Lloyd’s is an insurance organization that was originally known as Lloyd’s of London. Lloyd’s is famous for insuring almost any risk. Lloyd’s pioneered many forms of insurance that have since become commonplace, such as burglary, loss of profits, hurricane, and earthquake insurance. The organization generally concentrates on property and liability coverage.
For more than 300 years, Lloyd’s consisted of individual members called Lloyd’s underwriters or Names. In the late 1900’s and early 2000’s, however, a number of catastrophes and large-scale losses bankrupted many Names. Since the mid-1990’s, Lloyd’s membership has shifted increasingly toward corporate investors. Lloyd’s provides its members with worldwide merchant shipping reports. This information is published daily in Lloyd’s List. Founded in 1734, it is the oldest newspaper in London. Once owned by Lloyd’s, the newspaper is today owned by Informa, a London publisher.
Lloyd’s originated in the coffee house of Edward Lloyd about 1690. The coffee house was a favorite meeting place for ship owners and wealthy merchants who would underwrite (accept the risk of) a marine insurance policy. Lloyd’s partly or completely insured property lost in the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906; the sinking of the Titanic in 1912; the airship Hindenburg, which burned in 1937; and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.
