Czarnikow-Rionda Company. Insurance Dept.
Claims, 1955-1960 (bulk
1957-1958)
2.5 linear ft. (6 boxes)
This series contains
insurance claims issued by the Czarnikow-Rionda Company's Insurance Dept.
The Insurance Dept. served all of Czarnikow-Rionda's subsidiaries and affiliates
as well as the company itself.
The file began in April,
1954, and each claim was numbered sequentially C-1, C-2, etc. Most
of the claims for 1954 were for maritime losses. This type of insurance
claim was not filed in the series after 1955. Only claims emanating
from the Cuban "house estates" or for insured sugars held by "client estates"
have been archived. Claims issued by the New York office and the
company's molasses operations in Texas have not been retained. Also
removed from the series were claims by the sugar estates resulting from
acts of nature, maritime accidents, minor accidental fires, deaths of cattle,
and automobile accidents.
The remaining files
pertain to losses incurred at the Cuban mills as a result of sabotage,
vandalism, insurrection, negligence, or disrepair. Also included
are claims for sugars lost in several major mill fires. Cane destroyed
in field fires was not protected regardless of the cause. Claims
involving cane fires were filed only when there was a loss of other insured
property. Such a claim was retained in this series if cause could
be attributed to arson.
The first file in this
series is claim C-136 dated February 8, 1955. Few claims for
1955 and 1956 were retained. The number of claims increased significantly
in 1957, but a dramatic increase came in 1958. Most of the 1958 claims
were the result of insurrection and civil unrest. The last claim
in this series was filed in December 1958. Correspondence related
to existing claims continued into 1960.
There were no file
numbers missing in the original accession, and the original accession ended
with C-452.