About Loss Adjusting

Birth of Loss Adjusting

Not A Lot Of People Know This

. . . The Great Fire of London in the early hours of Sunday, 2nd September 1666, gave birth to the exciting (no, really) profession of loss adjusting.

It took just 5 days to reduce medieval London, including St Paul's Cathedral, to a pile of ashes.

By the end of the inferno most of the City had been destroyed, including 13,200 homes and 87 churches.

Rat's Life

Incredibly only 6 deaths were recorded - but it probably saved hundreds more.

The rats that had helped to spread the bubonic plague (the Black Death) the previous year mostly died in the fire.

Every cloud has a silver lining, and all that . . .

Adjusting know-how

Shortly after the disaster fire insurance was introduced for buildings, and surveyors and builders were in big demand for their know-how in weighing up claims.

By the late 18th century, the major fire offices were hiring "assessors." Many of today's leading firms can trace their beginnings back to those early days.

In 1941 - at the height of the Blitz - the big boys of the profession formed the Association of Fire Loss Adjusters.

Don't look back . . .

The Association was granted a Royal Charter in 1961 and the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters was born.

In 1979, the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters received a Grant of Arms encompassing the motto "Truth and Equity."

And what with the price of premiums nowadays, it's never looked back . . .