White Cross Insurance Association Ltd (No. 2)
The second White Cross Insurance Association was incorporated in September 1914 as a subsidiary of the Northern Assurance Company Ltd, which became part of the Commercial Union Assurance Company Ltd in 1968.
Company History
White Cross Insurance Association proposal
White Cross Insurance Association accident instruction booklet
White Cross Insurance Association American Car proposal
The association was established to take over the business, premises and staff of the first White Cross Insurance Association Ltd, a leading motor insurer. The company wrote a wide range of risks and, by 1915, was offering motor car, fire, burglary, employers' liability, public liability, driving accidents, personal accident, property owners' indemnity, livestock and householders' combined insurance.
In 1925, the association merged with another Northern subsidiary, the Provident Accident and Guarantee Company Ltd, and was liquidated in June of the same year.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1914 | The company is established as a subsidiary of the Northern Assurance Company |
| 1925 | The company merges with the Provident Accident and Guarantee Company |
| 1925 | The company is liquidated |
| 1968 | The Northern becomes part of the Commercial Union Assurance Company |
Did you know...?
- Minutes from a board meeting in 1915 record the decision to purchase an ambulance for the Russian army in response to an appeal run by the Royal Automobile Club.
Subsidiaries and constituents*
| Year | Company name |
|---|---|
| 1906 - 1914 | White Cross Insurance Association Ltd (No. 1) |
* Please note the first date given is the date of the establishment of the company and the second date is the date the company was acquired or became a subsidiary. Where only one date is given the company was established as a subsidiary of the parent company. Where one date is preceded by a hyphen the date of the establishment of the company is not known.
Head office premises
| Year | Address |
|---|---|
| 1914 - 1924 | 5 Moorgate Street, London |
| 1924 - 1925 | Kinnaird House, Pall Mall East, London |
Staff and officials
Secretary
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1914 - 1917 | W C Bersey (also general manager) |
| 1917 - 1921 | H Shaw (also general manager) |
| 1921 - 1925 | John Watt |
General Manager
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1914 - 1917 | W C Bersey (also secretary) |
| 1917 - 1921 | H Shaw (also secretary) |
| 1921 - 1925 | John Pinkerton |
Directors (1914)
- T Forbes
- A L Sturge
- W E Trenam
- H E Wilson
- Herbert S Gayford
Home branches and agencies
- Cardiff (1914)
- Brighton (1914)
- Norwich (1914)
- Southampton (1914)
- Croydon 1914
- Glasgow (1914)
- Blackburn (1915)
- Edinburgh (1915)
Home branches
- West End (1914)
- Birmingham (1914)
- Belfast (by 1915)
- Manchester (1915)
- Brighton (1916)
- Glasgow (1916)
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1916)
- Southampton (1916)
- Croydon (1919)
- Edinburgh (1919)
- Liverpool (1919)
- Leeds (1919)
- Bristol (by 1925)
- Enfield (by 1925)
In the archives
The Aviva archive contains records relating to the running of the second White Cross Insurance Association between 1914 and 1925. The collection includes advertising material, specimen motor policies, board and general minutes, annual reports and accounts and proposals.
