Titles to Life Assurance Policies

Extract

The chief object for which insurance offices exist is to pay claims; but before any claim can be paid, the question arises—who is the proper person to receive the payment ? If any mistake be made in this, the office may find itself involved in troublesome and expensive legal proceedings, and be compelled to pay the claim twice over. This consideration shows the necessity of insurance officials having some knowledge of law, as it is almost impracticable for them to refer every legal question to their solicitors; and my present object is to draw attention to some of the elementary points which arise in the ordinary course of our business. On the shelves of the library there are to be found papers by Mr. Barrand, Mr. Warren Crosbie, and Mr. Hayter, which should be studied carefully (in addition to the text books) by every one desirous of qualifying himself for a position of responsibility in the claims or law department of his office; but these papers do not exhaust the subject, and I do not propose to allude to the points discussed therein, except in the cases where some further explanation seems desirable or where there has been an alteration in the law or in the practice of the offices.