As a part of its celebrations of this milestone year, it has been publishing a number of online materials.
The world renowned marketplace, Lloyd’s of London is making insurance news as it celebrates its 325th birthday this year and, as a part of its recognition of that milestone, it is making a large amount of different materials available online to understand its history and legacy.
The company found its beginnings as a simple coffee shop owned by one man, and rapidly expanded.
According to the Lloyd’s website, which is receiving welcome positive insurance news attention for this occasion, “In the 17th century, London’s importance as a trade centre led to an increasing demand for ship and cargo insurance.” It pointed out that the intention hadn’t originally been to provide coverage, but a clever businessman saw an opportunity and grabbed hold of it. “Edward Lloyd’s coffee house became recognized as the place for obtaining marine insurance and this is where the Lloyd’s that we know today began.”
The insurance news began for the company back in 1688, with a February newspaper notice.
At that time, the London Gazette published what could be considered the first true insurance news announcement for the company, then still a coffee house, which offered a reward for a stolen horse and that encouraged readers who had information about the theft to contact Lloyd at his place of business. The website for Lloyd’s called that “an early sign of insurance, or at least reward.”
At that point in London, there were, according to the website, over 80 different coffee houses within the walls of the city. Each of those spots was more than just a place to grab something hot to drink. They were each considered to be a meeting place for “entrepreneurs and merchants with a specialist interest to offer.”
Even though the first insurance news from Lloyd’s was in reference to a stolen horse, the true specialty of the company was in shipping information. The materials on the website now provide interesting and curious information regarding some of the more complex claims and catastrophes that the company has faced over the centuries, including the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, the loss of the HMS Lutine, the sinking of the Titanic and, much more recently, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.