Chassen Haynes in London: Lloyd's of London

Today, we went to one of the oldest and most prestigious insurance agencies in the world, the Lloyd's of London. We left campus in our business attire around 10:00AM for our 11:30 appointment. The building was absolutely magnificent looking. Its architecture was different from anything that I have seen before (see picture below).

Once we were inside, we went through a security check and were issued i.d. badges. They charged the group £100, but Dr. Michello took care of it so that each student only had to pay £1 each! Once we were in, we were guided through the business floor to a conference room. In the conference room, our guide informed us of the history of Lloyd's and what they do.

Lloyd's began in a coffee shop where underwriters worked with merchant vessels to insure their ships during voyages. The owner of the coffee shop, Edward Lloyd, did not actually participate in any of the business deals, however, he did provide the environment for a market to take place. Similar to the way it took place in 1688, Lloyd's currently serves as a market place where underwriters and agents can do business.

Currently, the most riskiest part of their business entails "terrorism insurance." Some of their most eccentric things that are insured are body parts (i.e. nose for wine taster, hands for a surgeon, etc). One falsity that was corrected while we were there was that Jennifer Lopez's rear-end was NOT insured by Lloyd's.