§ Mr. GINNELLasked the President of the Board of Trade, since the Courts have held, in Ireland in the case of the Irish Provident Assurance Company and in England in the case of the Law Integrity Insurance Company, that certain so-called endowment policies are ultra vires the law and the articles of association, and that persons so insured are entitled to a refund in full, whether the Board of Trade will require this refund to be made without an action in each case; whether the Board have ascertained the number of such policies issued by each of those companies, the amount of liability on them, the ability and willingness of those responsible to discharge that liability; and whether the judicial decisions enable the Board to prevent the issue of such policies by these and other concerns?
Mr. BUXTONThe rights of policyholders can only be enforced by the Courts of Law, and the Board of Trade have no power to require a company to return premiums to its policy holders. The returns filed by the Irish Provident Assurance Company, Limited, and the Law Integrity Insurance Company, Limited, do not disclose the number of policies of the class referred to which have been issued by those companies, and the Board are not in a position to require1446W particulars to be furnished. The decision in the case of the Law Integrity Insurance Company, Limited, will probably enable the Board to require a deposit to be made by companies issuing policies in the terms of the policies referred to in that case.