaths Each Year. | Death Rate per 1,000. | Expectation of Life Years. |
10 | 100,00 | 749 | 7.49 | 48.72 | 39 | 78,862 | 756 | 9.59 | 28.90 | 68 | 43,133 | 2,243 | 52.00 | 9.47 |
11 | 99,251 | 746 | 7.52 | 48.08 | 40 | 78,106 | 765 | 9.79 | 28.18 | 69 | 40,890 | 2,321 | 56.76 | 8.97 |
12 | 98,505 | 743 | 7.54 | 47.45 | 41 | 77,341 | 774 | 10.01 | 27.45 | 70 | 38,569 | 2,391 | 61.99 | 8.48 |
13 | 97,762 | 740 | 7.57 | 46.80 | 42 | 76,567 | 785 | 10.25 | 26.72 | 71 | 36,178 | 2.448 | 67.67 | 8.00 |
14 | 97,022 | 737 | 7.60 | 46.16 | 43 | 75,782 | 797 | 10.52 | 26.00 | 72 | 33,730 | 2,487 | 73.73 | 7.55 |
15 | 96,285 | 735 | 7.63 | 45.50 | 44 | 74,985 | 812 | 10.83 | 25.27 | 73 | 31,243 | 2,505 | 80.18 | 7.11 |
16 | 95,550 | 732 | 7.66 | 44.85 | 45 | 74,173 | 828 | 11.16 | 24.54 | 74 | 28,738 | 2,501 | 87.03 | 6.68 |
17 | 94,818 | 729 | 7.69 | 44.19 | 46 | 73,345 | 848 | 11.56 | 23.81 | 75 | 26,237 | 2,476 | 94.37 | 6.27 |
18 | 94,089 | 727 | 7.73 | 43.53 | 47 | 72,497 | 870 | 12.00 | 23.08 | 76 | 23,761 | 2,431 | 102.31 | 5.88 |
19 | 93,362 | 725 | 7.77 | 42.87 | 48 | 71,627 | 896 | 12.51 | 22.36 | 77 | 21,330 | 2,369 | 111.06 | 5.49 |
20 | 92,637 | 723 | 7.81 | 42.20 | 49 | 70,731 | 927 | 13.11 | 21.63 | 78 | 18,961 | 2,291 | 120.83 | 5.11 |
21 | 91,914 | 722 | 7.86 | 41.53 | 50 | 69,804 | 962 | 13.78 | 20.91 | 79 | 16,670 | 2,196 | 131.73 | 4.74 |
22 | 91,192 | 721 | 7.91 | 40.85 | 51 | 68,842 | 1,001 | 14.54 | 20.20 | 80 | 14,474 | 2.091 | 144.47 | 4.39 |
23 | 90,471 | 720 | 7.96 | 40.17 | 52 | 67,841 | 1,044 | 15.39 | 19.49 | 81 | 12,383 | 1,964 | 158.61 | 4.05 |
24 | 89,751 | 719 | 8.01 | 39.49 | 53 | 66,797 | 1,091 | 16.33 | 18.79 | 82 | 10,419 | 1,816 | 174.30 | 3.71 |
25 | 89,032 | 718 | 8.07 | 38.81 | 54 | 65,706 | 1,143 | 17.40 | 18.09 | 83 | 8,603 | 1,648 | 191.56 | 3.39 |
26 | 88,314 | 718 | 8.13 | 38.12 | 55 | 64,563 | 1,199 | 18.57 | 17.40 | 84 | 8,955 | 1,470 | 211.36 | 3.08 |
27 | 87,569 | 718 | 8.20 | 37.43 | 56 | 63,364 | 1,260 | 19.89 | 16.72 | 85 | 5,485 | 1,292 | 235.55 | 2.77 |
28 | 86,878 | 718 | 8.26 | 36.73 | 57 | 62,104 | 1,325 | 21.34 | 16.05 | 86 | 4,193 | 1,114 | 265.68 | 2.47 |
29 | 86,160 | 719 | 8.35 | 36.03 | 58 | 60,779 | 1,394 | 22.94 | 15.39 | 87 | 3,079 | 933 | 303.02 | 2.18 |
30 | 85,441 | 720 | 8.43 | 35.33 | 59 | 59,385 | 1,468 | 24.72 | 14.74 | 88 | 2,146 | 744 | 346.69 | 1.91 |
31 | 84,721 | 721 | 8.51 | 34.63 | 60 | 57,917 | 1,546 | 26.69 | 14.10 | 89 | 1,402 | 555 | 395.86 | 1.66 |
32 | 84,000 | 723 | 8.61 | 33.92 | 61 | 56,371 | 1,628 | 28.88 | 13.47 | 90 | 847 | 385 | 454.55 | 1.42 |
33 | 83,277 | 726 | 8.72 | 33.21 | 62 | 54,743 | 1,713 | 31.29 | 12.86 | 91 | 462 | 246 | 532.47 | 1.19 |
34 | 82,551 | 729 | 8.83 | 32.50 | 63 | 53,030 | 1,800 | 33.94 | 12.26 | 92 | 216 | 137 | 634.26 | .98 |
35 | 81,822 | 732 | 8.95 | 31.78 | 64 | 51,230 | 1,889 | 36.87 | 11.67 | 93 | 79 | 58 | 734.18 | .80 |
36 | 81,090 | 737 | 9.09 | 31.07 | 65 | 49,341 | 1,980 | 40.13 | 11.10 | 94 | 21 | 18 | 857.14 | .64 |
37 | 80,353 | 742 | 9.23 | 30.35 | 66 | 47.361 | 2,070 | 43.71 | 10.54 | 95 | 3 | 3 | 1,000.00 | .50 |
38 | 79,611 | 749 | 9.41 | 29.62 | 67 | 45,291 | 2,158 | 47.65 | 10.00 |
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ance of these departments, and all expenses of supervision are charged to the companies, and sometimes amount to a serious burden, increasing the cost of insurance to the people.
The belief of most insurance experts and of political economists is that the effort to regulate the business by law has been carried much too far, and has done at least as much harm as good.