Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance

Last updated
Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance
Company type Insurance company
Industry Insurance
Founded1860 (1860)
Defunct1911 (1911) but name continued to be used until the 1960s
FateMerged
Successor Royal Insurance
Headquarters,
Products Marine insurance

Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance was a large British marine insurance company that operated from 1860 until it was acquired in 1911, but the name continued to be used until the 1960s.

History

Before 1860, Liverpool’s marine insurance rested on local syndicates, Lloyd’s of London or a small number of London companies. In 1859, John Towne Danson, a Liverpool barrister, published a pamphlet asserting that Liverpool had 50% of UK exports but most of its insurance was written elsewhere. He proposed a new joint stock company, Mersey Marine Insurance Company [1] with £500,000 capital. A search for an experienced London underwriter to head the Company uncovered a similar marine proposal in London, headed by a Mr S. Sleigh. It was agreed that the two companies should be merged and a prospectus was published for the Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance. [2]

The capital was allocated as to London 45 per cent, Liverpool 30 per cent and Manchester 25 per cent. The company’s status was changed two years after its formation when it became possible for insurance companies to obtain limited liability under the Companies Act 1862. The Liverpool office became increasingly dominant and, by 1870, it accounted for 59 per cent of combined premium income. The Thames & Mersey Insurance Company was slow to appoint overseas underwriting agents but Liverpool took the initiative in 1870 by appointing an agent in San Francisco. As the overseas coverage increased, each of the UK offices developed its own area of interest. [3]

In 1911 Liverpool and London Globe Insurance, a fire insurer, bought Thames & Mersey for £900,000. The Thames and Mersey was then the largest pure marine insurer, but its profitability had come under pressure: its ratio of claims and expenses to premium income had risen from 70 per cent in 1901 to a loss-making 102 per cent in 1906. [4] Following the acquisition, a single Board for Thames and Mersey was established in Liverpool with London and Manchester as branches. In 1919 Liverpool and London merged with its local competitor, Royal Insurance. [5]

The Thames and Mersey seemed to operate as an autonomous entity at least until 1960, when the company’s official history ended. Its archives for the period until 1961 are deposited at the Liverpool Record Office. [3] [2]

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">Lloyd's of London</span> Insurance market located in the City of London

Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, United Kingdom. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body governed by the Lloyd's Act 1871 and subsequent Acts of Parliament. It operates as a partially-mutualised marketplace within which multiple financial backers, grouped in syndicates, come together to pool and spread risk. These underwriters, or "members", are a collection of both corporations and private individuals, the latter being traditionally known as "Names".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Life insurance</span> Type of contract

Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of an insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness can also trigger payment. The policyholder typically pays a premium, either regularly or as one lump sum. The benefits may include other expenses, such as funeral expenses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends Provident</span> British life insurance company

Friends' Provident Insurance was a banking institution founded in 1832 to serve the needs of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Based in Bradford, Yorkshire, it concentrated on sickness and annuity policies until its life fund acquired Century Insurance in 1918, expanding into general insurance. The restriction to Quaker membership was an increasing constraint but the ties were substantially reduced by the Friends' Provident Institution Act 1915. Although Century's branch network enabled FPI to expand, the periodic underwriting losses strained the life fund's capital base and Century was sold in 1975. In the year 2000, Friends Provident demutualised and listed on the FT100 Index. After abortive takeover negotiations, Friends accepted a takeover bid from Resolution Limited in 2009.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (SFMI) is a South Korean insurance company based in Seoul. It is a subsidiary of Samsung Group. Its business portfolio includes automobile insurance, long-term insurance, general insurance, enterprise risk management, and annuities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Insurance</span>

Royal Insurance Holdings plc was a large insurance business originating in Liverpool but based in London from the early 20th century. It merged with Sun Alliance in 1996 to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Accident</span> Defunct insurance company in Britain

General Accident plc was a large insurance business based in Perth, Scotland. It merged with Commercial Union in 1998 to form CGU plc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allianz</span> German multinational financial services company

Allianz is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses is insurance and asset management.

Sir Francis Chatillon Danson was a British average adjuster.

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

William Greer Harrison was a prominent Irish-born citizen in San Francisco during the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century. By profession, he was an insurance agent, but is remembered for his associations with the Bohemian Club, the Olympic Club, and for his civic contributions.

The Marine and General Mutual Life Assurance Society was a British insurance company that was established in 1852. The company was dissolved on 10 July 2018, following the transfer of business to Scottish Friendly on 1 June 2015. The society was Great Britain's longest-registered company and held the company registration number 00000006.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is an autonomous and statutory body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is tasked with regulating and licensing the insurance and re-insurance industries in India. It was constituted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999, an Act of Parliament passed by the Government of India. The agency's headquarters are in Hyderabad, Telangana, where it moved from Delhi in 2001.

Reliance Insurance Limited, was founded in Bangladesh as a private non-life insurance company in 1988. Currently the firm has 32 branches throughout Bangladesh, and 314 employees. In the year 2021, the company had earned BDT 3,140.35 million as the gross premium income, which is higher than that of 2020. Ms. Shahnaz Rahman is the chairman of Reliance Insurance Limited.

Korean Reinsurance Company is a reinsurance company based in Seoul, South Korea. Korean Re ranks as the world's 10th largest reinsurer in terms of gross written premiums.

The Sun Fire Office, later Sun Insurance, was founded in London in 1710 and developed into a leading international insurance business. In 1959, Sun Insurance merged with Alliance Assurance to form Sun Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool and London Globe Insurance</span> Insurance company

The Liverpool Fire & Life Insurance Co. was founded in 1836 in response to increased premiums from the London insurance companies. It expanded rapidly, at home and abroad, and after the acquisition of the London insurer, Globe Insurance, in 1864 it became the Liverpool and London Globe Insurance Company. In 1919 it was acquired by another Liverpool firm, Royal Insurance. The enlarged entity merged with the Sun Alliance in 1996 to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British & Foreign Marine</span>

British & Foreign Marine was one of the leading marine insurers in Liverpool, England in the second half of the nineteenth century, at one point claiming to have the largest reserves of any marine insurer in Europe. It was acquired by Royal Insurance in 1909 but continued as an independent entity for several decades.

London and Lancashire Insurance was founded in 1862, and had become one of the U.K.'s leading fire insurers by the end of the 19th century. A series of acquisitions in the early 20th century took the company into accident and marine insurance, as well as life assurance, making it a leading composite insurer. Following a period of consolidation in the industry, London and Lancashire was acquired by Royal Insurance in 1962.

Scottish Mutual Assurance was formed in 1883 as the Scottish Temperance Life Assurance Society, intended as the only life assurance company serving exclusively abstainers. It was renamed Scottish Mutual Assurance in 1951 and acquired by Abbey National in 1991.

References

  1. "John Towne Danson". Sue Young Histories. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Thames and Mersey Marine Insurance". National Archives. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  3. 1 2 Anon, Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance Company 1860-1960, Liverpool, c.1960
  4. Bourne’s Insurance Directory 1908
  5. J Dyer Simpson, 1936 Our Centenary Year, The Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Company, Liverpool.