History of Insurance

I am sure we have all heard of the word, and have an idea of how it works. Is it a concept? Idea? Is it something concrete or abstract? It depends on the context of the situation. A quick, simple definition of insurance could be as follows: Reimbursement in a situation of loss. Usually someone decides that insurance is needed. In order for the concept of insurance to arise, a pre-payment of some type is required. In the case of typical, everyday general auto, health and life insurance, for example: the pre-payment is in the form of a premium. Prior to the eve of the year 2000, thousands of peaople flocked to the stores, stoking up on numerous supplies. They feared that something catastrophic was going to take place once the clock struck midnight, and if so, they wanted to be prepared. Isn't this a form of insurance? Sure in its basic definition. The supplies they purchased would act as reimbursement in the case of loss. Early insurance goes back to the Egyptian times. It was known that around 3000 BC, Chinese merchants dispersed their shipments among several vessels to avoid the possibility of demage or loss. There are some insurance companies around today in the US that provided insuranse back in the mid 1700's, as well as some that provided relief to banks during the 1930's and the Great Depression. Today, there is insurance for many aspects of daily living: Business, Auto, Health, Life, Travel. Each of those caregories include sub-categories, branching off into numerous division.
General Insurance
General insurance or non life insurance policies, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular finantial event. General insurance typically comparises any insurance that is not determined to be life insurance. It's called property and casuality insurance in the US and Nnon-life insurance in Continental Europe. In the UK, General insuranse is broadly divided into there areas :
1. The London Market , insurers large commercial risk such as supermarkets, football players and other very specific risks. It consist os a number of insurers, reinsurers, (P&I Clubs), brokers and other companies that are typically physically located in the City of London. The Lloyd's of London is a big participant in this market. The London Market also participantes in personal lines and commercials lines, domestic and foreign, through reinsurance.
2. Commercial Lines products are usually designed for relatively small legal entities. These would include workers' comp (employers liability), public liability, product liability, commercial fleet and other general insurance products sold in a relatively standard fashion to many organisations. There are many companies that supply comprehensive commercial insurance packeges for a wide range of different industries, including shops, restaurants and hotels.
3. Personel Lines products are designed to be sold in large quantities. This would include autos (private car) , homeowners (household), pet insurance, creditor insurance and other. ACORD whisch is the insurance industry global standards organisation. ACORD has standards for personal and commercial lines and has been working with the Australian General Insurers to develop those XML standard applications for insurance, and certificates of currency.
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