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china 3000 BC
China, 3000 BC: that's the date on insurance's birth certificate. The proud parents were Chinese merchants who, tired of losing valuable goods in shipwrecks, proposed what is now recognized as the oldest predecessor to modern insurance. Merchants divided their goods evenly among the ships, meaning that each boat carried a mix of cargo, not just one merchant's. -
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Babylonians 1790 BC
Around 1790 BC, the Babylonians took insurance to the next level. As merchants faced the many perils of ship and caravan trade — squalls, pirates, thieves — King Hammurabi, of "an eye for an eye" fame, enacted a new type of insurance to keep business (literally) afloat. -
Jan 1, 1343
1343 fist insurance contract was signed in Italy.
The very first insurance contract was signed in Genoa, Italy, in 1343. Its principles were similar to ancient Babylonian ones — merchants could take out loans guaranteeing safe arrival of shipments — only now the agreement was inked and ironclad. It seems many merchants had discovered the hard way that shouting "liar, liar, pantaloons on fire" failed to guilt cheating lenders. -
Your age determines the price of your life insurance policy.
This era brought luminaries like Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, who first developed laws of probability. And probability is the favorite word of actuaries, who calculate risk based on it. The Renaissance also found Edmund Halley, of comet fame, pioneering the first mortality table, which depressingly but accurately predicted the likelihood of death based on current age. -
“Great” fire insurance: 1666
The spark for insurance against natural disasters came when Nicholas Barbon, reacting to the great London fire of 1666, created the first fire insurance company. -
Ben Franklin founded 1st home insurance company.
Benjamin Franklin founded America’s oldest, continuously active insurance company in 1752. Franklin and several prominent business associates established the Philadelphia Contributorship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. -
Ben Franklin also founded the first Life Insurance.
Ben Franklin also founded the first Life Insurance "the Presbyterian Ministers' Fund". -
Travelers Insurance Company sells its first accident policy.
1864 saw the Travelers Insurance Company sell its first accident policy -
Gilbert J. Loomis buys first auto insurance policy.
He made the car himself and was scared of ruining it and losing everything. -
Fraud Problems
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Car insurance agents make their debuts.
There are now more than 466,100 car insurance agents today! -
The Social Security Act Came into Effect.
In 1935, the Social Security Act came into effect, providing unemployment compensation and old-age benefits. This took away some of the insurance companies' territory and it sent a clear signal that encouraged the industry to begin regulating itself for fear of more government involvement. -
Rates are tailored to match the driver's age, vehicle, and mileage.
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An IBM computer is used to store car insurance data.
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Discounts! As motorists' skills and vehicle safety improved, insurance companies began to reward safe drivers through discounts.
Thre are now "safe driver" bonuses, and discounts for being accident free, accident forgiveness, etc. It just depends who you go through to get your insurance. -
24/7 customer service via telephone
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Internet revoluntioniize the industry
Now it is possible to set up, pay for, and do everything with your insurance all online. There are now more insurance companies than I can count. My family even owns a small Car Insurance company called Koehn Insurance.
