The Sun Fire Office, later Sun Insurance, was founded in London in 1710 and developed into a leading international insurance business. Sun Insurance merged with Alliance Assurance in 1959 to form Sun Alliance. In 1996, Sun Alliance combined with Royal Insurance to form Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group, later condensed to RSA Insurance Group.

History

The 18th century

The Sun Fire Office was formed in 1710 when a group of 25 businessmen acquired an insurance company formed by one of them, Charles Povey, in 1708. Povey had been a pamphleteer and unsuccessful businessman. He had established a fire insurance company, the Exchange House Fire Office, in 1708 but after a takeover in 1710, he immediately fell out with his fellow directors and was forced to handover control. For the first decade the level of business was small and erratic until, in 1720, a takeover bid brought in a new board of directors; they raised fresh capital in order to finance an increased level of business. The first county agent was appointed in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

in 1721. By 1740 there were 51 agents and, in 1786, 123 ranging throughout England and Scotland. By the 1790s Sun Fire was dominant among the fire offices with premium income of over £100,000.PGM Dickson, The Sun Insurance Office 1710-1960, Oxford, 1960

The 19th century

The early 1800s saw a slowdown in the rate of growth due to rising loss rates. In 1810, the directors decided to expand into life assurance but the original deeds only allowed for the acceptance of fire insurance. A separate company, the Sun Life Assurance Company, was formed and although it was legally distinct from the Fire Office, the two companies had identical boards of management. Before 1830, fire business was split equally between London and the provinces but by the 1880s more than 70 per cent was in the provinces. This was achieved by a huge increase in agencies, totalling over 800 by 1860 and over 1,200 by 1880. By then, Sun Fire was turning its attention to all forms of general insurance but, as was the case with life assurance, it was limited by the terms of its original deeds. This was overcome by a special act of Parliament, the ( 54 & 55 Vict. c. xcvii) which also saw a change in name to the Sun Insurance Office.

International expansion

In 1836 the Sun made the decision to go overseas, its first target market being

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, though the

Great fire of Hamburg The great fire of Hamburg began early on 5 May 1842, in Deichstraße and burned until the morning of 8 May, destroying about one third of the buildings in the Altstadt, Hamburg, Altstadt. It killed 51 people and destroyed 1,700 residences and se ...

in 1842 "nearly strangled the infant overseas business at birth". In broad terms the development of overseas business before 1914 was primarily through agencies, although some policies were written from London. In the 1850, agencies were opened in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, South America, South Africa and the Far East. In the 1860s the emphasis was on France, Spain, Italy, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

came in the 1870s followed by

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

in the 1880s. The Sun was one of the last British companies to enter the United States on any scale but the region soon became the Sun's largest overseas market. This was effected by the 1885 acquisition of the Watertown Company, which operated in 30 states and through around 1,400 agencies. By the end of the 19th century, revenue from the USA equalled that of the home market.

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

was strengthened by the purchase of the Imperial Insurance Company in 1911.

The 20th century

The 20th century saw an increase in the range of cover. In 1907 the Sun set up an accident department, reflecting the growth of mass transport and machines. Sun Insurance had been absent from one of the oldest markets,

marine insurance Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance a sub-branch of mari ...

and in 1921 it formed a marine department. This was enlarged by its 1931 acquisition of the Elder's Insurance Company of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and its 1938 agreement with the

Royal Exchange Assurance The Royal Exchange Assurance, founded in 1720, was a British insurance company. It took its name from the location of its offices at the Royal Exchange, London. Origins The Royal Exchange Assurance emerged from a joint stock insurance enterpri ...

to operate a joint marine underwriting account. Organisationally, Sun Insurance became a public limited company in 1926 and for the first time shareholders' liability was limited by law.

References

External links

* {{Commonscat-inline, Sun Fire Office Insurance companies of the United Kingdom Insurance in the United Kingdom