Phoenix Assurance
_bedruckte_Wandtafel_aus_Holz.png) Printed wooden wall board circa 1900 | |
 Building formerly known as Phoenix House on King William Street, the company's seat from 1915 to 1983 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Insurance |
| Founded | 1782 |
| Defunct | 1984 |
| Fate | Acquired by Sun Alliance |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
The Phoenix Assurance Company Limited was an English insurance company that existed from 1782 to 1984.[1]
History
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The company was established in London in 1782.[2] At that time, the company employed red-coated attendants clattering to the fires of London on horse-drawn tenders.[3]
The Phoenix figured in case law. In 1796, the company refused to pay damages awarded of £3,000 (2021: £310,000) following a 1792 fire at a house in Tavistock Street, London. Phoenix claimed that the owners had failed to obtain a certificate from the ministers and churchwardens of the parish affirming the good character of the victims. Phoenix issued a writ of error to appeal against the original decision.[4]
Phoenix diversified into life insurance, establishing the Pelican Life Office in 1797.[5] In 1907 Phoenix reabsorbed Pelican Life Assurance, at that time known as the Pelican and British Empire Life Office, becoming a composite insurer.[5]
The company built a new head office at 3-7 King William Street, erected in 1915,[6] on a design by John Macvicar Anderson and his son Henry Lennox Anderson.[7] It was known as Phoenix House while the seat of the company from 1915 to 1983; the name later went to another building at No. 18 in the same street.[8]
Sun Alliance & London acquired Phoenix Assurance in 1984.[9] In 2004, Resolution Life acquired the life operations of RSA. The following year, Resolution acquired the UK operations of Swiss Life, and merged RSA Life and Swiss Life into a new group called Phoenix Life.[10] In 2008, Pearl Group acquired Resolution Life, and in 2010 Pearl Group renamed itself Phoenix Group.[11]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ The Times, 27 June 1785 Category: Classified Advertising
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- ^ Clive Aslet, The Times, 10 September 1983, Picturing the past frame by frame
- ^ The Times, 8 June 1796; Law Report. Court of King's Bench, June 7., Phoenix Fire Office
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- ^ James Daley, "F&C boosts assets with £1.2bn deal," The Independent, (13 April 2005), 69.
- ^ Louise Armitstead, "Hugh Osmond's Pearl rises from the ashes as Phoenix," The Daily Telegraph, (19 February 2010), 5.
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Trebilcock, Clive. Phoenix Assurance and the Development of British Insurance. Volume I: 1782-1870. (Cambridge University Press, 1985).
- Trebilcock, Clive. Phoenix Assurance and the Development of British Insurance. Volume II: The Era of the Insurance Giants, 1870-1984. (Cambridge University Press, 1998).
External links
[edit | edit source]Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
