A relic of insurance history will be auctioned on Tuesday, April 23, in New York. The original ledger page of the insurance policy taken out on the Titanic by the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company will go on the block at Doyle New York. Estimated at $30,000-50,000, the insurance policy was written on behalf of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company Limited, better known as The White Star Line.
The document states that the steamer Titanic is “on risk” with Atlantic Mutual from March 30, 1912, until March 30, 1913. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, less than a month after the policy went into effect, with a tragic loss of over 1,500.
Atlantic Mutual undertook $100,000 of the risk in the Titanic. The balance was covered by a syndicate of insurance companies led by the Prudential Insurance Company in London. Therefore, the risk for the full insured value of $5 million was spread among many firms.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].