• The UK insurance industry is the largest in Europe, the third largest in the world, and employs 348,000 people.
• 772 insurance companies are authorised, either by the UK or by another European Economic Area member, to carry on insurance business in the UK. 568 of these can carry on general business only (such as motor, household and commercial insurance), 159 are authorised for long-term business only (such as life insurance and pensions) and 45 are composites (able to do both).
• The practice of insuring can be traced back to ancient Babylonia. The merchants paid a sum of money (including interest) only after the goods arrived safely.
• Mariners from Phoenicia had used a system analogous to Insurance during 1200 B.C. With the growth of trade, the practice of insuring became a necessity.
• The modern form of insurance was probably shaped during the industrialization of Europe. Friendly societies or guilds assumed the role, sharing the costs of risks. As the leading maritime nation, England pioneered the concept of maritime insurance by crystallizing the concepts in a London pub called Llyod`s.

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