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 | Lloyd's began in Edward Lloyd's Thames-side coffee house
at Tower Street in the City of London. |
| Although the exact date of its establishment is unknown,
evidence exists that Lloyd's coffee house was well-known in
London business circles by 1688.
| | Lloyd himself was not involved in insurance but provided
premises, reliable shipping news and a variety of services to
enable his clientele of ships' captains, merchants and rich
men to carry on their business of insuring ships and their
cargoes.
| The wealthy individuals in the coffee house would each take
a share of a risk, signing their names one beneath the other
on the policy together, with the amount they agreed to cover.
For this reason they were known as 'underwriters'.
| Lloyd died in 1713 but the coffee house continued to prosper
as a center for marine insurance. |
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| Lloyd's slowly evolved into a more formal society and in
1774 the 'Subscribers to Lloyd's' occupied new premises at the
Royal Exchange at Cornhill. |
| By the end of the 18th century the underwriters had elected
a committee and moved to their own premises in the Royal
Exchange. Only members of Lloyd's were allowed to accept
insurance business.
| The Society of Lloyd's was incorporated by Lloyd's Act 1871
which provided the business with a sound legal basis and laid
the foundations for today's market.
| By the turn of the century the traditional club of marine
underwriters had become an international market for insurance
risks of almost every type. Lloyd's pre-eminence as a world
center for insurance had been established. |
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| The Society moved to 12 Leadenhall Street 1928, the first
building it had owned |
| Expansion of the business necessitated a move to a second
new building in Lime Street 1958. |
All of the above © Lloyd's Dec-1999. All rights
reserved.
| In 1986 Lloyd's moved into a new building where it
remains today. |
For
a fun excursion visit the Lloyd's underwriting area in 3D.
We would like to thank Lloyd's of London for the text and many
of the photographs included on this page. We claim no authorship
of this information and provide it for public information only. We
encourage our viewers to visit the Lloyd's
web site which provides a more comprehensive presentation of
the many services the Underwriters at Lloyd's provide today.
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