Toivo Wilhelm Paavonen

Forest fire insurance in Suomi

Paavonen T. W. (1927). Forest fire insurance in Suomi. Silva Fennica no. 4 article id 4444. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a8392

Abstract

Establishing an insurance company for insuring the private forests was suggested already in 1911 in Finland. In 1925 two companies, the Suomen Metsänomistajain Keskinäinen Metsäpaloapuyhdistys (The Forest Owners' Mutual Forest Fire Insurance Company) and the Keskinäinen Vakuutuslaitos Sampo (The Sampo Mutual Insurance Company), operated in forest fire insurance. They both had similar conditions, rates and principles for estimating losses caused by forest fire.

A total of 2,18 million hectares (16,4%) of the 13.3 million hectares of private forests in Finland were insured in 1925. Of the insured forests, 0.01–1.35% burned annually in 1916–1925. The insured forests were classified either small forests (size of the trees less than 18 cm in diameter), large forests or forests in general. The basic insurance compensated the stump value of the timber felled and lying in the forest up to 25% of the volume in the area. In case the fire decreases productivity of the land, the insurance covered the forest soil up to 50% of the value of the land. Larger losses could be compensated by paying an additional premium.

A summary in Finnish is included in the PDF.

Keywords
Finland; forest fire; insurance; fire insurance

Published in 1927

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Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a8392 | Download PDF