Landmark events
Many major disasters of the past two hundred years can be seen through the records of the insurance companies, ours are no exception.
The theft of Shergar 1981
General Accident insured Shergar the 1981 Derby winner taken from an Irish stud in February 1983 and presumed dead by August of that year. The company’s liability amounted to £144,000.
First World War heroism 1915
In 1915 the German occupying authorities sealed the safe in the General Accident offices in Antwerp, Belgium. However, the staff crept in at night and broke in to take back vital records without the Germans ever finding out. Back in Britain, General Accident was deeply involved in helping the Belgian refugees, going so far as to hand over space in the company’s London offices to the cause. This space was used as a base for the Belgian Refugees Committee and visited by many Belgian refugees and soldiers during the war years.
San Francisco disaster 1906
Offices of New Zealand Insurance Company following San Francisco Earthquake
On 18 April 1906 the inhabitants of San Francisco were woken by an earthquake estimated to have registered 8.25 on the Richter scale. The quake itself lasted only a minute but a combination of ruptured gas mains and sparks from newly installed electrical equipment lead to fires which ravaged the city for three days. Arriving several months later from head office to survey the damage, E. Roger Owen of Commercial Union wrote “It is beyond my power to describe the enormous extent of the calamity it is indescribable and no idea can be conveyed to anyone who has not seen it of the damage done”
Naturally the biggest worry for the insurance companies, once they knew their staff were safe, was their liability to claims following the disaster. Many companies decided to pay claims in full including the Aviva constituents Scottish Union and National, and North British and Mercantile, which paid out £666,000, and was included in what the local press entitled the ‘roll of honour’ a list of companies which had met their obligations at once and honourably.
While some companies, like the North British and Mercantile, used their ability to cope with such huge claims in later advertising campaigns many smaller companies went to the wall, among them the American of Philadelphia which was then acquired by Commercial Union. Of the British companies involved the biggest victim of the disaster was perhaps the Union Assurance Society. It paid out £828,446 to its policy holders which amounted to 5% of the total sum paid out by all the insurance companies and, thus weakened, was shortly afterwards acquired by Commercial Union.
Read more about the San Francisco earthquake.
Toronto fire 1904
In 1904 a spectacular conflagration in Toronto started in a soap factory and raged through the night. With no water to feed fire engines the city was engulfed and a small arms factory caught fire and blew up. The fire destroyed three-and-a-half blocks and 120 buildings causing damage estimated at £1,500,000. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, but Commercial Union paid out $40,000 as a result.
Tradegy aboard the Cospatrick 1875
Cospatrick c. 1874
In January 1875 New Zealand Insurance Company and South British Fire and Marine Insurance Company of New Zealand were both involved in a tragic marine loss, when a fire on the emigrant ship Cospatrick led to the death of all but three of her passengers. Both companies paid claims on what was descried as the worst sea disaster in the history of sail.
Read more about the Cospatrick tragedy.