1842

Cologne
Aachen
Wesel

Germany

The first dedicated and independent reinsurance company was Cologne Re. The first constitutional meeting took place in 1842. But it took another four years for the company to become licensed and an additional six years before it signed its first business in 1852.

"Weseler Rückversicherungs-Verein" was founded as an association by a direct insurer in 1843. Aachen Re followed in 1853 and was later purchased by Employers Reinsurance Corporation. The company later found its way into the Swiss Re group with the acquisition of GE Insurance Solutions.

The reinsurers of the 19th century were off to a bumpy start as international business led to large losses. Risk assessment outside the L&H business was virtually non-existent in those days. Reinsurers had to rely on the word of their clients or brokers and apply the famous "uberrima fides" or utmost good faith principle. Many insurers could not resist offloading their worst risks onto reinsurers, or charging reinsurers excessively for the cost of acquiring business.

For a while, it looked as if the new business idea would be a complete failure. Only gradually did the industry come into its own through much stricter underwriting discipline and by adopting a business model which allowed cedents to share in the success of reinsurers.

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