On the soapbox: From Croydon to Berlin

CROYDON - Telephone-based insurance - 1985
Croydon is often ridiculed for its aspirations to be the New York of the South, but its footnote in insurance history is writ large. Croydon was the place chosen by entrepreneur Peter Wood to launch his phone-based insurance company Direct Line in 1985.

The business left the area over a year ago, leading the Direct Line founder to say: "I for one will be sad that the inauspicious birthplace of direct telephone insurance may soon be sporting a 'to let' sign".

WALES - Aggregation/price comparison - 1999 onwards
It can't have escaped many commentators' attention that three of the main four insurance aggregator brands are headquartered in Wales.

Launched in Cardiff in 2001, Confused was touted for a sale in 2007 but remains part of the Admiral Group family.

Moneysupermaket predates Confused as it was established in 1999 to compare mortgage products, before later dipping its toe into insurance. Headquartered in Ewloe, the firm listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007.

Now fully owned by Esure, Go Compare was formed in 2006 by former Confused business development boss Hayley Parsons. It remains based in Newport - down the road from her former employer.

NORWICH/OHIO - Telematics Insurance - 2002 onwards
Telematics might finally be moving into the mainstream in the UK, but it first came here by way of a deal between Aviva and US giant Progressive, pioneer of pay-as-you-go insurance in the States.

Unveiling it in 2002, then programme director Robert Ledger said: "As a market leader we are always looking to develop new opportunities to deliver greater value." The product was launched in 2006 and canned two years later.

BERLIN - Social insurance/Peer-to-Peer insurance
It's no surprise that one of the latest movements in insurance (peer-to-peer) has a birthplace in one the world's coolest cities, Berlin.

And with the birth of Friendsurance in 2010, co-founder and managing director Dr. Sebastian Herfurth has triggered a movement that has already seen a few imitators in Bought by Many and Hey Guevara in the UK.