tion; and the Accidental Death Co. (No. 2) again resumed control of the bus.—that is, the accident portion of the bus. But the Co. was not in a position to carry on the same successfully. Hence the Accident Ins. Co. (No. 1) was founded; and the affairs of this Co. passed into liquidation in the early part of 1868. The accident policy-holders were fully protected throughout these changes. ACCIDENTAL INJURY AND DEATH ASSU. Co.-A Co. under this title was projected in 1850 by Mr. Wm. Campbell Sleigh, Barrister-at-Law, but its objects had already been accomplished by then existing Cos. It did not proceed. ACCIDENTAL AND MARINE INS. CORP. LIM., founded in Lond. in 1865, with an authorized cap of £1,000,000, in 40,000 shares of £25 (of which a portion only were subscribed), for the purpose of taking over the bus. of the Accidental Death (No. 2) and extending the operations of the Marine Ins. department. The Co. continued in bus. little more than twelve months, during which period it lost the whole of its paid-up cap., incurring liabilities which absorbed the whole of the subscribed cap., over £300,000, and left a considerable amount of liability unpaid. That the losses were occasioned by an almost systematic series of frauds cannot be doubted. But in this the Co. only shared the too general fate of young Marine Ins. offices. The Co. passed into liq. in Oct., 1866, the accident portion of the bus. being resumed by the Co. from whom it was originally taken. ACCLIMATIZED LIVES.-These are lives which, from long residence in climates supposed, or known, to be prejudicial to human life, have become in a measure proof against the deleterious influences there prevailing. Life offices take this circumstance into account in fixing rates of prem. for residents abroad; and especially make a distinction between such acclimatized persons, and others going for the first time to reside in such places. [FOREIGN RESIDENCE.] ACCOMENDA, a contract whereby a person entrusts property to the master of a vessel to be sold for their joint profit. It is a term orig. in Italian mercantile law. The venture bears analogy to what is known here as "captain's venture." ACCOMMODATED RATIOS.-This was a term applied to Life Ins. calculations by the late Mr. B. Gompertz. He prepared Tables intended to expedite the operations required for assuming the number of persons living at equal intervals of successive ages to be in geometrical progression, and the periods taken sufficiently short to permit this assumption to be a near approximation to the truth. See Mr. Gompertz's paper, Phil. Trans. 1825. ACCOUNTS OF LIFE OFFICES.-When the practice of pub. annual accounts first commenced we cannot precisely determine. Sir Fred. Eden in 1806, contrasting partnership Ins. Asso. with Trading Corporations, says the former might as easily as the latter show the soundness of their position, by (inter alia) pub. an annual account of their receipts and payments-"though it is believed no office in Gt. Brit. does so." This statement was made by one of the best informed writers of that period. In 1826 Mr. Babbage recommended Life offices to pub. their accounts. In 1841 there was some agitation upon the subject. The Joint Stock Regis. Act, 1844, did require all Cos. regis. under it to make returns-other offices escaped. The Parl. Com. on Assu. Asso., 1853, took evidence upon the subject. [LIFE INS., HIST. OF.] Since then the subject has constantly engaged attention. At length came the Life Assu. Cos. Act, 1870, the 33 & 34 Vict. c. 61, which contains the following requirements : SEC. 5.-Every Co. shall at the expiration of each financial year of such Co. prepare a statement of its revenue account for such year, and of its bal. sheet at the close of such year, in the forms respectively contained in the First and Second Schedules to this Act. To prevent any misapprehension, we give these schedules entire as follows: NOTE 1.-Companies having separate accounts for annuities to return the particulars of their annuity business in a separate statement. NOTE 2.-Items in this and in the accounts in the Third and Fifth Schedules should be the net amounts after deduction of the amounts paid and received in respect of re-assurances. • NOTE.-These items are included in the corresponding items in the First Schedule. Sec. 6 of the same measure enacts the following : 18 J £ s. d. Every Co. which, concurrently with the granting of policies of assurance or annuities on human life, transacts any other kind of assurance or other business, shall, at the expiration of each such financial year as aforesaid, prepare statements of its revenue account for such year, and of its balance-sheet at the close of such year, in the forms respectively contained in the Third and Fourth Schedules of this Act. These forms are as follows: we give them in extenso, for the purpose of future reference, and with a view to avoid mistakes. NOTE. Companies having separate accounts for annuities to return the particulars of their annuity business in a separate statement. NOTE. When Marine or any other branch of business is carried on, the income and expenditure thereof to be in like manner stated in a separate account. NOTE. This account is not required if the items have been incorporated in the other accounts of this Schedule. If the life assurance fund is, in accordance with section 4 of this Act, a separate trust fund for the sole security of the life policy-holders, a separate balance-sheet for the life branch may be given in the form contained in Schedule 2. In other respects the company is to observe the above form. See also note to Second Schedule. The following sections of the Act also relate to accounts: 9. The Board of Trade, upon the application of or with the consent of a company, may alter the forms contained in the Schedules to this Act, for the purpose of adapting them to the circumstances of such company, or of better carrying into effect the objects of this Act. 10. Every statement or abstract hereinbefore required to be made shall be signed by the chairman and two directors of the company, and by the principal officer managing the life assurance business, and, if the company has a managing director, by such managing director, and shall be printed; and the original, so signed as aforesaid, together with three printed copies thereof, shall be deposited at the Board of Trade within nine months of the dates respectively hereinbefore prescribed as the dates at which the same are to be prepared. And every annual statement so deposited after the next investigation shall be accompanied by a printed copy of the abstract required to be made by section seven. 11. A printed copy of the last deposited statement, abstract, or other document by this Act required to be printed shall be forwarded by the company, by post or otherwise, on application, to every shareholder and policy-holder of the company. The Board of Trade is to lay before Parl. annually the "statements and abstracts of reports deposited with them under this Act during the preceding year." We understand that the accounts before being presented to Parl. are to undergo the process of examination by an Actuary specially selected for the purpose. In making this appointment it is of the utmost consequence that the selection should fall upon a man enjoying the widest confidence. It seems desirable to draw attention to the fact that the provisions of the Companies Act, 1862, relating to Ins. Asso. have not been repealed; and sec. 44 of that Act requires that (inter alia) every Ins. Co. and Deposit, Provident, or Benefit So. regis. under that Act, before it commences business, and also on the first Monday in February and the first Monday in August in every year in which it carries on bus. shall make a statement in the following form, or as near thereto as circumstances will admit, and a copy thereof shall be put up in a conspicuous place in every office and branch office or place where the bus. of the Co. is carried on. Penalty on director or manager of Co. failing to comply, £5 per day. Copy of statement to be supplied to shareholder for sixpence :The cap. of the Co. is divided into shares of shares issued is Calls to the amount of £ which the sum of has been received. each. The number of per share have been made, under The liabilities of the Co. on the 1st of January (or July) were :-Debts owing to sundry persons by the company : On judgment, On specialty, On notes or bills, £ On simple contract, £ £ On estimated liabilities, £ The assets of the company on that day were:- -Government Securities (stating them), Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes, £ Cash at Bankers, £ Other Securities, This return will therefore have to be made as heretofore. Under ACTUARIAL REPORT we have detailed the other returns required under the "Life Assu. Cos. Act, 1870." ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL OF CHANCERY is an officer appointed by Act of Parl. to receive all the money lodged in Court. He keeps his account with the Bank of England, which is responsible for all sums lodged there by him. This is the officer with whom the Deposit required under the "Life Assur. Cos. Act, 1870," (sec. 3) is to be made. [DEPOSIT.] ACCRUE. To grow to, or to arise. As an "accruing bon. ;" viz., the next bon. which is to be declared. ACCUMULATED FUNDS Of Life OfficES.-The accumulated fund of a Life Asso. should at all times be sufficient at least to re-insure the outstanding risks under its various classes of Annuity, Endowment, and Life policies, together with any Bonus additions already declared or guaranteed. In the case of a Co. having a proprietary capital, the accumulated fund should be sufficient for the purposes just indicated, plus the paid-up capital and all accumulations thereon. This subject will be dealt with very fully under Finance of LIFE INS. The "surplus funds" will be only the portion of the accumulated funds, beyond the purposes already named. In the case of a small office, liable to fluctuations in the actual, as against the expected, number of deaths, and also in the amount of the policies affected by such deaths, prudence will suggest the necessity of the accumulated fund being kept at a higher standard than that here indicated. The fund should never be lower. ACCUMULATION.-For statutory limitations as to the period during which trust monies and property may accumulate, see THELLUSSON ACT. ACCUMULATIVE LIFE ASSU. Co., founded in 1853 on the proprietary plan. The Earl of Devon was stated to be one of the promoters. In the same year of its birth it became united with the Anglo-Australian, and by other amalg. its surviving pols. ultimately merged into the European. In a case arising out of the affairs of this Co., it was held by the Court of Common Pleas, King v. Accumulative, etc. (tried 1857), that a contract to pay a pol. out of particular funds did not amount to a contract to carry on bus., nor a contract not to hand over the funds to other persons; and that a pol.-holder whose pol. is not due cannot support an action for damages which he fears he will sustain, but which possibly he will not. [AMALGAMATION.] ACCUMULATIVE INSURANCES.-See DEPOSIT INS. ACHILLES BRIT. AND FOREIGN LIFE ASssu. Asso. AND LOAN BANK, founded in 1840, with an authorized cap. of £500,000, in 20,000 shares of £25. The prospectus spoke of the inestimable benefits of Life Ins., but estimated that only 88,000 persons had at that date availed themselves of its advantages. The loan feature was put forward as affording to the policy-holder a means of advantage while living. The general features of the scheme were reasonable and good. Mr. Adolphus Courvoisier was the first Sec., and afterwards Mr. George Henry Brown became Superintending Director. In 1844 the bus. was trans. to GT. BRIT. MUT. ACHILLES INS. Co. for Life, Fire, Loans, and Annuities, was projected in the first instance under the title of the Indisputable; and was founded in 1853 under the title above given. Its authorized cap. was £100,000, in 10,000 shares of £10. The prospectus estimated the number of persons whose lives were ins. at 200,000. Its policies were "strictly Indisputable except in cases of intentional and proved fraud." One-third of prems. were allowed to remain unpaid. The fire bus. was not long continued. The Co. at a later date took up the bus. of Fidelity Guarantee, and the ins. of Impaired Lives. Mr. Edward Miall, M.P., the eminent Nonconformist, became Chairman of the Co. Mr. H. B. Taplin was its Sec. In 1858 the life bus., which was considerable, was trans. to City of Lond., and so passed on to the Eagle, to the great advantage of the policy-holders. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF NOTICE.-An admission by the chief or other duly authorized officer of an Ins. Co. of the receipt of a notice affecting the interest in a Life Policy. It is under the Po. of Assu. Act, 1867 (30 & 31 Vic. cap. 144, sec. 6), obligatory on an Office to give such acknowledgment on payment of a fee of 5s.; but this fee is not always insisted on. The acknowledgment is to be conclusive evidence against the office of the receipt of the notice. Notices rank in order according to the order of their receipt by the Office. ACKWORTH, YORKS. : Its salubrity. See mort. observations under date 1767. ACLAND, REV. JOHN, Rector of Broad-Clist, and one of His Majesty's J.P.s for the County of Devon, pub. at Exeter in 1786, "A plan for rendering the poor independent on public contribution; founded on the basis of the Friendly Societies, commonly called Clubs." To which is added, a Letter from Dr. Price, containing his sentiments and calculations on the subject. ACQUIESCENCE.-Consent either expressed or implied. Questions of acquiescence arise not unfrequently in cases of amalg. and also in reference to the acts of agents. The subject is ably discussed in Bunyon's Law of Life Ins. [AGENTS.] [AMALGAMATION.] ACQUITTANCE.-In law, the discharge in writing for a sum of money due. An acquittance not under seal is admissible only in evidence, and is not pleadable. An acquittance in full of all demands is an answer to all debts, except such as are in specialty. ACTION, conduct, something done; also the form prescribed by law for the recovery of one's due, or the lawful demand of one's right. In French, an action signifies a share in a public Co.; and the shareholder is termed an 'actionary." 66 ACTIONS UPON POLICIES OF INS. Many nice and curious legal questions from time to time arise when it becomes necessary to sue upon a policy of ins. ; or rather did arise, for recent legislation has done much in this direction. As this is not a treatise upon the law of Ins., no more will be said upon the subject than is necessary to the general understanding of the points which either did recently or do still arise, when a policy of ins. has to be sued upon in a court of law. Originally actions on marine policies were brought in the POLICIES OF INS. Court, founded with a special jurisdiction in 1601—reign of Elizabeth. Marshall says, that these policies being marine contracts, the law which regulates them is considered in most of the commercial states of Europe as a branch of Marine Law; and, therefore, where no commercial tribunal is estab., questions arising on this contract generally belong to the jurisdiction of the Court of Admiralty. In Scotland such actions are in the first instance a subject of Admiralty jurisdiction. It does not appear that in England Courts of Admiralty have ever had jurisdiction in questions of insurance; and since the abolition of the Policies of Ins. Court, actions upon policies are brought in our common law courts. Courts of Equity have no special jurisdiction in cases of Ins., although they will afford relief where their special interference becomes necessary; and in case of disputes between the members of such Asso. themselves, the Courts of Équity alone have jurisdiction. When it is necessary to enforce payment of the sum assured in a Court of Law, the answer to the question, against whom the action is to be brought, will depend upon the constitution of the particular office, and the form and provisions of the policy upon which the demand arises. Since the Common Law Procedure Act, 1852, the form of action ceases to be essential; but the question, who are the proper defendants, is equally important as before. When the Co. is incorp. either by Royal Charter or Act of Parl., the policy will be under common seal, and the action must be brought against the corp. as such, in which case it must appear by attorney authorized under the common seal; and execution can be levied upon the partnership property alone. When the policy is issued by a Co. estab. prior to the Ins. Stock Cos. Regis. Act (1844), the action may be brought against the Directors signing the policy, as if upon a covenant or undertaking by them. When a private Act has been obtained, it will be convenient to proceed in accordance with its provisions; but unless the terms of the Act are imperative, it does not follow that a claimant must do so: on the contrary, he may still proceed against parties executing the policy, or against any individual shareholder.-Bunyon. Where a pol. is not under seal, an action may be maintained against the subscribing, or any other Directors or members. But when a pol. is under seal, those only who are parties to it can be sued upon it. Thus the Directors or Trustees signing must be sued ; and their having resigned office before the action be commenced will not stay the action. In Equity also the Directors subscribing the pol. will, in the first instance, be the proper parties to represent the Co. either as plaintiffs: as when a bill is filed praying that the pol. may be delivered up as cancelled; or as defendants, upon the refusal of the Co. to satisfy a claim thereon. In the case of a Co. registered under the Cos. Act, 1862—that is, Lim. Liability Cos.— all actions must be against the Co. in its own name, according to the provisions of the Act. Prior to 1833 no interest could be recovered on a principal sum sued for under the pol. of ins. Since the passing of the 3 & 4 Wm. IV., c. 42, s. 29, in that year, a jury may now add interest, after the time stipulated for payment in the pol. has passed, at their discretion. In the case of lost pol., upon which in consequence the Co. refuses to pay, no interest will accrue. Where the pols. sued upon have been assigned-See ASSIGNMENT OF POLICIES. Where the Co. is plaintiff, matters are much more simple. The action is brought either in the name of the Co. itself, or its proper officers, or as its own constitution or the law may direct. What we have already said will be a sufficient general indication of the points to be considered. [See ARBITRATION.] ACTIVE LIFE ASSU. LOAN, ENDOWMENT, AND REV. INT. Co., founded in 1839, with an authorized cap. of £500,000, in 10,000 shares of £50. Its promoters endeavoured to popularize Life Ins. by proclaiming as a fact that "not more than one head of a family out of 62, or in all only about 80,000 persons, have as yet adopted the means presented to them of providing by Life Ins.," etc. They estimated that 500,000 possessed the pecuniary means of availing themselves of Life Ins., and their not doing so “affords a striking view of the improvidence of mankind." The managing Director was Mr. James Wemyss; the Actuary, Mr. N. Welton. The prospectus further stated that "the only data upon which life contin. can be calculated may, and probably will, become progressively inapplicable through the efforts of advancing civilization and improvements in physiological science." This was not encouraging to proposed insurers. In a word, the management was too clever, and their bantling became abortive. |