The first methods of transferring or distributing risks in a monetary economy were used by Chinese and Babylonian traders in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, respectively. Insurance in its early stages, appeared in the form of "mutual aid", between people who performed a similar type of work. The conditions under which the workers of the pyramids "worked" in ancient Egypt were miserable.

Many "work" accidents and many diseases plagued them. Thus, the first known "mutual aid fund" was created, as it appears from a papyrus found in the Cairo Museum. Workers' payments were then made in kind (oil, wheat οr other food) on the first of each month. From this fee, they paid a certain amount of food together, in order to provide food for those who could not work. In addition, the "mutual aid fund" provided compensation in the event of death, to cover funeral expenses.

Chinese merchants traveling through rushing and dangerous rivers distributed their wares to many boats to limit the damage from a possible loss of a ship.

The Babylonians, for their part, developed a system recorded in the famous Code of Hammurabi in 1,750 BC. and was used by the first Mediterranean merchants. If a merchant took out a loan to finance the cargo, he would pay the lender an extra amount to guarantee that he would cancel the loan if the cargo was lost at sea or stolen. The Achaemenid monarchs in ancient Persia received annual gifts from the various tribes under their control. This served as an early form of political insurance, and formally pledged the Persian monarch to protect these tribes.

At some point during the 1st millennium BC, the inhabitants of Rhodes created the "general average". This enabled groups of traders to pay to insure their goods being transported together. The premiums collected would be used to compensate any merchant who had lost their products during transport, or due to the sinking of the ship.

In ancient Athens the "naval loan" prepaid money for travel with the repayment being canceled if the ship was lost. In the 4th century BC. The interest rates on the loans varied according to the time of year, essentially an intuitive pricing of the risk with an impact similar to that of insurance. The roots of Life and Health insurance are found in the Greeks and Romans, when around 600 BC. created the so-called "charities" that cared for the families of members who passed away, while also covering their funeral expenses.

The model of Fundraising Companies is also found in the Middle Ages with the Guilds (Professional Guilds) that provide assistance to their members in case of physical or material damage through special funds. Maritime insurance is the most important development, as 1063, Venetian and Genoese merchants, mainly merchants, find a way to protect their ships and cargoes against the damage caused by the weather or even pirates: they establish a fund to which they regularly contribute and from which are reimbursed. Known as Code d’Amalfi, their organization also draws up the first insurance policies. Italy, Spain and France attribute the beginning of maritime insurance. Archives from the 13th and 14th centuries on maritime law and insurance were found in all three countries. The first limited liability company for the financing and safeguarding of maritime trade was founded in Toulouse in 1378. The first land and sea transport insurance company was established in Genoa in 1424, while at about the same time (1435) the Los capitulos de Barcelona were published. first legal provisions governing maritime insurance.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, Italian seafarers and merchants settled in London where they carried on their commercial and insurance practices. Towards the end of the 16th century and during the 17th century, the growing importance of London as a commercial center favored the development in the English capital of maritime insurance. In 1575 a special office for the registration of insurance policies (Office of Assurances) is established, while in 1601 the first court is created for the settlement of disputes related to the insurance coverage of maritime transport. In 1691, Edward Lloyd opens a café on Tower Street where merchants and shipowners of the time gather and trade with those seeking insurance for their ships and those who offer coverage. London's Lloyd's is still the "temple" of marine insurance. Corresponding development is presented in Portugal, Italy, France and the Netherlands, where the first company was founded in 1629 with the sole purpose of securing maritime transport. Insurance in the modern sense dates back to 1666, when a large fire broke out in London destroying 13,200 buildings. Following the fire, Nicholas Barbon opened a building and housing insurance office. Shortly afterwards, in 1698, the first life insurance company was founded in England. In the United States, the first insurance company was formed in 1732, while Benjamin Franklin, through the Philadelphia Contribution for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, introduced the concept of prevention, as it excludes homes for which the risk of fire is too high. . In England again car insurance appears for the first time, as in 1932 it became mandatory to insure third party liability for vehicles in circulation.

Greek insurance activity was initially developed through insurance companies operating outside Greece before the establishment of the Modern Greek state. In 1789 the "Societa Greca D'Assicurazioni" was founded by Greeks in Trieste, while in 1816 the "Society of the United Insurance Greeks" opened in Odessa. In Constantinople, between 1819 and 1833, the companies "Pegasus", "Aeolos", "Omonia", "Efthitis" and others were born, which are mainly engaged in transport insurance. In 1838 it is founded by Ag. Giannikezi the "Reunion Adriatica" that will operate until today. In Greece, the first insurance company - "Greece" - was founded in Syros in 1828 by Ioannis Kapodistrias. "The Hellenic Insurance Store" and "Filemporiki" follow. In Athens, "O Phoenix" was founded in 1857 and operated until 1894 and was re-established in 1928, while at the end of the 19th century the "National" was created.