How Did Insurance Start
Post date: March 5th, 2010 |
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The word insurance refers to any contract where a person pays another person or business to insure the safety, but to be more precise, pay for the replacement of any such personal property if said property is lost, destroyed, or damaged in some other way other then the neglect or purposeful destruction of the owner of said property. There is insurance for just about anything, insurance is generally divided into four areas; vehicle, property, health, and life insurance.
Insurance has been around since society began. The earliest form of insurance was the old protection rackets that organized crime families still use even today. Criminals or rulers of a country would ‘guarantee’ that a business or home would not be damaged or destroyed by criminal activities for a weekly cut of said earnings of the business. This form of blackmail and extortion quickly led to merchants and shopkeepers living in their businesses. So that when the criminals came they would be greeted by sword and spear. These actions, taken by these early businessmen, led to the old saying, “The greatest protection comes by the sword.”
About 2-3 millennia ago, the first contract was formed that displayed what we know now as property insurance. If any carrier or transporter was attempting to carry goods from one point to another, they would guarantee the property, or cargo. They guaranteed it from the shipper and receivers side. This made transporters more confident in their deliveries and they took more chances which increased the trading and transporting of goods. They often etched these contracts in stone or papyrus after they decided verbal agreements did not hold up well in most cases.
Later on, people would hire guards. In today’s times, it would be the equivalent of a security guard. These guards, which were often times retired soldiers, would follow a transportation of goods or wherever they were needed. It was very hard work, but it paid well. Many retired soldiers took this form of work up as a way of living.
Now in the modern age, insurance is a necessity for a normal life in every nation on Earth. Insurance now covers Life, property, wellbeing, and even accountability from lawsuits. The insurance business is now a multi-billion dollar industry. The first known insurance business was started after the Great London Fire in 1666. The fire destroyed 13,200 houses. After this tragedy, Nicholas Barbon opened an office to insure buildings. In 1680, he established England’s first fire insurance company, “The Fire Office,” to insure brick and frame homes.
The first insurance company in the United States was founded in Charleston, South Carolina in 1732. The company insured against fire damage and Benjamin Franklin assisted in popularizing the concept of insurance in the country at the time. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Contributorship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. Franklin’s company was the first to make contributions toward fire deterrence. His company also tried to warn against certain fire hazards, but it refused to cover structures that were at considerable risk of fire, such as wooden houses or warehouses.
As you can see, insurance has come a very long way and it continues to be part of our everyday lives. With the cost of living and property we own; it is true for the general public that you can’t live without insurance. In many areas, insurance is required on some items.