Clerical Medical is a British life assurance,

pensions A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "defined benefit plan", wher ...

and

investments Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

company founded in 1824, and a subsidiary of

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group plc is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds B ...

History

In 1824, Dr George Pinckard formed a committee of physicians and members of the clergy which published a pamphlet called 'Prospectus for the Establishment of a new Assurance Office with Improved Arrangements'. On 18 June 1824, the Medical, Clerical and General Life Assurance Society was formed. Pinckard was appointed as Chairman, the Marquis of Huntly as President, and Pinckard's brother Joseph as Resident Secretary and Actuary. A board of directors, which included eight eminent physicians was also appointed. The company's first policy was issued to Richard Pinckard, a nephew of Dr George Pinckard. In 1855, the company moved its headquarters to Lichfield House in

St James's Square St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian architecture, Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was ...

, London. Clerical Medical acquired the General Reversionary and Investment Company in 1913, and in 1920 a merger with the Employers' Liability Assurance Corporation took place. In 1961 by the ( 9 & 10 Eliz. 2. c. xii), Clerical Medical became a mutual office. In 1975, the company moved its head office from St James's Square, London to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. Following the decision to demutualise the company in 1995, Clerical Medical merged with the Halifax in 1996, and was later absorbed into

HBOS HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland plc, which ...

plc in 2001. HBOS was bought by Lloyds TSB Group in January 2009. The resulting company, Lloyds Banking Group, announced in April 2009 that the Clerical Medical brand would eventually be phased out in favour of its

Scottish Widows Scottish Widows Limited is a life insurance, pensions and investment company based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is a part of Lloyds Banking Group. The company has been providing financial services to the UK market since 1815 and its product range ...

subsidiary. In 2015,

sold Clerical Medical International (CMI) to offshore life assurance company RL360°.

Illness and premium

In the early 19th century, the following illnesses, lifestyles, injuries, and description of such conditions were recorded and raised the premium for prospective applicants to Clerical Medical, by which the company made profit when clients lived longer than expected.Wall text from ''Buying Security - Life Assurance'', Museum on the Mound, Edinburgh. * "Consumption" ( pulmonary tuberculosis) * Dropsy (oedema) * "spitting of blood" "vomiting of blood" (lung cancer, pneumonia, tuberculosis) * "indigestion" "Bilious attacks with spasms" (ulcers, cancer) *

Gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

Apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

"Paralysis and Determination of Blood to the Head" * Intemperance "drinking ale to excess" "Takes

Laudanum Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum'') in alcohol (ethanol). Reddish-br ...

" * " Corpulency" "Fast and short necked" "Lusty and lives rather freely" * Rupture * Amputations * Physical injury "an account of His Grace (Duke of Richmond) to have a Musket Ball lodged in his person from a wound which he received at the

Battle of Orthez The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered F ...

, and his having, about six or seven years since, been affected with a spitting of blood after being thrown from his Horse when hunting"

References

External links

Official website
* {{Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group Life insurance companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1824 Financial services companies established in 1824 Companies based in Bristol 1824 establishments in England