Fire insurance records

1. About this guide

This guide explains how to find a fire insurance policy in the records at The London Archives.

We hold the records of many London-based insurance companies, most notably Sun Fire Office, the Royal Exchange Assurance and the Hand-in-Hand Fire Office. This guide focuses on these three companies.

2. What information will I find in policy registers?

Fire insurance policy registers generally give the following information:

• policy number
• date of policy
• name, occupation and address of policy holder
• brief description of the property being insured
• premium paid

Policy registers sometimes mention an endorsement. An endorsement describes a change to a policy, for example a change of name of policy holder, or a substantial change to the property or trade carried out at the property.

3. Indexes to fire insurance policy registers

We have a large number of fire policy registers so it's advisable to begin with the available indexes.

Online indexes:

• Many Sun Fire Office policy registers have been indexed by name, occupation and address in our catalogue. Search in the catalogue for the word 'insured' followed by the name, occupation or address that you are looking for
• An index to policies issued by the Sun Fire Office and the Royal Exchange Assurance between 1777- 1786 can be searched on the London Lives website
• An index to Jewish surnames in London-based insurance policies in the early eighteenth to mid nineteenth centuries can be searched on the JewishGen website

Indexes at The London Archives:

• Index to Sun Fire Office policy registers, 1711-12 and 1714-15 in CLC/294/MS17816
• Index to names in the Sun Fire Office policy registers, 1714-1731 in CLC/B/192/F/012/MS17817
• Indexes to Sun Fire Office and the Royal Exchange policy registers, 1775-1787 in CLC/140/MS24172
• Names indexes to Hand-in-Hand policy registers, 1805-1865 in CLC/B/055/MS08679, CLC/B/055/MS08679A, CLC/B/055/MS08680 and CLC/B/055/MS08681
• Topographical indexes to Hand-in-Hand policy registers, 1805-1859 in CLC/B/055/MS08682, CLC/B/055/MS08683 and CLC/B/055/MS08684

4. Fire insurance policy registers

Here are the relevant series references for each company:

Sun Fire Office

• Policy Registers, Old Series and Town Department, 1710-1863 in CLC/B/192/F/001
• Policy Registers, Country Department, 1793-1863 in CLC/B/192/F/003
• Policy Endorsement Books, 1728-1865 in CLC/B/192/F/004
• New Policy Endorsement Books, 1819-1861 in CLC/B/192/F/005
• Registers of country losses by fire, 1803-1864 in CLC/B/192/F/031
• Register of town losses by fire, 1851-1866 in CLC/B/192/F/033/MS11934B
• Claims against loss are also recorded in the minutes of the Committee of Management, 1725-1802 in CLC/B/192/B/009 and Committee of Town Insurance, 1730-1896 in CLC/B/192/B/017

Royal Exchange Assurance

• Policy Registers, First Series, 1753 – 1759 in CLC/B/107/02/MS07252
• Policy Registers, Second Series, 1773-1791 in CLC/B/107/02/MS07253
• Policy Registers, First London Head Office Series, 1803 – 1854 in CLC/B/107/02/MS07254
• Policy Registers, Supplementary Agents' Series, 1809 – 1863 in CLC/B/107/02/MS07255
• Claims against loss are recorded in the minutes of the Special Fire Committee, 1825-1888 in CLC/B/107/02/MS16237

Hand-in-Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society

• Policy Registers, 1701-1865 in CLC/B/055/MS08674
• Policy Registers (Supplementary Sequence), 1805-1816 in CLC/B/055/MS08675
• Policy Registers for Goods and Stock in Trade, 1806-1830 in CLC/B/055/MS08676
• Policy Registers (Inscribed "Irregular Periods"), 1830-1866 in CLC/B/055/MS08677

5. Further reading

Browse our library catalogue for relevant books. Here are some recommendations:

• Fire Insurance Records for Family and Local Historians, 1696-1920 by David T Hawkings at shelfmark 61.2 HAW
• The British insurance business : a guide to its history & records by H.A.L. Cockerell and Edwin Green at shelfmark 60.8 COC
• Building History from Fire Insurance Records by MW Beresford, an article in the periodical Urban History Yearbook, 1974 at shelfmark 60.0 URB