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Marine Insurance Market Underwriting Field Feels Effect of Restricted Trade —Foreign Companies Also Find Business Slow ARINE insurance activity is at a very low ebb and underwriters generally report that although the summer months are usually dull, the past few weeks have been slower than even the worst seasonal slackness. What- ever business there is, not much of it is being written in the New York market. For the last few years, however, marine -Gnsurance has been uneven, good in spots and bad in others; it is hoped that the present lack of business is merely the temporary slack which will be followed by a brisker volume, but there are in-_ dications of uneasiness. An underwriter, who is as well informed as any in the business, expressed the opinion that the marine insurance underwriter might just as well take another hitch in his belt because it will be a long time before his desk is swamped again with policies. “There can be no doubt that, the pres- - ent scale of prices in this country, due to the high cost of production, puts us at a considerable disadvantage in the export of manufactured goods,” he said. “That our export of manufactured prod- ucts will continue to decline in com- parison with the export trade of other countries seems certain and the more progress Europe makes in getting on her feet the more competition will this country feel in her export of manufac- tured goods.” The only encouragement that this insurance man sees is_ that with the increased buying power of ' Europe and the expansion of trade, there will be a greater demand for our raw produce such as copper, cotton, grains, ele: * eK Finds Foreigners Take Heavy Risks AWRENCE J. BRENGLE, chief underwriter of the American Mar- - ine Insurance syndicates in his annual re- port covering the activities of Syndicates “B” and “C”, just made public, shows the innumerable obstacles that the in- surance business has had to overcome during the past year and expresses little encouragement that conditions will be better during the balance of this year, In his report, which has caused much ia terest in underwriting circles and among persons interested in the future of marine insurance in this country, Mr. Brengle says in part: “The past year, from an hull under- writing standpoint, has been a trying one and any deductions that we may make _total losses $1,924,048. The are not reassuring, although there is comfort in the belief that rates and values have reached their lowest ebb and will, or should, improve from now on. The value of tonnage steadily declined from the beginning of 1921 until the latter part of 1922, when, as far as insured values were concerned, it seemed to re- main more or less stationary, and will, I hope, materially improve, but this is uncertain, and any upward trend will not take place until the: world’s commerce again resumes a more normal condition. “At present, underwriting conditions are far from satisfactory due to the low value of tonnage and the complete de- moralization of the foreign insurance mar- ket, which has been willing to accept risks at rates which leave no possible chance for profit owing to the fact that the cost of repairs is still at a high level, being esti- mated at least 50 per cent in excess of prior war prices. In consequence we have not attempted to compete with the foreign market, but have endeavored to maintain fair rates and conditions con- sistent with good underwriting principles.” ~The underwriting exhibit for the syn- dicates showed premiums written of $3,653,475; return premiums of $296,144; syndicates had a premium reserve of $1,352,967 (un- earned). x Shows British Market Is : at Low Ebb ONDITIONS in Great Britain are as bad as they are in the United States, Sir Edward Mountain, chairman and managing director of the Eagle, Star & British Dominions company told share- holders of the company at a recent meet- ing. Commenting on the hull situation, he said: “A very large number of steamers have been renewed, but not by us, at values and rates below those ruling in 1914, and we fail to understand the reason for this, bearing in mind repair bills, which are still in the region of 50 per cent over prewar cost and that steamers are nine years older.” As to cargo writings, he said: “Competition has been very keen. I can ' safely say that underwriters have never had during the last quarter of a century such a difficult market to deal with as at’ present. There is’ no doubt, in -my opinion, that the marine insurance mar- ket is in a very unsatisfactory condition, and I do not think that we have got to 298 go very far afield to seek the cause. “Owing to the worldwide depression there is, to start with, less business to go around, and although the large number of mushroom companies which sprang up after the war have ceased to exist, many large and wealthy companies have, during the last few years entered this market.” * * * Seek Refund for War Losses from Germany ANY billions of dollars are being sought by insurance companies from Germany on account of damages sus- tained through submarine warfare during the war and their claims are now in the hands of the mixed claims com- mission which has before it a bill amount- ing to $1,479,064,313. Among the most prominent insurance company claimants are, Globe & Rutgers, $7,000,000; Chubb & Son, $5,644,000; Atlantic Mutual, $5,106,000; Federal, $4,695,000; Aetna, $4,154,000; Boston Insurance Co., $3,310- 000; United States Lloyds, $2,109,000; Firemans Fund, $2,500,000 and the Am- erican Equitable, $3,430,000. 2k * * Trade Groups Unite to Stop Pilferage HE pilferage situation is again oc- cupying the attention of under- writers as well as many trade organiza- tions. In‘an effort to cope with the. sit- uation members of various bodies have through co-operation planned a campaign to check the evil which during the past few months has steadily been growing worse. About three years ago, the sit- uation was as bad as it is at the present time and the insurance companies tried to cope with it themselves. Their efforts were fairly successful and there was a marked reduction in pilferage claims. The efforts of the underwriters were generally directed toward better packing, it being realized that the shipping of packages in insecure boxes invited pilfering while strong well built containers offer little encouragement for breaking open and re- quire time, The present move is being sponsored by the Merchants association, New York; the National Council of American Im- porters and Traders, Inc., the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, the Crockery Board of Trade and the Manu- facturers Export association. At the first meeting of representatives of these or- ganizations there were in attendance: of- Is Dull OA ER ee Ne Cn eR ae eae ROM TE ere me ken es «3s ee bite hie Se