Sept ember f 1931 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Thirteen 



C 



asua 



I 



nsurance 



A Farm Bureau Achievement 



Illinois Agricultural Mutual Nears $1,000,000 in Assets, ;h 



30,000 Policies to Members 



FROM nothing to nearly a million- 

 dollar company with close to 30,000 

 policies issued in a period of four years, 

 represents the achievement of Illinois 

 Farm Bureau members in building their 

 own casualty insurance company, the 

 Illinois Agricultural Mutual. ' > -V;- 



Organized early in 1927, 

 the company began operat- 

 ing April 1 that year. Since 

 then it has never failed to 

 grow in providing automo- 

 bile and later employers' lia- 

 bility insurance for an ever- 

 increasing number of Farm 

 Bureau members.-.. ; .^ 



How the wheels go 

 around in the home office 

 from the time the applica- 

 tion for insurance is re- 

 ceived .until the policy is 

 issued, is an interesting pro- 

 cedure. 



Applications from the 

 County Farm Bureau oflSces 

 which arrive at the rate of 

 20 to 50 per day are turned over to 

 Miss Ernst, secretary to Manager A. E. 

 Richardson, where the checks and the 

 applications are separated. The appli- 

 cation goes to the Underwriting De- 

 partment under the supervision of 

 Helen Mertz. The policy is written 

 by one of three assistants. The checks 

 go to the cashier for listing and are 

 then turned over to Mr. R. A. Cowles, 

 treasurer. ^ " v •;'":'' 



The company emblem is mailed as 

 soon as the application for insurance 

 arrives. A carbon copy of the policy is 

 sent to the County Farm Bureau office 

 and the original to the applicant 



A card record is made of the kind 

 and class of coverage, and assessments 

 are levied by the statistical department 

 under the supervision of Margaret 

 Lauritzen. The Hollerith tabulating 

 system is in use both for computing the 

 amount of premiums and in recording 

 losses. This punch card system pro- 

 vides a very equitable way of making 

 levies on all makes, ages, and different 

 classifications of pleasure cars and farm 

 trucks. 



The company issues four regular 

 classes of policies. Class I, which has 

 the greatest coverage, is the most popu- 

 lar policy. This covers fire, theft, 



windstorm and hail, collision with a 

 moving object, public liability and 

 property damage. About 20 per cent 

 of the members have taken advantage 

 of the full coverage policy which in- 

 dues collision with a stationary object. 



3Iiiii:iK'er A. E. Kic hard. son and his Kocrctiiry, 3Ii.SK E. J. E^rnxt 



Another job for the company is send- 

 ing out notices when assessments are 

 due. The first notice is mailed 30 days 

 before assessments are due, the second 

 notice 10 days, and the final notice on 

 the date due, if payment has not been 

 made by that time. A copy of the final 

 notice is sent to the County Farm Bu- 

 reau office. 



If assessments still remain unpaid 60 

 days after due, a letter is sent by the 

 company to the insured. If this does 

 not bring a response, the policy is can- 

 celled 30 days later and the balance of 

 the premium deposit and surplus share 

 is returned. 



When notice is received from the 



Farm Bureau that the poHcyholder is 

 no I longer a member of the organiza- 

 tion he is at once advised and instructed 

 that his policy will be cancelled at the 

 end of the next six-months' period for 

 which his premium deposit is made if 

 V: V / he fail to renew his mem- 

 bership. 



The settlement of claims 

 is an important part of the 

 company's work. There are 

 500 or 600 claims coming 

 in each month. These are 

 results of accidents from 39 

 different causes. A side- 

 swipe resulting from an un- 

 signaled left turn is the 

 most frequent cause of acci- 

 dents. Accidents at inter- 

 sections are next in fre- 

 quency, damage done to car 

 while parked third, and fail- 

 ure to use ordinary care 

 while driving, fourth. The 

 average amount involved in 

 claims is $40. 

 Claims are always disposed of as rap- 

 idly as possible. On January 1, 1931. 

 there were only 11 claims pending, 

 which were results of accidents occur- 

 ring before January 1, 1930. During 

 the year 1930 nearly 5,000 claims were 

 disposed of. An average of one policy- 

 holder out of every five has an accident 

 each year. 



When an accident occurs it is usually 

 reported to the local adjuster in the 

 county. He makes an investigation of 

 the cause and results, lists damaged parts 

 of car, gives names of injured parties, 

 tells where car can be inspected, and 

 gives statements of witnesses and his 

 own conclusions as to the liabilitv of 



CLAIMS DEPARTMENT 

 Left to right — Frank Billingtt, Earl Kuska and Florence AVilson. 



