Amendments as to insurances authorised, and as to alienation of insurance benefitsE+W+S

1 Cesser of powers to insure for funeral expenses.E+W+S

The powers to insure conferred on [F1collecting societies] and on industrial assurance companies by the following enactments in . . . F2 the M1Industrial Assurance Act 1923 and the M2Industrial Assurance and Friendly Societies Act 1929 (in this Act referred to respectively as . . . F2 the Act of 1923 and the Act of 1929) shall cease to be exercisable at the expiration of one year from the day appointed for the coming into operation of section twenty-two of the M3National Insurance Act 1946 that is to say—

(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3

(b)section three of the Act of 1923 (which relates to insuring money for funeral expenses); and

(c)section one of the Act of 1929 (which relates to insuring money to be paid on the duration of a life for a specified period, either with or without provision for a payment in the event of a death before the expiration of the period but subject to a limitation of any payment at death to an amount reasonable for funeral expenses):

Provided that—

(a)this section shall apply only to insurances where the funeral expenses in question are those, or the life in question is that, of a person who at the time of the proposal is ordinarily resident in [F4Great Britain or the Isle of Man]; and

(b)nothing in this section shall prejudice any insurance effected in exercise of any of the said powers before the expiration of one year from the day appointed as aforesaid, or any rights or liabilities in respect of any such insurance.

2 †Power to insure life of parent or grandparent for not more than £20; and prohibition of alienation of such insurances.E+W+S

(1)Amongst the purposes for which . . . F5 industrial assurance companies may insure shall be included insuring money to be paid . . . F5 to the person insured . . . F5 on the death of a parent or grandparent of his:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F7

(2)Such a . . . F5 company shall not, in effecting an insurance at any time in exercise of the power conferred by the preceding subsection, insure to be paid to any person on the death of any one of his parents or grandparents any sum which (either taken alone or when added to any sum or sums for the time being insured to be paid to that person on that death under any other relevant insurance or insurances taken out by him) exceeds [F8thirty pounds] and, where an insurance has been effected in exercise of that power, shall not—

(a)by virtue of or in connection with that insurance, pay to any person any sum which exceeds [F8thirty pounds] when taken alone, or

(b)by virtue of or in connection with that insurance, pay to the person by whom that insurance was taken out any sum which exceeds [F8thirty pounds] when added to any sum or sums paid to him, on the death on which money was thereby insured to be paid, by virtue of or in connection with any other relevant insurance taken out by him, or

(c)if any payment has been made on that death by virtue of or in connection with that insurance to the person by whom it was taken out and has not been repaid, pay to him on that death, by virtue of or in connection with any other relevant insurance taken out by him, any sum which exceeds [F8thirty pounds] when added to the amount so paid and not repaid, or when added to it and to any sum or sums paid to him on that death by virtue of or in connection with any other relevant insurance or insurances taken out by him:

Provided that there shall be excluded for the purposes of this subsection any sum insured to be paid, or paid,—

(i)by way of bonus other than a guaranteed bonus;

(ii)by way of repayment of premiums; or

(iii)under a free paid-up policy which is in force as such at, or has been applied for or claimed before, the passing of this Act.

(3)The provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect . . . F7 as to the production of certificates of death in connection with the making of payments relevant for the purposes of the last preceding subsection.

(4)Where under any relevant insurance money is for the time being insured to be paid to the person by whom the insurance was taken out on the death of a parent or grandparent of his, any assignment or charge made by him after the passing of this Act of or on all or any of the rights in respect of the insurance conferred on him by the policy or by any provision of the Industrial Assurance Acts 1923 to 1929, or of this Act, and any agreement so made by him to assign or charge all or any of those rights, shall (except in the case of a charge or agreement to charge for the purpose only of securing sums paid for keeping on foot or restoring the insurance) be void, and on any bankruptcy of his [F9where the receiving order or the award of sequestration of his estate was made after the passing of this Act] none of those rights shall pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of his creditors.

(5)In this section and in the said Schedule the expression “relevant insurance” means an insurance effected by any registered friendly society or industrial assurance company in exercise either of the power conferred by subsection (1) of this section or of any power conferred by section three of the Act of 1923 or section one of the Act of 1929 [F10or by any registered friendly society in exercise of any power conferred by paragraph 2(d) of Schedule 1 of the M4Friendly Societies Act 1974 or paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 to that Act] and references to a payment on a person’s death include references to a payment for his funeral expenses.

3 F11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

4 Amendments consequential on preceding sections.E+W+S

There shall be made in the Acts of . . . F12 1923 and 1929, the amendments, consequential on the provisions of the three preceding sections, which are set out in the Second Schedule to this Act.

5 F13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

6 Prohibition of insuring money to be paid on death of a child under ten.E+W+S

(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F14 an industrial assurance company, or [F15a trade union or employers association], shall not insure so as to render any sum payable under the insurance on the death of any person at any time before he or she attains the age of ten years, otherwise than by way of repayment of the whole or any part of premiums paid:

(a), (b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F16

(c)this subsection shall apply only in the case of a person who at the time of the proposal is ordinarily resident in [F17Great Britain or the Isle of Man];

and this subsection shall not apply to a sum payable to another person who has an interest in the life of the person on whose death the sum is payable.

(2)The preceding subsection shall have effect in substitution for section sixty-two of the Act of 1896 (which limits amounts that may be insured or paid on the death of a person under ten years of age), . . . F14 as it applies, by virtue of subsection (1) of section four of the Act of 1923, to industrial assurance companies, and, by virtue of section two of the M5Trade Union Act Amendment Act 1876, to trade unions; and sections sixty-three to sixty-six of the Act of 1896 and subsection (2) of section four of the Act of 1923 (which relate to persons to whom, and to conditions on which, payments may be made on the death of a person under ten years of age) shall cease to have effect:

(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F18

7 Power to extend application of preceding provisions of this Act which are limited to persons resident in Great Britain.E+W+S

If provision for the payment of death grants corresponding to the provision therefor made by or under the [F19enactments relating to . . . F20 social security] is made by or under the law of a country or place outside Great Britain, His Majesty shall have power, exercisable by Order in Council a draft whereof shall be laid before Parliament, to provide for extending the application of section one of this Act, subsection (1) of section two thereof, and subsection (1) of section six thereof, [F21and section 71 of and paragraph (2)(d) of Schedule 1 to, the M6Friendly Societies Act 1974] subject to any modifications necessitated by differences between any provision made by or under [F19those enactments] and the corresponding provision, to insurances where the funeral expenses in question are those, or the life or death in question is that, of a person who at the time of the proposal is ordinarily resident in that country or place, and for consequential amendments of provisions of this Act.

Amendments as to procedure and administrationE+W+S

8 Premium receipt books.E+W+S

(1)A collecting society, and an industrial assurance company, shall provide premium receipt books for use in respect of policies of industrial assurance issued by the society or company, and shall cause a receipt for each payment in respect of such a policy or of two or more such policies to be inserted in such a book.

(2)Regulations may be made by the Commissioner, subject to the approval of the Treasury signified by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of resolution of either House of Parliament, with respect to the form of books to be provided as aforesaid and to the use thereof and the insertion of receipts therein, and, without prejudice to the generality of this subsection, regulations made for the purposes thereof may provide for prohibiting or restricting in any prescribed circumstances the use of a single premium receipt book for payments in respect of two or more policies.

9 Liability on policies not to be restricted on grounds of health if proposer’s knowledge and belief is properly disclosed.E+W+S

(1)Nothing in any term or condition of an industrial assurance policy issued after the passing of this Act or in the law relating to insurance shall operate to except the society or company from liability under such a policy, or to reduce the liability of the society or company under such a policy, on the ground of any matter relating to the state of health of the person upon whose life the assurance is taken out, other than the ground of the proposer’s having, when making the proposal or thereafter and before the making of the contract, either—

(a)made an untrue statement of his knowledge and belief as regards that matter; or

(b)failed to disclose to the society or company something known or believed by him as regards that matter.

(2)In relation to a policy issued after the passing of this Act, subsection (4) of section twenty of the Act of 1923 (which relates to misstatements contained in certain proposal forms for industrial assurance policies) shall not apply to a misstatement concerning the state of health of the person upon whose life the assurance is to be taken out.

10 Obligations as to delivery of policies and of copies of rules and amendments thereof.E+W+S

(1)A collecting society shall supply a member, free of charge, with the following, that is to say—

(a)on his insuring with the society, with a printed policy signed by two of the committee of management and by the secretary, or, if the society has been granted a certificate under section ten of the Act of 1923 exempting it from the requirement imposed by this paragraph to supply a policy, with a copy of the rules of the society;

(b)on written demand by him if a copy of the rules of the society has not previously been supplied to him, with a copy of the rules of the society;

(c)on written demand by him if the rules of the society have been amended since he has been supplied with a copy thereof and a copy of the amendment has not previously been supplied to him, with a copy of the amendment;

and shall, on demand by him and on payment by him of such sum not exceeding [F22ten pence] as the society may require, supply a member to whom a copy of the rules of the society has been supplied with a further copy thereof.

(2)Where an amendment of the rules of a collecting society modifies the terms or conditions of any insurance issued by the society by way of increase of premiums or reduction of benefit, the society shall, within two months from the date on which the amendment is registered pursuant to section thirteen of the Act of 1896, either—

(a)serve every member of the society with a notice containing a statement which, in the opinion of the Commissioner, sufficiently sets forth the effect of the amendment; or

(b)publish such a statement by advertisement in two or more of the newspapers in general circulation in every county where the society carries on business.

A member served with a notice under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be regarded for the purpose of the preceding subsection as if he had been supplied with a copy of the amendment in question.

(3)For the purposes of this section, a policy shall be deemed to be signed by a person if it bears a stamped, printed or lithographed reproduction of his signature placed thereon with his authority.

(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F23

11 Matters to be set out in rules of collecting societies.E+W+S

(1)Subsection (3) of section eight of the Act of 1923 (which requires the provisions of that Act mentioned in the First Schedule thereto to be set forth in the rules of collecting societies) shall extend to the following provisions, that is to say—

and shall have effect, both as regards those provisions and as regards the relevant provisions of the Act of 1923, subject to the modification that the rules may, if the Commissioner consents, in any case, and shall in the case of the provisions of [F24Schedule 5 to the said Act of 1974] in lieu of setting out the provisions in question, contain a statement which, in the opinion of the Commissioner, sufficiently sets forth the effect thereof.

(2)References to the above-named provisions of this Act [F25and of the said Act of 1974] shall accordingly be inserted in the First Schedule to the Act of 1923.

(3)The requirement imposed by subsection (3) of section eight of the Act of 1923 to set out provisions of that Act in rules shall, in the case of a provision which is amended by this Act, be construed as relating to that provision as so amended.

(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F26

12 Matters to be set out in premium receipt books, and to be published.E+W+S

(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F27

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F28 an industrial assurance company, shall cause to be set out, in every premium receipt book provided by them after the coming into operation of this subsection for use in respect of policies of industrial assurance, the matters specified in the Third Schedule to this Act relating to the provisions mentioned in that Schedule of the Act of 1896, of the Act of 1923 and of this Act and of regulations made for the purposes of section eight of this Act [F29and a collecting society shall cause to be set out, in every premium receipt book provided by them after the coming into operation of the M7Friendly Societies Act 1974 for use in respect of policies of industrial assurance, the matters specified in that Schedule relating to the provisions mentioned in that Schedule of the Act of 1923, of this Act, of the said Act of 1974 and of regulations made for the purposes of the said section 8].

(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F30 the last preceding subsection shall not come into operation as respects any regulations made under section eight of this Act until the expiration of six months from the date on which the regulations come into operation.

(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F27

13 Returns as to industrial assurances.E+W+S

(1)A collecting society . . . F31 shall, as respects each year as respects which they are required by the Commissioner in the prescribed manner so to do, send to him within such period as may be prescribed a return giving prescribed particulars as to policies of industrial assurance issued by the society . . . F31 which were in force at the beginning of that year, in force at the end of that year, issued during that year or discontinued or converted to free policies during that year.

(2)A requirement under this section may be made either generally as to all such societies . . . F31 , or as to any class thereof, or as to a particular society . . . F31 , and the regulations may prescribe different particulars to be given in the case of different societies . . . F31 or classes thereof.

(3)Section sixteen of the Act of 1923 (which authorises the Commissioner to reject returns under the Act of 1896 . . . F31 which are incomplete or incorrect or do not comply with the requirements of the Act applicable, and to give directions for the variation thereof) shall apply to returns under this section.

(4)In this section the expression “year” means, in relation to a collecting society, a year ending on a thirty-first day of December, . . . F31 .

14 F32. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

15 F33. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

16 Provisions as to offences.E+W+S

(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F34

(2)Any collecting society or industrial assurance company which contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act, or of regulations made for the purposes of section eight thereof, shall be guilty of an offence under the Act of 1923:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F35

(3)Any collector of a collecting society or industrial assurance company, or any other person, who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of regulations made for the purposes of section eight of this Act affecting such collector or other person shall be guilty of an offence under the Act of 1923.

(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F36 any [F37trade union or employers association], which contravenes subsection (1) of section six of this Act shall be guilty of an offence under the [F38M8Friendly Societies Act 1974] and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding [F39fifty pounds][F39level 3 on the standard scale] .

(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F34

Miscellaneous and generalU.K.

17(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F40

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F41

(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F42

[F4317A Policies given emergency protection.E+W+S

(1)Where, in relation to any policy of assurance which has been protected under the M9Industrial Assurance and Friendly Societies (Emergency Protection from Forfeiture) Act 1940, the amount of a free paid-up policy or of a surrender value is required to be ascertained, the provisions of the policy, or of any guarantee given in relation thereto, or of the Industrial Assurance Acts 1923 and 1929, relating to free paid-up policies and surrender values shall have effect subject to such modifications as appear to the Industrial Assurance Commissioner to be necessary having regard to the failure to pay premiums during the period of protection and the variation of the terms of the policy under section 3 of the said Act.

(2)In relation to a policy of assurance effected with a registered society other than a collecting society, the reference in subsection (1) above to the Industrial Assurance Commissioner is a reference to him in his capacity as Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies.

(3)Section 24(1) of this Act, so far as relating to the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, shall not apply to subsections (1) and (2) above, but those subsections shall extend to any place to which the repeal of the said Act of 1940 by the M10Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974 is extended by Order in Council under section 3(2) of that Act.]

18(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F44

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F45

(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F46

19 Provisions as to investment by registered societies and certain other bodies.U.K.

(1)—(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F47

X1(5) It is hereby declared that nothing in section forty-four of the Act of 1896 (which enacts that the trustees of a registered society may invest its funds to any amount in the ways therein mentioned, including investment in the Post Office Savings Bank or in any savings bank certified under the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1863), . . . F48 is to be construed as imposing any obligation on any savings bank authority as respects their or his receiving any such funds, money or capital.

In this subsection the expression “savings bank authority” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (3) of section ten of the M11Savings Banks Act 1920.

X1(6) This section shall extend to Northern Ireland.

20 F49. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

21—22. F50. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

23 Interpretation.E+W+S

(1)In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires,—

(a)the expression “society” means a society for any of the purposes specified in [F51Schedule 1 to the M12Friendly Societies Act 1974] the expression “registered society” means a society registered under that Act, [F52or the M13Friendly Societies Act 1896] and references to a society or to a registered society or to a registered friendly society include references to a branch of such a society;

(b)the expression “policy” includes any contract of assurance, and for the purposes of this Act the date of the making of any such contract shall be deemed to be the date of the issue of a policy;

(c)the expression “proposal” in relation to an insurance, includes an application for an insurance, and the expression “proposer” shall be construed accordingly; and

[F53(d)the expression “trade union” and “employers association” have the same meaning respectively as they have in the M14Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974.]

(2)In this Act the expression “parent” includes a stepfather and a stepmother.

(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F54

24 Extent.E+W+S

(1)This Act shall extend to Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

(2)Except as regards . . . F55 section nineteen thereof, this Act shall not extend to Northern Ireland.

25 Short title, citation, construction and repeal.E+W+S

(1)This Act may be cited as the Industrial Assurance and Friendly Societies Act 1948.

(2)This Act and the Industrial Assurance Acts, 1923 to 1929, may be cited together as the Industrial Assurance Acts, 1923 to 1948, . . . F56

(3)References in this Act to any other enactment shall, except so far as the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.

(4)This Act, in its application to collecting societies and industrial assurance companies, shall be construed as one with the Industrial Insurance Acts, 1923 to 1929, . . . F56

(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F57

SCHEDULES

Section 2.

FIRST SCHEDULEE+W+S Death Certificates in connection with payments referred to in Subsection (2) of Section Two

1A . . . F58 industrial assurance company shall not, by virtue of or in connection with any relevant insurance of money to be paid on the death of a parent or grandparent of the person by whom the insurance was taken out, pay to that person on the death any sum not excluded for the purposes of subsection (2) of section two of this Act by the proviso thereto, except upon production of a certificate of the death for the purposes of this Schedule stated therein to be issued to the person to whom the payment is made, unless the death occurred outside Great Britain.

2On so making payment of any such sum the . . . F59 company shall cause to be indorsed on the certificate a statement showing—

(a)the name of the . . . F59 company;

(b)the amount of any such sum paid; and

(c)the date of the contract for the insurance;

and on receiving any repayment of a sum so paid by virtue of or in connection with an insurance effected in exercise of the power conferred by subsection (1) of section two of this Act the . . . F59 company shall cause to be indorsed on the certificate a statement showing the repayment.

3Where such a society or company is charged with a contravention of subsection (2) of section two of this Act in respect of the payment by the . . . F60 company of a sum which exceeded the limit of [F61thirty pounds] imposed by paragraph (b) or (c) of that subsection in consequence of the addition as thereby required of another sum paid by another [F62company or by a registered friendly society], or of two or more other sums so paid, and which would not have exceeded that limit apart from such addition, it shall be a defence for the . . . F60 company charged to prove—

(a)that the sum in respect of which they are charged was paid in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Schedule; and

(b)that the certificate produced disclosed no payment by any other [F62company or by a registered friendly society] of any sum or sums required by the said paragraph (b) or (c) to be added, or disclosed such payment but only to an amount insufficient to cause the sum in respect of which they are charged to exceed the said limit;

subject however in the case of a certificate which is a duplicate to the provisions of paragraph 6 of this Schedule.

[F634The provisions of paragraphs 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 of Schedule 5 to the Friendly Societies Act 1974 shall apply in relation to certificates of death for the purposes of this Schedule and the issue of duplicate thereof.]

F64. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

5

6On production to a . . . F65 company of a duplicate which records a requirement for an indorsement made by them to be repeated [F66in accordance with regulations under paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 to the M15Friendly Societies Act 1974, the company] shall cause the duplicate to be indorsed accordingly, and paragraph 3 of this Schedule shall not apply in the case of a certificate which is a duplicate whereon such a requirement is recorded unless the duplicate has been indorsed by the society or company in question.

F67. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W+S

7—9.

Section 4.

SECOND SCHEDULEE+W+S Amendments consequential on sections one to three

Section 12.

THIRD SCHEDULEE+W+S Matters to be set out in Premium Receipt Books

The matters to be set out in premium receipt books under section twelve of this Act are the following, that is to say—

FOURTH SCHEDULE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F72E+W+S

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FIFTH SCHEDULE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F73E+W+S

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SIXTH SCHEDULE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F74E+W+S

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .