Liverpool and London Globe Insurance

The following year the Australia & Colonial General Life Insurance and Annuity Co. was purchased and in 1853, agents were appointed in ten major cities including Hamburg, Bombay, Valparaiso and Shanghai.

[4] The years 1857 and 1858 were difficult for fire insurance and in a five-year period, Liverpool and London used its strong reserves to make domestic acquisitions.

There had been doubts as to whether the Liverpool would stand behind its US obligations but these were quashed as all claims were paid in full at a time when more than a third of insurance companies failed.

The biggest test was come later from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and consequent fires; the Liverpool and London lost $4.7 million without needing to draw on general reserves.

The other significant domestic development was, in common with many other insurance companies, the opening of an accident department following the passing of the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906.

The official history, which continued to 1936, makes only a passing reference to the "Royal-Liverpool" group of companies and plots its independent activity.