History of Insurance

The business of insurance started with marine business. Traders who used to gather in the Lloyd's coffee house in London agreed to share the losses to their goods while being carried by ships. The losses used to occur because of pirates who robbed on the high seas or because of bad weather spoiling the goods or sinking the ship. The first insurance policy was issued in 1583 in England. In India, insurance began in 1870 with life insurance being transacted by an English company, the European and the Albert. The first Indian insurance company  was the Bombay Mutual Assurance Society Ltd, formed in 1870. This was followed by the Oriental life Assurance Co. in 1874, the Bharat in 1896 and the Empire of India in 1897.

Later, the Hindustan Cooperative was formed in Calcutta, the United India in Madras, the Bombay Life in Bombay, the National in Calcutta, the New India in Bombay, the Jupiter in Bombay and the Lakshmi in New Delhi. These were all Indian companies, started as a result of the swadeshi movement in the early 1900. By the year 1956. when the life insurance business was nationalised and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)was formed on 1st September 1956, there were 170 companies and 75 provident fund societies transacting life insurance businees in India. After the amendments to the relevant laws in 1999, the L.I.C did not have the exclusive privilege of doing life insurance business in India. By 31.3.2002, eleven new insurers had been registered and had begun to transact life insurance business in India.