As discussed in chapter 1, Marine insurance
is the oldest class of general
insurance business . It began probably in the cities of northen
Italy around the end of 12th century.
From Italy, marine insurance spread to Spain, Belgium, England and other
countries. In England marine
insurance was spread brought by the Lombard merchants who established themselves in London and controlled a large
portion of British commerce in the 15th
and 16th centuries .
Lombards were great traders in addition to their
goods, they brought with them their
business methods and practices such as a banking insurance
etc., By end of 16th century
however the Lombards lost their grip over the marine business and
the business passed on into the
hands of Lloyds of London , who used to discuss marine
matters in the coffee houses. One such
coffee house was opened by Edward Lloyd in 1680. This become a great centre for marine business
and insurance transactions. Generally a close-knit
association of insurers emerged in 1774
in London which was a known as Lloyds Association. This association has contributed
a lot for a the development of
marine insurance business. Even today , Lloyd’s association is considered as a pioneer international marine insurance
centre. Later on, marine
insurance as a was modified and Marine Insurance Act 1906
was passed in England, Similar statutes
were passed in other countries also
. In India till
fairly recently there was no
statute relating
specifically to marine insurance . The subject was governed by the .
Provisions of the British Marine insurance
Act 1938. In 1963, an Act was enacted known as the Marine insurance
Act. It came into force from 1st
August 1963, by this Act, the rules
relating to marine insurance in India
have been codified. LLOYD’S
ASSOCIATION: As Lloyd’s association has
contributed a lot for a the developments
of marine insurance at the international level, it is better to
have knowledge about its origin and
operations. In England in addition to
Marine insurance companies
a sizable business is done by the Lloyd’s association of underwriters who carry on marine insurance
business in their individual
capacities.
The Association originated
from a coffee house any run by Edward Lloyd in Tavern street in 1689, where
person interested in shipping used to
meet for collecting shipping information. At that time though the Electric
Telegraph was not known yet to satisfy
these customers. Lloyds
established means of getting news
about shipping by semaphore Telegraphs
from the coast, as also by means of correspondence from the various parts of the world. The meagre activities ,
rather whims of the far-sighted proprietor of the coffee-canteen graduallygrew-upin various
directions concerning shipping and a are
directly responsible for the establishment of a world -wide organizations which is a
unique today.
There is a
practically no part in the world today where one does not come across
with at least one agent of the “ Lloyd’s
“ These agents , living in different parts of the world. gather
information relating to shipping and forward the same to central
organizations where it is recorded and
published daily in the Lloyds list.