Marine insurance
Seguro marítimo
- Date
- 1347 · confidence high
- Place
- Genoa, Italy
- Credited to
- Genoese merchants (earliest surviving policy, 1347)
- Field
- Communication
What it is
A contract by which an insurer charges a premium and assumes the loss of the ship or its cargo. It separates risk from commercial capital.
What it led to
- the expansion of long-distance trade with risk spread out
- actuarial calculation and the Lloyd's insurance market
- maritime law and the Barcelona ordinances (1435)
Built on
- Bill of exchangec. 1250
- bottomry loan (foenus nauticum)
- Bill of exchange