Insurance Company of North America
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| Private | |
| Industry | Insurance |
| Founded | November 19, 1792 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Parent | Chubb Limited |
Insurance Company of North America (INA) is the oldest insurance company in the United States, founded in Philadelphia in 1792. It was one of the largest American insurance companies of the 19th and 20th centuries before merging with Connecticut General Life to form CIGNA in 1982, and was acquired by global insurer ACE Limited (currently Chubb Limited) in 1999.
In 1792, Boston merchant Samuel Blodget moved to Philadelphia. He did so in part to seek a commission from President George Washington as superintendent of construction for the new federal city then being built along the Potomac River (an amateur architect, Blodget would later design the First Bank of the United States building in Philadelphia), but also to collaborate on a business venture with former U.S. Postmaster General Ebenezer Hazard, who owned a counting house in the city.
Hazard had previously invested in an idea of Blodget's called the Boston Tontine, a sort of early annuity fund that also acted as a lottery for the last surviving investor. It failed, but Blodget and Hazard decided to try again in Philadelphia, then the largest city in North America. They called their new attempt the Universal Tontine Association and this time gave it a 21-year lifespan, after which the association would disband and the surviving investors would split what remained of the fund.
The Universal Tontine Association also failed to generate the hoped-for interest. In November 1792, its investors met at the Pennsylvania State House (today Independence Hall) to decide what to do with their fund. On November 12, they adopted a proposal to form a general insurance company, to be called the Insurance Company of North America. On November 19, the investors adopted articles of association, giving the company the ability to write fire, life, or marine insurance, though initially the investors would focus solely on marine.
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