Page 10 - Life Assurance

ning market. The insurance industry was well
equipped to enter the wage-earning market.

The first industrial policies gave life cover
for small weekly payments, with immediate
payments of death claims after the presentation
of a receipt to the insuring office. Although
small, the sum assured was sufficient for funeral
expense and short-term subsistence.

2/3/6 The growth of life risk experience

(deaths, claims, age, occupation ... etc.) introduce
new classes of risk:

The historical importance of life assurance
is not confined to the growth in the aggregate
value of the business. Each expansion of life
assurance market introduced new classes of
risk, and the treatment of those risks is
extensively documented in the minutes,
actuarial records, and letter books of the life
offices.

The increased availability of these records
makes it possible to use the industry's historical
experience to throw lights on details of changes
in society. In addition the policy registers of life
offices reflect changes in the routine business of
life assurance. This source allows the historian
to examine changes in the health, habits, and
circumstances of large numbers of
policyholders.

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