August 12, 2023

Benjamin Franklin, one of the most influential figures of the 18th century, was an American politician, diplomat, inventor, scientist, writer and philosopher. He was the only founding father to sign all three of the most important historical documents underlying the formation of the United States as an independent nation: the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, which formally ended the War of Independence.

Benjamin Franklin is also the originator of the insurance business in the United States. In 1752 he founded an insurance company called “The Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire”. By its structure, it was a mutual insurance society providing fire insurance in Philadelphia and its environs. It established a number of key principles underlying modern insurance methods, including inspection of insurable property and setting rates based on risk assessment.

This insurance company is still in existence today. It is a small, but robust regional insurance company with a presence in several states. Its assets at the end of 2022 totaled 958 M USD and total gross written premium - 141 M USD. The building, which has housed the apartment's headquarters since 1836, is listed as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.