Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance

Last updated

Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance was a large British marine insurance company.

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. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge 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, 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’ Proviant 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 is an insurance company based in Seoul, South Korea. Incorporated on January 26, 1952, under the name of "Korea Anbo Fire Marine Reinsurance Co.", the company changed its name to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd., in December 1993, after its takeover by Samsung Group dated back to 1958. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, SFMI in short, is operating property and casualty insurance business and third-party insurance business defined by the Korea Insurance Business Act, while engaging in providing financial services and instruments approved by relevant laws and regulations including the Korea Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. Its business portfolio consists of automobile insurance, long-term insurance, general insurance, enterprise risk management, annuities, etc. As of the end of 2015, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has seven overseas subsidiaries in Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Brazil, Europe, US, and Singapore.

<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.

Australia's insurance market can be divided into roughly three components: life insurance, general insurance and health insurance. These markets are fairly distinct, with most larger insurers focusing on only one type, although in recent times several of these companies have broadened their scope into more general financial services, and have faced competition from banks and subsidiaries of foreign financial conglomerates. With services such as disability insurance, income protection and even funeral insurance, these insurance giants are stepping in to fill the gap where people may have otherwise been in need of a personal or signature loan from their financial institution.

Liverpool Victoria, trading since May 2007 as LV=, is one of the United Kingdom's largest insurance companies. It offers a range of insurance and retirement products.

<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 are 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Insurance Company</span> Central Public Sector Undertaking

National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India.. The psu is headquartered at Kolkata was established in 1906 by Gordhandas Dutia and Jeevan Das Dutia and National Insurance company and Asian Insurance company was nationalised in 1972. Its portfolio consists of a multitude of general insurance policies, offered to a wide arena of clients encompassing different sectors of the economy. Apart from being a leading insurance provider in India, NICL also serves Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority</span> Regulatory body of the Government of India

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is a regulatory body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India and 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.

Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company Limited is a private life insurance company in India. The company was founded in 2001. It caters to 15 million customers and has 232 branches in around 167 cities and towns in India with 99,275 agents.

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.

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 1918 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.

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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.