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66 Yale L.J. 492 (1956-1957)
Title Insurance

handle is hein.journals/ylr66 and id is 520 raw text is: TITLE INSURANCE QUINTIN JOHNSTONE i TITLE insurance is a means of protecting against the risks inherent in the uncertainty of land titles by delineating some defects of title and by insuring against potential losses from others. Conceived in this country in the latter part of the nineteenth century,' title insurance is now written by 147 com- panies, of which 77 have more than one outlet in their home state, 31 operate in more than one state, and 11 in 5 or more states.2 As an indication of the present size of the business, premiums on title insurance written in 1954 totaled about 100 million dollars 3-representing, at an average premium rate of 32 dollars a thousand, 282 billion dollars of title insurance coverage.4 Although. the extent of its use varies, being highest on the Pacific Coast and least in New England, title insurance has become the predominant method tAssociate Professor of Law, Yale Law School. 1. The first title insurance company was formed in Philadelphia and received its franchise in 1876. Rhodes, The Insurance of the Real Estate Title, 10 CONN. B.J. 115, 206, 211 (1936). Title insurance has been almost entirely restricted to the United States. In England conveyancing insurance can be obtained, Insurance in Aid of Conveyancing, 100 Soi J. 139, 157 (1956), although the volume written is small. A policy of this kind insures against loss from a known defect, such as a restrictive covenant or a lost deed, or from the risk that an adverse possessor for the statutory period has not acquired good title. The policy is issued for a fixed period, and only one premium is paid. It resembles American title insurance in that it is ordinarily written to facilitate a conveyance or the making of a mortgage. 2. These computations are based on listings in the 1956 DIRECoRY OF TE AMERICAN TITLE ASSOCIATION, state insurance commission reports and correspondence. They are only approximations. Home offices, branch offices and agencies are considered as outlets, and subsidiaries are treated as separate companies. Multi-state operations include only the writing of title insurance policies and do not include reinsurance. Territories and the District of Columbia are considered as states. 3. The estimate of 100 million dollars as the gross title insurance premiums for 1954 is based on the reported premiums, listed in APPENDIx I, infra p. 518, plus an estimate of unreported premiums. 4. This is a rough estimate because of the contingent character of both the 100 million dollar premium total and the 3% dollar a thousand rate. About 20% of the total was written by one company, the Title Insurance and Trust Company, and its subsidiaries, operating exclusively on the Pacific Coast. The 1954 premium income of the parent and its subsidiaries was $19,262,614, and their total assets on December 31, 1954, were $49,262,858. ANNUAL REPORT, TITLE INSURANCE AND TRUST COMPANY (1954). The 1954 premiums of the parent company, which operates only in California, were $15,630,324, and it paid losses of $308,118. REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA INSURANCE COMM'R 167 (1954). The second largest title insurance company in the United States is the Chicago Title and Trust Company, which writes policies only in Illinois. In 1954 its premium income was $11,413,924; its total assets at the end of 1954 were $65,390,006. ANNUA L STATEMENT, CHICAGO TITLE AND TRUST COMPANY (1954).

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