Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company

Last updated
Hartford Steam Boiler
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Insurance
FoundedJune 30, 1866;157 years ago (1866-06-30)
Headquarters Hartford, Connecticut
Area served
United States
ProductsEquipment insurance, Inspection services
Owner Munich Re
Subsidiaries Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company of Canada and
HSB Engineering Insurance Limited of the U.K.
Website munichre.com/HSB/

The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB) is a global specialty insurer and reinsurer headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. It was founded in 1866 and is the largest provider of equipment breakdown insurance and related inspection services in North America serving over five million commercial locations.[ citation needed ]

Contents

HSB subsidiaries include the Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company of Canada (BI&I), which is the largest insurer of equipment breakdown insurance in Canada, and HSB Engineering Insurance Limited of the U.K., which provides engineered lines coverages and inspection services to clients in the U.K., Ireland and other EU countries.

HSB is part of Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurers. Munich Re completed its acquisition of HSB in April 2009. [1]

Hartford Steam Boiler Group is rated A++ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company. On July 24, 2019, A.M. Best Co. affirmed the ratings of the Hartford Steam Boiler group and its member companies.[ citation needed ]

Hartford Steam Boiler (U.S.) provides equipment breakdown coverage through a network of brokers and agents and also through other insurance companies who partner with HSB and who include equipment breakdown as part of their insurance products for commercial lines and personal lines customers.

Equipment breakdown insurance, also known as “boiler and machinery,” covers physical and financial damage that results from an accidental equipment breakdown to a range of equipment, machinery and technology. Standard property coverages typically exclude perils of mechanical and electrical breakdown. Equipment breakdown coverage was originally designed for business and industry. In recent years, HSB has extended the product concept to the farm owners and homeowners markets.

The company also provides a range of other specialty insurance products including insurance for identity recovery, data compromise, employment practices liability and miscellaneous professional liability that it designs and distributes through other insurance companies in reinsurance service agreements.

Hartford Steam Boiler employs over 1,200 engineers, inspectors and technicians, [2] which account for approximately 50 percent of its total workforce.

In March 2020, HSB announced a new logo and brand. The new autonomous HSB brand brings together HSB's three largest businesses - Hartford Steam Boiler in the US, the Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company of Canada (BI&I), and HSB Engineering Insurance in the UK - under one banner. [3]

Early history

The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company was founded on June 30, 1866. The company was conceived at a time when catastrophic boiler explosions were common events, occurring about once every four days.

Steam Power and the Industrial Revolution

Up until the 1850s in the United States, a great deal of manufacturing was carried on by small plants located in rural areas. Water from streams and rivers was the source of power for equipment. However, water power had reached the limits of its industrial capacity. Manufacturers turned to steam boilers and engines. The industrial revolution was underway.

The advent of steam power created a new industrial hazard – disastrous boiler explosions. These tragedies occurred with increasing frequency with loss of life and property. Though the potential of steam power seemed infinite, controlling the power and safely harnessing it was crudely developed. As applications for steam power became more complex, the dangers became more acute. [4] In the fall of 1857, a group of young men interested in science and mechanics formed the Polytechnic Club of Hartford. Its original members were E.K. Root (Colt Foreman), E.M. Reed, H. Lord, C.B. Richards, C.F Howard, J.M. Allen, F.A. Pratt, A. Whitney, J.L. Blanchard, and J.A. Ayres. They [5] discussed articles on Science and Mechanics. They proposed the "Guaranteed Steam Boiler Inspection," and with it, offered a guarantee against loss and property damage. The club was disbanded because of the Civil War and lack of interest. The idea was resurrected in 1866 under the direction of R.W. Jarvis (Colt Manager), C.M. Beach, G. Crompton, and H.H. Hayden Esq. The State of Connecticut granted a charter for Corporation in May 1866, and the Corporation was organized in November 1866 with E.C. Roberts as its first president. Soon after, Roberts stepped down, and J.M. Allen became its second president. In 1919, the Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance and Inspection Company got tired of paying the claims on all those broken boilers, so they came up with the idea of this special piping configuration and mandated it for anyone who wanted insurance on their steam boiler. Before long, everyone was calling it the Hartford (or Underwriters) Loop. The Loop had a very positive impact on the industry, according to the records of boiler failures before and after 1919.

Polytechnic Club Addresses Issue of Boiler Explosions

During this time, a group of industrialists and business leaders in Hartford, Connecticut, formed a group to discuss technical and scientific issues of the day. This group, the Polytechnic Club, included Francis A. Pratt and Amos Whitney the founders of the Pratt & Whitney, and Elisha Root, president of Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Co., among others.

One of the founders of the Polytechnic Club was Jeremiah M. Allen, who would become president of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company and the principal American figure to develop and apply the principle of combining boiler inspections with insurance.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurance</span> Equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another in exchange for payment

Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pratt & Whitney</span> Aircraft engine manufacturer

Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company is the world's second largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 35% market share as of 2020. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbine engines for industrial use, marine propulsion, and power generation. In 2017, the company reported that it supported more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boiler</span> Closed vessel in which fluid is heated

A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central heating, boiler-based power generation, cooking, and sanitation.

HSB may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinsurance</span> Insurance purchased by an insurance company

Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own insurance liabilities to the other insurance company. The company that purchases the reinsurance policy is referred to as the "ceding company" or "cedent". The company issuing the reinsurance policy is referred to as the "reinsurer". In the classic case, reinsurance allows insurance companies to remain solvent after major claims events, such as major disasters like hurricanes or wildfires. In addition to its basic role in risk management, reinsurance is sometimes used to reduce the ceding company's capital requirements, or for tax mitigation or other purposes.

United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems, HVAC, elevators and escalators, fire and security, building automation, and industrial products, among others. UTC was also a large military contractor, getting about 10% of its revenue from the U.S. government. In April 2020, UTC merged with the Raytheon Company to form Raytheon Technologies, later renamed RTX Corporation.

Munich Re Group or Munich Reinsurance Company is a German multinational insurance company based in Munich, Germany. It is the world's largest reinsurer. ERGO, subsidiary of Munich Re, serves as the primary insurance arm of the Group. Munich Re's shares are publicly listed. Munich Re is included in the DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Euro Stoxx 50, and other indices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Hartford</span> Metropolitan Statistical Area in Connecticut, United States

Greater Hartford is a region located in the U.S. state of Connecticut, centered on the state's capital of Hartford. It represents the only combined statistical area in Connecticut defined by a city within the state, being bordered by the Greater Boston region to the northeast and New York metropolitan area to the south and west. Sitting at the southern end of the Metacomet Ridge, its geology is characterized by land of a level grade along the shores of Connecticut River Valley, with loamy, finer-grained soil than other regions in the state. Greater Hartford, had a total population of 1,213,531 at the 2020 United States census.

Munich Reinsurance America, formerly known as American Re-Insurance Corporation before September 2006, is a major provider of property and casualty reinsurance in the United States. Munich Reinsurance America is a subsidiary of Munich Re. Founded in 1917, the company's headquarters are located in Princeton, New Jersey, with regional offices in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. The company offers services that provide clients with protection from global disasters such as climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amos Whitney</span> American mechanical engineer and businessman

Amos Whitney was a mechanical engineer and inventor who co-founded the Pratt & Whitney company. He was a member of the prominent Whitney family.

Combustion Engineering (C-E) was a multi-national American-based engineering firm that developed nuclear steam supply power systems in the United States. Originally headquartered in New York City, C-E moved its corporate offices to Stamford, Connecticut in 1973. C-E owned over three dozen other companies including Lummus Company, National Tank Company and the Morgan Door Company. The company was acquired by Asea Brown Boveri in early 1990. The boiler and fossil fuel businesses were purchased by Alstom in 2000, and the nuclear business was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company also in 2000.

Markel Group Inc. is a group of companies headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, and originally founded in 1930 as an insurance company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartford–Springfield</span> Conurbation in the United States

The greater Hartford–Springfield area is an urban region and surrounding suburban areas that encompasses both north-central Connecticut and the southern Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts; its major city centers are Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut.

The evolution of U.S. manufacturing and the American industrial revolution are clearly reflected in the history of Connecticut. Between the birth of the U.S. patent system in 1790 and 1930, Connecticut had more patents issued per capita than any other state; in the 19th century, when one in three thousand people were issued a U.S. patent, one in 700-1000 Connecticut inventors were issued patents. Connecticut's first recorded invention granted a U.S. patent was a lapidary machine, by Abel Buell of Killingworth, in 1765.

QBE Insurance Group Limited is an Australian multinational general insurance and reinsurance company headquartered in Sydney, Australia. QBE offers commercial, personal and specialty products and risk management products. The company employs around 13,500 people in 27 countries.

Edwards Wildman was an AmLaw 100 law firm. It was formed from the 2011 merger of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon. Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge had been formed by the 2005 merger of Edwards & Angell LLP and Palmer & Dodge LLP. In 2008, Boston-based Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge also merged with London-based Kendall Freeman, a 40-attorney firm with specialties in dispute resolution, litigation, and both contentious and regulatory insurance and reinsurance.

Insurance in the United States refers to the market for risk in the United States, the world's largest insurance market by premium volume. According to Swiss Re, of the $6.782 trillion of global direct premiums written worldwide in 2022, $2.959 trillion (43.6%) were written in the United States.

The Phoenix Companies, Inc., is a financial services company that traces its origins to 1851.

Charles Brinckerhoff Richards was an engineer who worked for Colt's Patent Fire Arms Co., where he was responsible for the development of the Colt Single Action Army revolver. Richards was a founder of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a professor at Yale University where he taught for 25 years.

The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 is a United States law regulating the sale of insurance in states where the insurer is usually not authorized to sell insurance. It prevents states other than the home state of a U.S. insurance company from imposing regulations or taxes on the sale of nonadmitted insurance.

References

  1. "From think factory to solution provider (2009 to present) | Munich Re". www.munichre.com. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  2. "About HSB | HSB".
  3. "HSB Launches New Brand Powered by Technology". Odessa American. Associated Press. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  4. "History | HSB".
  5. Scientific American No. 398 page 100, August 18, 1883.