Hartford Life Insurance

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc was founded in 1810 and this year will celebrate 200 years in business.  It is one of the largest insurance companies in America and provides services to customers worldwide.  It has over 30,000 employees and the company's headquarters are based in Hartford, Connecticut U.S.  The Company first started with a working capital of $15,000 and was known as the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. It was the idea of a few local merchants as they sat drinking in a Hartford Inn.  Some of the worst peacetime tragedies in American history such as the huge fire that destroyed the financial district of New York in 1835 saw the company having to cover thousands of claims for damage.  The president Eliphalet Terry had to use much of his personal wealth to cover these claims. They also had to cover claims for the Chicago fire in 1871 as well as in 1906 for damage from the San Francisco earthquake and fire.  However, the Company survived and expanded its business.  The Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company was formed in 1913 to provide cover for accident, automobile-liability, business-interruption and personal damage.  By 1959 the Company had started selling life-insurance and acquired The Columbian National Life Insurance Company in Boston, Massachusetts. As the Company grew it started trading under the symbol HIG on the New York Stock Exchange and two years later changed its name to The Hartford Financial Service Group Inc.

The Hartford's insurance policies have been purchased by some well known historical figures.  Abraham Lincoln purchased a policy in 1861 to protect his home in Springfield, Illinois. The Commander of the Confederate forces Robert E Lee purchased insurance cover for his family home "Arlington".  Babe Ruth purchased a "sickness policy" in 1920 to protect his earnings should illness prevent him from playing. Today the company is simply known as The Hartford and has international links in Canada, Brazil, Japan and the United Kingdom.  It is a Fortune 100 company and provides insurance for investment, group benefits, life insurance, automobile, homeowners and casualty insurance. The Company can be identified by the Hartford Stag logo which first began to appear on a policy dated 1861. Changes have been made to the logo over the years due to changes in printing as well as problems that it represented the painting of the Monarch of the Glen painted in 1851 by Sir Edwin Landseer. The nickname for the Hartford Stag is known as Larry which first started after a series of television commercials in 2000s.  The television commercials did not use a live animal but a computer generated stag called Lawrence.  The Hartford offers insurance for personal and commercial property, Workers compensation insurance and Marine insurance as well as the ones listed above.  It is a reputable and trustworthy company with two hundred years of experience which would be very hard to beat.