Kerala State General Insurance Employees Union

Insurance may have its roots  in the writings of Manu, in ‘ Manusmrithi’ , Yagnavalkya  in   ‘Dharmasasthra and  Kautilya in ‘Arthasasthra. ‘ The writings say about re distribution of resources in times of famine, flood, drought or other natural calamities. However, it is believed that modern insurance in India was heavily influenced by western countries, especially England.

The first general insurance company in India was TRITTON INSURANCE CO.LTD, established in 1850. Thereafter several companies came into the business.  Naturally, manipulations and cheating increased and the government brought forth a law, Insurance Act 1938, to regulate the functioning of insurance companies.

In 1956, the  life  insurance industry was nationalized and the govt took over 245 life insurance companies. That year, the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) was formed by way of passing the  LIC Act in Parliament. On 13th May 1971, the govt issued notification, nationalising the general insurance industry. The General Insurance Emergency Provision Act was passed to take over the control of the industry. In 1972, General Insurance Business Nationalisation Act (GIBNA) was passed to serve better the need of the economy by securing the development of general insurance business in the best interest of the community. The General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC)  was formed as per the provisions of Sec 9 of GIBNA.

By way of nationalisation of general insurance business, the govt took over 107 companies and they were amalgamated with four companies, viz National Insurance Co. Ltd, The New India Assurance Co.Ltd, Oriental Insurance Co.Ltd and United India Insurance Co.Ltd. These four companies were formed as the subsidiaries of GIC.