The Top 20 Writers of Fire Insurance In Massachusetts

As we have done in the Spring over the past few years, over the course of the next couple of weeks, Agency Checklists will take a look at the current market shares and overall state of various lines of insurance operating within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As always, all of our information comes courtesy of the Division of Insurance, which is charged with compiling and issue an annual report outlining the current state of the insurance marketplace in Massachusetts each year.

Nicholas Barbon, the father of modern-day fire insurance

We thought it might be interesting to our readers to include a little bit of history this year about the actual origins of fire insurance.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, English economist, Nicholas Barbon, is widely considered the founder of modern-day fire insurance. Born in London in 1640, he received his M.D. in medicine from the University of Leiden in Utrecht, in 1661. In 1664, he became an honorary fellow of the College of Physicians. It was his experience during London’s Great Fire of 1666, however, and the “considerable part” he took in the rebuilding efforts in its aftermath, which inspired Barbon to start selling this new line of insurance. In about 1680, he set up an office in London, appropriately titled, “Insurance Office for Houses” where he officially sold fire insurance. As a result, the following is how we know define fire insurance today:

Fire insurance, provision against losses caused by fire, lightning, and the removal of property from premises endangered by fire. The insurer agrees, for a fee, to reimburse the insured in the event of such an occurrence. The standard policy limits coverage to the replacement cost of the property destroyed less a depreciation allowance. Indirect loss, such as that resulting from the interruption of business, are excluded but may be covered under a separate contract. Insurance rates are influenced by the quality of fire protection available where the building is located, the type of building construction, the kind of activity conducted within the building, and the degree to which the building is exposed to losses originating outside it.

As for the current state of fire insurance in Massachusetts, the following information reflects the current composition of this marketplace as of 2017, the most recent year for which complete data is available.

Facts about the Fire Insurance Market Place in Massachusetts: