AXA Professional Financial Consultant : Life Insurance in History - Risk protection has been a primary goal of humans and institutions throughout history. Protecting against risk is what insurance is all about.
Over 5000 years ago, in China, insurance was seen as a preventative measure against piracy on the sea. Piracy, in fact, was so prevalent, that as a way of spreading the risk, a number of ships would carry a portion of another ship's cargo so that if one ship was captured, the entire shipment would not be lost.
In another part of the world, nearly 4,500 years ago, in the ancient land of Babylonia, traders used to bear risk of the caravan trade by giving loans that had to be later repaid with interest when the goods arrived safely. In 2100 BC, the Code of Hammurabi granted legal status to the practice. It formalized concepts of “bottomry” referring to vessel bottoms and “respondentia” referring to cargo. These provided the underpinning for marine insurance contracts. Such contracts contained three elements: a loan on the vessel, cargo, or freight; an interest rate; and a surcharge to cover the possibility of loss. In effect, ship owners were the insured and lenders were the underwriters.
Life insurance came about a little later in ancient Rome, where burial clubs were formed to cover the funeral expenses of its members, as well as help survivors monetarily. With Rome's fall, around 450 A.D., most of the concepts of insurance were abandoned, but aspects of it did continue through the Middle Ages, particularly with merchant and artisan guilds. These provided forms of member insurance covering risks like fire, flood, theft, disability, death, and even imprisonment.
During the feudal period, early forms of insurance ebbed with the decline of travel and long-distance trade. But during the 14th to 16th centuries, transportation, commerce, and insurance would again reemerge.
Insurance in India can be traced back to the Vedas. For instance, yogakshema, the name of Life Insurance Corporation of India's corporate headquarters, is derived from the Rig Veda. The term suggests that a form of "community insurance" was prevalent around 1000 BC and practiced by the Aryans.
And similar to ancient Rome, burial societies were formed in the Buddhist period to help families build houses, and to protect widows and children.
Illegal almost everywhere else in Europe, life insurance in England was vigorously promoted in the three decades following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The type of insurance we see today owes it's roots to 17th century England. Lloyd's of London, or as they were known then, Lloyd's Coffee House, was the location where merchants, ship owners and underwriters met to discuss and transact business deals.
While serving as a means of risk-avoidance, life insurance also appealed strongly to the gambling instincts of England's burgeoning middle class. Gambling was so rampant, in fact, that when newspapers published names of prominent people who were seriously ill, bets were placed at Lloyd’s on their anticipated dates of death. Reacting against such practices, 79 merchant underwriters broke away in 1769 and two years later formed a “New Lloyd’s Coffee House” that became known as the “real Lloyd’s.” Making wagers on people's deaths ceased in 1774 when parliament forbade the practice.
Insurance moves to America
The U.S. insurance industry was built on the British model. The year 1735 saw the birth of the first insurance company in the American colonies in Charleston, SC. The Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia in 1759, sponsored the first life insurance corporation in America for the benefit of ministers and their dependents. And the first life insurance policy for the general public in the United States was issued, in Philadelphia, on May 22, 1761.
But it wasn't until 80 years later (after 1840), that life insurance really took off in a big way. The key to it's success was reducing the opposition from religious groups.
In 1835, the infamous New York fire drew people's attention to the need to provide for sudden and large losses. Two years later, Massachusetts became the first state to require companies by law to maintain such reserves. The great Chicago fire of 1871 further emphasized how fires can cause huge losses in densely populated modern cities. The practice of reinsurance, wherein the risks are spread among several companies, was devised specifically for such situations.
With the creation of the automobile, public liability insurance, which first made its appearance in the 1880s, gained importance and acceptance.
More advancements were made to insurance during the process of industrialization. In 1897, the British government passed the Workmen's Compensation Act, which made it mandatory for a company to insure its employees against industrial accidents.
During the 19th century, many societies were founded to insure the life and health of their members, while fraternal orders provided low-cost, members-only insurance. Even today, such fraternal orders continue to provide insurance coverage to members as do most labor organizations. Many employers sponsor group insurance policies for their employees, providing not just life insurance, but sickness and accident benefits and old-age pensions. Employees contribute a certain percentage of the premium for these policies.
Final Thoughts
Even though the American insurance industry was greatly influenced by Britain, the US market developed somewhat differently from that of the United Kingdom. Contributing to that was America's size, land diversity and the overwhelming desire to be independent. As America moved from a colonial outpost to an independent force, from a farming country to an industrial nation, the insurance business developed from a small number of companies to a large industry.
Insurance became more sophisticated, offering new types of coverage and diversified services for an increasingly complex country.
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