§ Captain WaterhouseI beg to move, in page 47, line 35, to leave out from" of,"to" and,"on page 48, line 5, and to insert" such sum as may be specified in the policy."
The two amendments on this Clause are designed to empower the Board of Trade to give effect to the undertaking which was given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his explanation to-day. The Amendment is necessary only because the whole of our private chattels scheme has been recast. We have increased the limit up to which the insurance may be taken out, and the terms of the scheme will be laid on the Table of the House as set out in Clause 60.
§ Sir F. SandersonI wish to raise one point on this Clause. My right hon. Friend has met the Committee to the extent that he has provided that the insurance companies will collect premiums and those premiums will be handed over by the insurance companies to the Board of Trade or to other Government Departments. He made a strong point, however, of the fact that he did not consider the machinery which the insurance companies have, in the ordinary mode of conducting their business, for assessing the value of damage sustained would be acceptable for the purpose of assessing the damage which might be sustained. It is regrettable that while my right hon. Friend was able to meet the Committee to the extent of premiums being collected by the insurance companies, he should state that the claims cannot be settled by the same machinery. If the insurance companies could also effect the settlement of the 439 claims, it would prevent my right hon. Friend from having occasion to build up a very large comprehensive organisation for the purpose of effecting those settlements. On the basis of economy, I would ask my right hon. Friend to consider —
§ The Deputy-ChairmanI am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, but I am afraid he is not speaking on the Amendment. He may be speaking on the Question "That the Clause stand part of the Bill," but not on the Amendment.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Further Amendment made: In page 48, line 11, leave out Sub-sections (2) and (3). — [Captain Waterhouse]
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause, as amended, stand part of the Bill."
§ Sir F. SandersonHaving stated my case, I do not desire to reiterate what I have said already, but I hope that what I have said will be duly recorded, and I would like to ask my right hon. Friend whether he could not consider this point. If my right hon. Friend is unable to agree that that machinery should be used for the purpose of assessing the damage sustained, 1 believe the time will come when he will find it necessary to come to this House to secure the necessary power to do so. To have to build up an organisation merely for the purpose of assessing the value of the damage sustained, when you have this great organisation already in existence, seems unnecessary. I cannot think it is beyond the power of my right hon. Friend to prevail upon the insurance companies to do this work too, and I would ask him whether he could not reconsider it even at this late hour.
§ Captain WaterhouseI think my hon. Friend has misunderstood. My right hon. Friend did not mean that we were going to cut out the insurance companies completely; what he did mean was that the responsibility for payment lay on the Inland Revenue who should therefore have the last word. I think there is no doubt that we shall use the invaluable experience of the companies in assessing damage.
§ Sir F. SandersonIf that is the intention of my right hon. Friend, it meets my point entirely.
§ Question, "That the Clause, as amended, stand part of the Bill," put, and agreed to.
§ Clauses 58 and 59 ordered to stand part of the Bill.