How Insurance Made America Possible

From Lloyd's of London to Our Neighbor's Care

In the powerful documentary "The Call of the Entrepreneur," Frank Hanna offers a profound perspective on the nature of insurance. He reveals that this virtuous mechanism for spreading risk was born not from chance, but from brilliant financial engineering at places like Lloyd's of London.

Before insurance, only the wealthiest patrons, such as Queen Isabella of Spain, had the vast resources to underwrite an entire expedition. She alone could absorb the potential loss of a ship and its cargo. This created a great peril: the risk of catastrophic loss was so concentrated that it prevented ordinary merchants from taking part in great ventures.

What truly changed the world was not just the idea of pooling resources, but the financial engineering behind it. At Lloyd's, actuaries analyzed statistic after statistic on voyages, shipwrecks, and cargo losses. This meticulous analysis allowed them to accurately price the risk, making it a viable and sustainable business model.

This was the true power of this innovation: it broke the monopoly of the wealthy and allowed common people to collectively bear the risk of exploration. This calculated risk-spreading is what made the discovery of the New World "discoverable" and what helped make America possible—by enabling a diverse range of entrepreneurs to pursue new opportunities without fearing financial ruin from a single disaster.

The fundamental promise of insurance remains the same today: no one should have to bear a catastrophic loss alone.

In a perfect world, this system would be unnecessary, but we do not live in a perfect world. The realities of a complex system mean that it can sometimes falter due to simple error or, at times, what our Orthodox tradition might call base desires. This is precisely why the public adjuster has emerged as a virtuous and essential counterbalance to the system itself. Our role is to ensure the integrity of the insurance promise. By providing peace of mind and securing fair settlements, we keep the best of this enterprise alive, allowing the system to function properly for the very people it was designed to protect. We are the champions of a promise that is, at its heart, noble and just.

A Mission of Care and Restoration

The true entrepreneurial spirit is not merely about profit; it's about "dashing into hope." It's the creative act of building, serving, and restoring. Public adjusting shares this very spirit. The great entrepreneurs who created the insurance industry envisioned a system that would enable people to rebuild after a loss. At Rome Public Adjusting, we see ourselves as a vital part of that same enterprise. Our mission is to honor that original, noble vision by ensuring the system works as intended for every client we serve. We are here to be your advocate, to bring clarity to the chaos, and to tirelessly fight for what is rightfully yours, so you can continue your own journey of building and restoration. This is our mission, guided by the profound truth taught by our founder’s father, Damon of blessed memory: "People Are For Caring."