FINANCIAL SECRETARY HANDBOOK - Kofc-ms.org

OUR INSURANCE PROGRAMThe Knights of Columbus, a fraternal benefit society,is incorporated under the laws of the state ofConnecticut. The Order is owned, governed and controlledby its members.The Order is authorized to sell insurance in all statesof the United States, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guamand all provinces of Canada.Legal reserves are maintained on all forms of benefitcertificates.The Order is required to file with the insurancedepartments of all states and provinces a detailedannual statement of its operations.At the end of each three-year period, a thoroughexamination of the affairs of the Order is made at theSupreme Council office in New Haven, Connecticut, bya staff of examiners appointed by the insurance commissionersof the states. The Canadian Depart ment ofInsurance at Ottawa also conducts periodic examinationsof the Order’s business in Canada.BEGINNINGSDifferent concepts of insurance have been aroundfor a long time. Hundreds of years ago Greek fishermenemployed a concept which can be con strued as lifeinsurance protection. The agreement was that the totalcatch of all of the fishing boats would be dividedequally among those who par ticipated in the fishingactivities, thus assuring that those who were unsuccessfulwould share in the entire return. In the event anentire ship and crew would be lost, their familieswould still be protected.Many years later another concept developed. Uponthe death of a member of a particular group, it was notuncommon to “pass the hat” in order to generate somemoney which could then be given to the widow andfamily of the deceased. This collec tion bore no relationshipto the needs of the family, and if a successionof deaths occurred in a short span of time, the methodresulted in unequal amounts of money being collectedand passed on. This concept, while noble in thought,failed.Later, regular deposits (quarterly, for example) weremade to a common fund. Upon the death of a member,withdrawals in specific amounts ($1,000, for example)were made and turned over to the widow. This plan,again, bore no relationship to the needs of the widowand further placed additional burdens on youngermembers who, by virtue of their age, would ultimatelydeposit more to the fund than would older members.For this reason, among others, this concept failed aswell.The need for voluntary, legal reserve, actuariallysound plans became obvious as all other means of supplyingprotection failed. This resulted in the modernmethods and practices of the life insurance industry, ofwhich the Knights of Columbus is a part. Every personshould assess his or her needs for protection and applyfor coverage based on those needs. Every person thencontributes small pre miums to a common fundenabling the insurance company to provide substantialprotection for the individual with the pooling effectcreated by hundreds of thousands or even millions ofpolicy holders. Surely the principals of unity and fra -ternity are put to use in providing this coverage to ourmembers.CURRENT STATUSOn December 31, 2008 the insurance in force forthe Knights of Columbus was recorded at a record70-billion dollars. During the calendar year 2008, over6.6-billion dollars of new insurance was writ ten. Thisis a tribute to our professional field force of some 136general agents and approximately 1200 field agentsfrom throughout the Order whose dedication resultedin these fine achievements.To place these figures in perspective, it is neces saryto do two things:First, we should compare the in-force figure to thesame figure of ten years ago. At the end of 1998,the Order had 33.5-billion dollars of insurance inforce. That amount has more than doubled in onedecade. Our total of new insurance written in1998 was 4.2-billion dollars. Last year it was6.6-billion.Second, we need to remember that we have accomplishedthese feats with only one of every threemembers of the Knights purchasing insur ance fromthe Order.These statistics, by themselves, show both progressand challenge. Our field force is to be commended forcooperating with our fraternal leaders in promotingthe continued growth of the Order’s insurance program.It is regrettable, how ever, that more membersdo not avail themselves of this excellent fraternalbenefit.At the end of each calendar year a report is publishedon the status of the Order’s insurance program.A copy can be obtained by writing to: Knights ofColumbus, Field Management, 1 Columbus Plaza,New Haven, CT 06510-3326.It is strongly suggested that all financial sec retariesobtain a copy of the report each year and make theinformation available to the council membership.— 94 —