In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail and the rest is history.
Today, we still celebrate his voyage to the Americas after he landed in The Bahamas. Only 46 states celebrate and recognize Columbus Day but it’s a bit of a dying holiday. Many offices and schools now stay open on Columbus Day and it’s less celebrated as it has been in the past.
At American Heritage Insurance Group, we are working hard to answer your needs as a customer or potential customer. We decided we could celebrate Columbus Day by answering the question, Did Christopher Columbus have insurance?
Christopher Columbus & Insurance
CPH & Associates offers a brief maritime history and explanation on insurance during Columbus’ time.
Before the mid-1400s, the “flat earth” idea had been dismissed by the intellectual elite society. Many of these scholars started to assume that if Earth was round, it meant if you headed towards your destination, you would eventually arrive. Christopher Columbus began planning his adventure to find new trade routes to the “Far East” by sailing West.
CPH & Associates would like to think that it is possible that Columbus had some type of maritime insurance policy but due to the timing of his voyage, it’s rather unlikely. If maritime insurance even existed, it probably didn’t cover explorations.
A century after Columbus’ exploration, Lloyd’s Coffee House in Long (later called Lloyds of London) began writing exploratory maritime insurance after seeing a need in the market.
Another type of insurance that Christopher Columbus most likely didn’t have was life and liability insurance. The earliest records liability and life insurance policy were created in the 18th century.
So what does this mean to Columbus? Without any type of insurance, he had to make it back to Spain with results for his investors. Luckily he did!
Have a Happy Columbus Day!
Source: CPH & Associates
American Heritage Insurance Group is an independent property and casualty insurance agency offering personal lines insurance, commercial lines insurance for small and medium sized businesses, farm insurance, and several specialty lines. We have offices located in Cincinnati, Milford, and Springfield, Ohio.
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