Cautious is not a word you might associate with one of history’s greatest explorers. But in 1764, a young naval officer took the prudent step of insuring his modest home with the Sun Fire Office. The world would come to know him as Captain James Cook. In those days, insurance was not as common as it is today. But then, not every homeowner was given to disappearing for years at a time. From 1768 to 1779, Captain Cook spent very little time in that house. Over the course of three famous voyages, he helped chart oceans and continents, establish new trade routes and develop modern navigation techniques. He contributed to several important astronomical discoveries.

He sailed closer to the South Pole than anyone before him and the charts he compiled of the southern Pacific proved so accurate that copies remained in use until the twentieth century. Even when his ship ran aground off Australia in 1770, it was a moment of some significance; Cook and his crew had discovered the Great Barrier Reef. To claim an association with so pivotal a figure might seem rather audacious to some. But, as we look back over three centuries of company history, it seems fitting to celebrate the lives of our most famous customers. It makes us immensely proud, after all, to recall that when Cook first set sail into unchar ted waters, he did so having put his trust in our services.

They’re a pretty relaxed lot in Holland. So when a blaze in a building at the port in Rotterdam posed no threat to life and limb the fire brigade decided to let it burn to the ground.

Only then the wind direction began to change. The fire and smoke now threatened a huge warehouse full of malt belonging to one of our clients. Throats went dry at the thought of the possible disruption to the supply of beer in Holland. The broker called us and our Risk Manager was on the scene right away to witness the development of a potentially huge business interruption and property damage claim. This was no time for fussing about levels of cover.

Surveying the location, our Risk Manager proposed a radical, yet simple solution. Two fire floats were drafted in from a nearby harbour to provide a ‘water curtain’ between the malt warehouse and the expanding fire. Fast moving situations such as this demand speed of thought, bravery and a collaborative approach in order to move events to a safe and satisfactory outcome. All the attributes of one of our Risk Managers, in fact.

This part of the world is well known for its ruins of past civilisations. Living just 60 miles (100km) NE of Rome, the residents of L’Aquila take great pride in the continuation of their traditions and way of life. It hasn’t always been easy for them as earthquakes mark the history of the town which sits atop a hillside in the middle of a narrow valley.

There hadn’t been a serious tremor for well over 50 years, when in the early hours of April 6th 2009, while people slept in their beds, a powerful earthquake made the town its epicentre. Centuries of hard work were undone in moments. 295 people died that morning. Hundreds of properties; houses, businesses, hospitals and churches were destroyed. Men, women and children had to run for their lives. Some 15,000 people lost their homes and were forced to seek shelter in tents or alternative accommodation.

The local community desperately needed medical treatment, but the local hospital had been badly damaged by aftershocks and had closed, compounding an already dreadful situation. We sent a team of 20 claims specialists, engineers and lawyers to help. Their brief was simple – get the hospital up and running again as quickly as
possible. Important medical documents that were buried were recovered and we made an advance payment of €5 million to aid the process. In May 2009 the hospital opened its doors to patients again. RSA also had another 1,500 customers in the province, so we set up a free 24-hour helpline. In the circumstances, we also allowed policyholders to delay their regular monthly payments and ensured they were covered in the interim. We are proud to have played our part in helping the families of L’Aquila to start to rebuild their town and their lives – it’s something they’ve had to do many times over the centuries.

Putting our own house in order has led to customers asking if we can help them. Over time, RSA has become a leading provider of renewable energy insurance, but we now also offers a range of services to reduce energy use. These measures are winning us plaudits and awards. The Sunday Times said we ‘are making a habit of exceeding expectations when it comes to environmental performance’, after they included us in their 2009 Best Green Companies list. We have been recognised by Business in the Community as a ‘platinum-rated’ company, and were ranked 5th in the FTSE350 and won ‘best financial services company’ in the Observer and Guardian’s ethical company index. Our role as a company is to keep people and businesses moving. But we won’t be able to do that if we forget the world we all live in.

Charles Darwin was already well known in Victorian society when he began writing On the Origin of Species. Following publication of the journals he wrote aboard HMS Beagle, he had become, in today’s parlance, a star. Yet even as his theories emerged in his study, he was plagued by a certain anxiety. Society was more conservative then. The suggestion that humans share ancestors with apes would, he feared, be branded as heresy.

With so much on his mind, it is remarkable that he was able to write anything at all. But write he did, thanks in part to the wonderful seclusion he achieved at Down House in Kent. And thanks also, we believe (though, admittedly in much smaller part) to the protection he received from us.

From 1844 onwards, the buildings at Down House and all their contents were insured by the Sun Fire Office. His many books, his journals and even his paper and pens – all were underwritten by the company that would become RSA. Ours was not a significant contribution to the biggest idea in the science of life. Of that we are in no doubt. But in the year that we celebrate our 300th birthday, we hope we deserve this small liberty. As for the eventual reaction to his work, Darwin need not have worried. On the day it was published in 1859, On the Origin of Species sold out. Controversial though it was, his book was acknowledged immediately as an outstanding contribution to the canon of scientific thought. Which leads us to conclude that in business, as in life, it is those best equipped who will prosper.

One country was responsible for many of the discoveries that helped build the civilised world. Printing, paper and the magnetic compass were all invented in China. And approximately one thousand years ago, so too was gunpowder. Fast-forward roughly eight hundred years, to nineteenth century Shanghai. By this time, the city was a teeming metropolis and a thriving, cosmopolitan port. But many of the buildings outside the centre remained little more than shacks. In the rickety streets of a city that had, by now, fallen in love with the firecracker, the outbreak of fire had become an unpleasant fact of life. Unlike Hong Kong or Macau, Shanghai was not
a colony. Instead it was a foreign concession in which the English, the Americans and the French all enjoyed a degree of self-government.

Their first response to the frequent fires was to sink wells along major roads. Some time later, they procured a fire engine. But it wasn’t until 1866 that a group of insurance companies launched the Shanghai Volunteer Fire Service. One of the insurers behind the new brigade would later become RSA. Much like the original Sun Fire Office in London, our first Shanghai outpost provided a solution to everyday risk. And today, as we mark our 300th anniversary, we continue to support the daily progress of customers across the globe.

There was nothing unusual about the weather in Jeddah for most of November last year. But shortly before sunrise on Wednesday 25th, the streets felt the first drops of rain. In the four hours that followed, the city saw nearly double the amount it usually sees in a whole year. With the population swollen by over a million Hajj pilgrims, Jeddah was plunged into chaos. Thousands were stranded when the expressway to Mecca was flooded. Bridges collapsed, homes were destroyed and the hospitals were swamped with the injured.

As we sought a basis to insure the new venture, the dedication of Siemens’ engineers resulted in a series of breakthroughs. One by one, the obstacles fell away and our collaboration began to pay off. With a viable design, the cover could be agreed and construction could finally commence. We would never claim any of the credit for those early innovations, of course. But in the years that followed that initial success, we developed our reputation as worldwide exper ts in the fast-changing field of insuring renewables. And we’re not the only ones still active in offshore wind energy. We’re pleased to report that the turbines at Vindeby are, too.

Our business began life in 1710 with the establishment of the Sun Fire Office. And this year, as we celebrate our 300th anniversary, we are believed to be among the world’s oldest insurers.

The principle that drove us to succeed in the embers of the Great Fire of London is the same one that drives us today: an unshakable belief that insurance should enable progress.

From the epic to the everyday, we continue to help the world’s people and businesses move forward.