The original Lloyds of London was a coffee house
The world famous Lloyd’s of London started in 1688 as Edward Lloyd’s Coffee House. Mr. Lloyd’s coffeehouse attracted ship owners, merchants and captains because he provided reliable shipping information.
Mr. Lloyd was not in the insurance business but was just a coffeehouse owner until he died in 1713. Over the years Lloyd’s became a formal society of marine underwriters. The first non-marine policy was issued in late 1880s and became the world leader in the insurance industry at turn of the century.
The most famous insurance loss was The Titanic which sank on April 16, 1912.
