History of Insurance Timeline

Pope Gregory IX condemned foenus nauticum, or maritime lending, as usury in his 1236 decretal Naviganti. Commenda contracts were introduced in response to restrictions on maritime finance.

Image source: Pope Gregory IX

During the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, European traders traveled widely and sought protection against theft, fraud, and misconduct by captains or crews, risks sometimes identified as Risicum Gentium.

By the late thirteenth century, Italian merchants increasingly separated risk management from finance. Cambium contracts financed trade through discounted bills of exchange rather than through arrangements directly tied to a sea voyage.

Denis of Portugal established the Bolsa de Comércio by mutual agreement on 10 May 1293. It is regarded as the first documented form of marine insurance in Europe.

The Chamber of Assurance was established in 1310 in Bruges, a major Flemish commercial city. Its creation reflected the growing need for organized mechanisms to manage commercial and maritime risks.

Image source: Bruges

Professor Federigo identified written insurance contracts dating to 13 February 1343 in Pisa. These documents predate the traditionally cited first Italian marine insurance contract of 23 October 1347.

The first known insurance contract is traditionally dated to Genoa in 1347. During the following century, maritime insurance spread widely and premiums were increasingly varied according to perceived risks.

In fourteenth-century Genoa, separate insurance contracts were developed independently of loans and other financial agreements. Insurance pools backed by pledges of landed estates also emerged.

Genoa introduced insurance regulation and fines in 1369 for violations of church prohibitions against usury involving sea loans and commenda contracts. Specialized courts also developed to resolve maritime insurance disputes.

Image source: History of insurance

During the fifteenth century, the word policy became standardized as a term for an insurance contract, helping establish a consistent vocabulary for the developing industry.

Image source: Insurance policy

A Barcelona ordinance issued in 1435 required traders to use formal courts when resolving insurance disputes. It marked a move away from reliance on informal arbitration.

Image source: Barcelona

Venice established the Consoli dei Mercanti in 1436 as a specialized court for maritime insurance matters. The court reflected the growing institutionalization of commercial insurance law.

Image source: Venice

Pedro de Santarém wrote On Insurance and Merchants' Bets in 1488. Published in 1552, it is regarded as the first printed book devoted to insurance.

Image source: Santarém, Portugal

In 1520, Genoa replaced its mercantile court with the more specialized Rota. The court followed merchants' customs while also incorporating formal legal rules.

Image source: Roman Rota

During the sixteenth century, traders increasingly turned to formal courts because informal arbitrators lacked the power to enforce their decisions. This strengthened the legal infrastructure of insurance.

Image source: Insurance law

By the sixteenth century, insurance had become common among merchants in Britain, France, and the Netherlands. Maritime commerce was a major driver of this expansion.

In the seventeenth century, merchants began arranging insurance outside their home countries. Reduced trade or higher local insurance costs encouraged the use of international markets.

Some forms of insurance developed in London during the early decades of the seventeenth century, as the city grew into an important center of commerce and maritime finance.

Before modern-style insurance became established in the late seventeenth century, friendly societies operated in England. Members contributed to a common fund that could provide assistance during emergencies.

Image source: Friendly society

The Great Fire of London destroyed more than 13,000 houses in 1666. Its devastating effects transformed property insurance from a matter of convenience into an urgent need.

Image source: Great Fire of London

In the plan for rebuilding London after the Great Fire, Sir Christopher Wren included a site for an insurance office in 1667, reflecting the growing public importance of property protection.

Hamburger Feuerkasse was established in 1676 and became the first officially established fire insurance company in the world. It is also the oldest existing insurance enterprise available to the public.

Image source: Great fire of Hamburg

Economist Nicholas Barbon and eleven associates founded the Insurance Office for Houses in 1681. Located behind the Royal Exchange, it insured brick and frame homes against fire.

Image source: Nicholas Barbon

Edmond Halley wrote the first life table in 1693. Although the table was an important foundation, the mathematical and statistical tools needed for modern life insurance developed only in the 1750s.

Image source: Edmond Halley

The Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society was founded in 1696 at Tom's Coffee House in St Martin's Lane, London. It became a notable early fire and life insurance company.

Image source: Hand in Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society

The first life insurance policies were taken out in the early eighteenth century. The field later developed through improved mortality data, mathematics, and actuarial methods.

Image source: Life insurance

During the eighteenth century, Lloyd's Coffeehouse became a prominent marine insurance marketplace in London. European and American traders used it to insure shipments.

William Talbot and Sir Thomas Allen founded the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office in London in 1706. It is regarded as the first company to offer life insurance.

Image source: Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office

The Sun Fire Office dates from 1710 and is the earliest still-existing property insurance company.

Image source: Sun Alliance (company)

The Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation received its royal charter in 1720 under the Royal Exchange and London Assurance Corporation Act 1719.

Image source: Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation

The first insurance company in colonial America to underwrite fire insurance was formed in Charles Town, modern-day Charleston, South Carolina, in 1732.

In 1752, Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, an important early American property insurer.

Image source: Philadelphia Contributionship

The Presbyterian Synods in Philadelphia and New York founded the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers in 1759.

Image source: Presbyterianism in the United States

Edward Rowe Mores established the Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorship in 1762 after earlier efforts by his disciple to obtain a charter had failed.

Image source: The Equitable Life Assurance Society

Episcopalian priests created a relief fund in 1769 comparable to the Presbyterian fund established a decade earlier, extending organized mutual assistance to another religious community.

In 1774, participating members of the insurance arrangement associated with Lloyd's moved to the Royal Exchange on Cornhill and formed the Society of Lloyd's. Lloyd's operated as a gathering place for underwriters rather than as an insurance company.

Image source: Lloyd's of London

William Morgan was appointed in 1775 and served until 1830. He is regarded as the first modern actuary because of his systematic application of mathematical methods to life insurance.

Image source: William Morgan (actuary)

In 1776, the Society for Equitable Assurances carried out the first actuarial valuation of liabilities. It later distributed the first reversionary bonus in 1781 and an interim bonus in 1809.

In the late nineteenth century, accident insurance became increasingly available. The new coverage reflected industrialization, urbanization, and the hazards of rail travel and modern employment.

The Railway Passengers Assurance Company was formed in England in 1848 and became the first company to offer accident insurance. It responded to rising fatalities on the expanding railway system.

Image source: Aviva

By the late nineteenth century, governments began initiating national insurance programs against sickness and old age, marking a transition from private mutual protection toward public social insurance.

Image source: Social insurance

The British National Insurance Act 1911 gave working-class people the first contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment.

Image source: National Insurance Act 1911

By 1913, approximately 2.3 million people were insured under the British unemployment benefit scheme and nearly 15 million were insured for sickness benefits.

The United States passed the World War Adjusted Compensation Act, or Bonus Act, on 19 May 1924. It granted World War I veterans a life insurance policy and later contributed to the Bonus Army movement of 1932.

Image source: World War Adjusted Compensation Act

The New Deal's Social Security Act of 1935 expanded the concept and acceptance of insurance as a means of providing financial security for older workers. Before 1935, the federal government had not mandated nationwide insurance.

Image source: Social Security Act

The original G.I. Bill of 1944 created large-scale programs that expanded the idea that educational expenses and affordable housing mortgages could be benefits of military service.