中财再保险讲义及案例.doc

HISTORY OF REINSURANCE The origins of insurance Emergence of reinsurance in marine business Development of fire reinsurance Development of life reassurance Development of accident reinsurance Emergence of specialist reinsurance companies State reinsurance corporations Reinsurance pools Reinsurance brokers Lloyds London reinsurance market LEARNING OBJECEIVE after studying this chapter ,you should be able to: outline the origins of insurance and re-insurance; discuss the development of reinsurance in different classes of business; identify the reasons for the emergence of London as a major international reinsurance market. A THE ORIGINS OF INSURANCE The origins of insurance are lost in the mists of antiquity but from very early times various attempts were made, initially in connection with ships and cargoes, to achieve a spreading of risk, which is the simple purpose of both insurance and reinsurance. As early as 3000 BC the Babylonians developed a system of loans on maritime ventures whereby the loan was not repayable in the event of the loss of the venture. This system was subsequently developed in ancient Greece and it would seem likely that it was an accepted pattern in the ancient world. Another early attempt to achieve a spreading of liability is recorded in a law promulgated in Rhodes in 916 BC which defined the system of general average which has persisted to the present day. The earliest marine policy known to have survived was issued in 1347 in respect of a shipment from Genoa to Majorca by a vessel called the Santa Clara. It was couched in a strange form so that the premium purported to be a loan to the insurer which was not repayable if the cargo arrived but was repayable for twice the amount if the cargo was lost. This sounds a somewhat excessive premium cum interest rate of 100% and may not represent the usual form of insurance at that time. This would appear probable from the fact that a Chamber of Assurance was established in Bruges in 13102.Somewhat