I was recently asked by a business insurance broker friend if I would mind driving to him down to ‘The Smoke’ as he had a meeting with a motor trade insurance underwriter and wanted to spend the journey preparing for said meeting. I obliged and after dropping him off in the City I thought I’d pop over to Buck House for a cuppa and a chat with Queeny as it had been a while. However, upon realising she wasn’t in (the Royal Standard is always raised when she’s at home), I thought I’d go back to the City to have a look at the Lloyds building in the flesh, as the only times I had been to London in the last 20 years were on nocturnal jollies during which the only sights I had taken in were wearing heels!
Well, ‘in the flesh’ is possibly a very apt phrase, as it’s definitely in my opinion earned its nickname as the ‘inside out building’. I’m not entirely sure whether I like it or not, but one thing is for sure, the award winning structure which was designed by architect Richard Rogers and took 8 years to construct is rather impressive.
In 1688 Edward Lloyd’s coffee house became recognised as the place to be for obtaining marine insurance as London was a major hub of trade, Britannia ruling the waves and all that. Today Lloyds is now world renowned as the leading specialist insurance market.
Unusual Risks
Over the years Lloyds has insured many unusual risks. For example in 1957 Egon Ronay, the great restaurant and food critic, published the Egon Ronay Guide to British Eateries. Because of its impartiality and the fact that it could make or break a restaurant, it rapidly became a definitive guide which is why Ronay insured his taste buds for US $400,000, roughly $2,350,000 in today’s money.
CompareCrazy.com has access to a panel of brokers including access to the Lloyds market to offer a wide variety of policies, from restaurant insurance to takeaway insurance, pub insurance, hotel insurance, guest house insurance, cafe insurance and indeed coffee house insurance. Edward Lloyd would be proud of us!
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