THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR Another Insurance Difficulty.
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HAULIERS and other owners of road -ILI-vehicles usually have quite sufficient expense to meet without having to pay insurance premiums twice for the same period, but this is an unfortunate contingency which has arisen in several instances.
The trouble has occurred through the financial failure of insurance brokers who have been in a small way of business, and for whom the companies issuing the policies will not accept liability, with the result that premiums have been accepted and acknowledged by particular brokers and have not been passed to the insurance companies, the vehicle owners who paid the premiums then being left with useless receipts, and having only a remote possibility of regaining more than a small proportion of their outlay In their position as ordinary creditors.
There is also the danger that they may, illegally but unknowingly, have been operating vehicles while not covered against third-party insurance.
There are good and bad sheep in every flock, and we are not condemning the broker as such, but it would be as well for owners to satisfy themselves as to the financial stability of the concerns with which they propose to take out policies.
A Barrier to More Economical Power.
AT first sight the report of the Salter Road Rail appears to be purely a restriction upon road transport, but there is an equally sinister prospect in regard to the allied questions of fuel and power.
It is obvious to-day that the fuel employed in internal-combustion engines is largely derived from sources extraneous to the Empire. It is a crying need that we should strain every effort to develop fuels which can be produced within the boundaries of the British Commonwealth. If practical effect be given to the report it will be a direct encouragement to support foreign industry ; the evolution of the oil engine, the advancement of the steam prime mover and the improvement of electrically propelled machines will be hindered, to our national detriment.