The bustling floors of modern-day Lloyd’s of London, which started as a small coffee house in the 17th century. Never give up.
Lloyd’s of London is a specialty insurance firm that has insured everything from prized works of art to Bruce Springsteen’s voice, to David Beckham’s legs. The company has an incredible story that started over 325 years ago. They even insured the Horse Trough Time Machine for 14¢, should it ever fail to amuse. So let’s hop in and go back to Lloyd’s of London’s humble beginnings.
Of all things, it started out as Edward Lloyd’s Coffee House. The first story about Lloyd’s Coffee House was an article in the London Gazette in 1688. Apparently, a horse had been stolen, and a reward was being offered by Edward Lloyd for any information leading to the horse’s recovery. At that time, coffee houses were epicenters for rumor and gossipSS Lloyd saw opportunity in accumulating and selling this sort of intelligence. London being the home of the largest, most powerful navy in the world, Lloyd began gathering and selling marine intelligence.
By the 1730’s, Lloyd’s had begun insuring merchant ships and other marine vessels on a global scale. Using the organization’s vast wealth of marine intelligence and its burgeoning connections on high, Lloyd’s was able to amass large sums of money by evaluating risk and underwriting insurance policies on seafaring ships of all kinds by the 1750’s.
Then in 1768, Lloyd’s came upon one of its rough patches. When the Seven Years’ War ended, many of their policies began to dry up, and some of the underwriters began signing off on risky, unscrupulous policies, like insurance against highway robbery and death by gin drinking. This dark period at Lloyd’s was also accompanied by its having become a notorious gambling den. An article in the London Chronicle read, “The amazing progress of illicit gambling at Lloyd’s Coffee House is a powerful and very melancholy proof of the degeneracy of the times.”
The very next year though, in 1769, some of the group at Lloyd’s broke away and established a new Lloyd’s Coffee House at another location in London. “Old Lloyd’s” ceased to exist, and “New Lloyd’s” was able to revive the once-sterling reputation under new leadership and new business models.
In 1799, a famous ship called the Lutine went down with an immense amount of treasure on board. It was a hell of a blow to Lloyd’s funds, as they held the insurance policy, but they did recover after some time. When the Lutine bell was salvaged from the shipwreck in 1858, it was hung above the rostrum in the Underwriting Room at Lloyd’s. It became customary to ring the bell once when they got news of a missing ship they had underwritten. They would ring the bell twice upon receiving news of a ship’s safe return.
The Lutine Bell as it stands today, in the center of Lloyd’s of London’s Underwriter Room atrium.
Lloyd’s eventually extended its business across the pond to the United States. In 1872, Lloyd’s paid one million pounds in claims to residents of Boston after a terrible fire. Then, after the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, Lloyd’s abruptly paid all of its policy holders in full, and then went on to even pay for damages incurred by the fires that raged in the subsequent 3 days; damages which weren’t even covered by the policy. This gesture sealed Lloyd’s reputation as one of the most morally sound insurers available to most Americans at the time.
Lloyd’s of London today. Pretty amazing.
Now for Lloyd’s of London’s most notable insurance policies:
- In 1927, Lloyd’s insured Charles Lindbergh’s plane, The Spirit of St. Louis, on his first-ever transatlantic flight from New York City to Paris. The policy was written for $18,000, or $247,500 in today’s money.
Such a badass.
- In 1965, Lloyd’s wrote a policy covering physical damage to the Intelsat 1 satellite, marking the first ever policy on a space-bound object. In 1984, Lloyd’s even launched a successful salvage mission to recover two rogue satellites, sending a shuttle and five astronauts into orbit.
- A famous silent film comedian in the 1920’s, Ben Turpin purchased a policy with Lloyd’s. If his trademark crossed eyes were to ever uncross, Lloyd’s was to pay him $25,000 ($343,765 today). Luckily for both parties involved, Turpin’s eyes remained in their lovable state until his death in 1940.
Such a badass.
- In the 1930’s, Jimmy “The Schnozzle” Durante’s nose was insured by Lloyd’s to the tune of $140,000 ($2,445,000).
Such a badass.
- Bruce Springsteen’s voice is currently insured through Lloyd’s for $31,000,000.
The Boss. He’s whatevs.
- Bette Davis insured her waist against chubbiness for $28,000 ($489,000 today).
Bette Davis eyes.
- In the 1940’s, actress and dancer Betty Grable insured her legs for $1,000,000 ($13,292,000 today). This is where the phrase “million dollar legs” comes from, which I for one have never used.
What a dame what a dame what a dame what a dame!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ1UdYOrR3E
- The River Dance puffball Michael Flatley’s legs are insured for almost $40,000,000 through Lloyd’s.
Hmm. Well that’s cool, man.
- Dolly Parton’s snuggle pillows are currently insured for $3,800,000.
Bonus fact: Dolly the sheep was the first mammal ever cloned. They named her Dolly because she was cloned from a bit of sheep breast tissue. True story, bro.
- David Beckham’s legs are insured for an insane $100,000,000.
I couldn’t find any photos of David Beckham.
- Two of my favorite Lloyd’s policies are cricket player Mery Hughes’s mustache, insured for $317,000, and singer Tom Jones’s chest hair, ringing in at a proper $6,000,000.
Hell yeah.
- Among many other types of specialty policies, Lloyd’s also insures Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic private spaceship.
This is what Elijah Wood could’ve done in Radio Flyer if he had stepped up his game a little.
So you just never know. Tomorrow you could open up a coffee shop, and in 325 years you could be insuring some celebrity’s jugs for millions of dollars. That’s the way the world works, and thanks to historic travels in vessels like the Horse Trough Time Machine, we can all start opening coffee houses for a better tomorrow.
I’m sorry it’s been so long since the last installment. Thank you for joining me again, and I’ll get the next one coming soon!!!
Sources:
http://gawno.com/2009/06/top-23-insured-celebrity-bodyparts/
rallyshoplocal 