Category: Insurance history · Reviewed by Mark Fox, Broker · Renewals · Last reviewed 2026-06-05
The London Assurance Corporation, granted a Royal Charter on 22 June 1720, was the second of the two corporations licensed by the Royal Exchange and London Assurance Corporation Act 1719 to undertake corporate marine underwriting in Great Britain. With the Royal Exchange Assurance, it formed the corporate duopoly that pushed individual marine underwriting into Lloyd’s Coffee House.
Category: Insurance history Also known as: London Assurance Corporation Established: Royal Charter 22 June 1720 Related concepts: Royal Exchange Assurance 1720, Lloyd’s Coffee House, Sun Fire Office 1710
The London Assurance was a joint-stock corporation incorporated by Royal Charter with subscribed capital of £1,500,000. Its first head office was on Birchin Lane, later moving to Royal Exchange Buildings and ultimately to King William Street. It transacted marine insurance on its own account, in competition with the Royal Exchange Assurance and (latterly) with the individual underwriters at Lloyd’s.
Authority to incorporate was given by the Royal Exchange and London Assurance Corporation Act 1719 (6 George I c.18), which simultaneously prohibited any other corporation from underwriting marine risks. The corporate monopoly was repealed by the Marine Insurance Act 1824 (5 George IV c.114), opening corporate marine underwriting to general competition.
The London Assurance diversified into fire insurance from 1721 and into life assurance later in the century, becoming, like the Royal Exchange Assurance, a composite insurer. The 1720 Charter offices, though sometimes overshadowed in historical narratives by Lloyd’s, were significant innovators in policy form: the standardised printed policy with separate sections for property, voyage and perils was largely a Charter-office invention.
The London Assurance operated independently for 245 years before merging with the Sun Insurance Office in 1965 to form Sun Alliance. Sun Alliance subsequently merged with Royal Insurance in 1996 to form Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance, now RSA Insurance Group (acquired by Intact Financial Corporation in 2021).
A 1760 cargo policy issued by the London Assurance would have been printed on the Corporation’s standard form, signed by the President or a Director under seal, and would have evidenced cover at a fixed corporate rate — distinct from the negotiated, individually subscribed Lloyd’s slip arrangement.
This entry is part of the Apex Insurance Wiki. Last reviewed by Matt Bartlett on 2026-06-05. Next review: 2026-12-05.
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