Prudential Assurance Co Ltd x Prudential Mutual Assurance, Investment and Loan Association x British Prudential Assurance Association x British Prudential & Consolidated Assurance

Prudential Assurance Co Ltd x Prudential Mutual Assurance, Investment and Loan Association x British Prudential Assurance Association x British Prudential & Consolidated Assurance

The Prudential Assurance Company was established in 1848 as The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association, providing loans to professionals secured through life assurance. An Industrial Department was opened in 1854, selling life insurance to the working classes by means of door-to-door agents. Following acquisitions in the 1860s, the company was renamed The British Prudential and Consolidated Assurance Company. This name was shortened in 1867 to The Prudential Assurance Company. It became a limited liability company in 1881.

In 1919, the company moved into general insurance for the first time. Overseas agencies and branches were opened in the 1920s and 1930s to sell both life and general insurance. By the 1970s, the company had made further acquisitions and it was restyled the Prudential Corporation plc in 1978. The name was changed again in 1999 to Prudential plc.

The Prudential Assurance Company was based at Hatton Garden, 1848-1879 and Holborn Bars, 1879-2006. The company subsequently relocated to offices across the UK and India; the registered office is now at Laurence Pountney Hill.