Zurich Insurance Group

Zurich Insurance Company (1872–1998)

The company was founded in 1872 as a reinsurance company under the name of "Versicherungs-Verein" and at the request of the "Schweiz" transport insurance company (which was founded in 1869 on the initiative of the "Schweizerischen Kreditanstalt"), a subsidiary of the Schweiz Marine Company. It was founded by people who were also board members of the "Schweiz" transport insurance company.

The business activity began on 1 May 1873. In 1875, accident insurance was added. The company was renamed Transport- und Unfall-Versicherungs-Actiengesellschaft "Zurich". In 1880 Zurich abandoned the marine business following a significant loss.

Throughout 1894, it acquired licenses to conduct business in Austria, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the rest of Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Russia, Italy, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. Due to the change in 1894 from transport insurance to accident and liability insurance, it was renamed "Zurich" "Allgemeine Unfall- und Haftpflicht-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft". Due to legal settlements in the area of workers' compensation, it took a risk and entered the North American market in 1912, starting in the states of New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts in the US.

In 1915, Zurich acquired its first whole company, "Hispania Compañia General de Seguros" of Barcelona in Spain. Ten years later, in 1922, Zurich founded "Vita Lebensversicherungs-Gesellschaft" as an independent subsidiary, which soon expanded into neighboring countries. In addition, a branch was established in the United Kingdom (the first foreign insurance company to do so). One year later, another branch was established in Canada.

In 1925, Zurich became the official insurer of all new Ford vehicles in Great Britain. The "Zurich Fire Insurance Company of New York" was founded in 1929, the reinsurance company Turegum in 1938 and the "American Guarantee and Liability Company in New York" in 1939.