I am currently finishing up my minor in history and have always had this question. My future career is in insurance, and the history of the field has always been of interest to me. Most history courses don't touch on insurance, so I did some personal research and was not able to turn up as much as I would have liked. Any input is greatly appreciated!
Good question.
I hope that someone more expert will add comments.
Some observations:
Maritime insurance, spreading the risks of ship owning and merchant voyages, preceded your period. Lloyds insurance broking started in 1688, and this may have had an impact in helping Britain to become a maritime and global trade powerhouse.
There was a radical development in Life Insurance in the 19th century. The Prudential Insurance Company was founded in 1848, but in 1854, they took the radical and innovative step of selling life insurance not to the well to do, but to the working class. They seized on this with a messianic and religious fervor. With premiums starting at as little as a penny a week, the Prudential believed that it was a DUTY of the responsible working class to buy life insurance to provide for their wife and children if they should die.
The ‘Man from the Pru’ would visit all of his customers (and prospects) every week, to personally collect their premiums. Besides being a great benefit in making life easier for countless widows and orphans, the Prudential created a vast new source of capital, which could be invested to support and grow the economy.
How this impacted the British Economy, will need the input from more expert economic historians, but it must have had some impact.