fjt_515492 - INSURANCES Assurances mutuelles contre l’incendie (Eure-et-Loire) n.d.

INSURANCE

Under the Ancien Régime, insurance is primarily maritime. It is a contract by which an individual will repair losses from a shipwreck, for a fee that is paid in advance. For example, we see that in the eighteenth century, Bordeaux, marine insurance are concentrated in the hands of a few owners like Francis Bonnaffé. An ordinance of 1681 allowed the greatest freedom in the relationship between insurers and insured, where the multiplication of actors on the market. Still Bordeaux, we see then intervene Parisian companies, Dutch, English ... Non-marine insurance is required late (mid-eighteenth century). They usually offer a guarantee against fire. Example: General Insurance company obtained the privilege of Louis XV in 1753 to guarantee maritime trade and to ensure the houses against fire. In the nineteenth century saw the emergence of countless companies, often specializing in highly specialized sectors, which will allow the development of the economy through risk pooling. They complement of mutual associations and mutual aid.