I couldn't believe my eyes recently as I watched some of thebrightest people on American television whiff on a quiz show queryabout the world's oldest and most famous insurance market.

The venue was TV's “Jeopardy.” If you've ever seen thislong-running program, to compete one needs a very wide and deepknowledge of history, the sciences, the humanities and even popculture. I don't recall ever seeing “insurance” as its own category(although that would be a hoot and perhaps a topic for anotherblog), but one “Final Jeopardy” answer in a recent episode that wasa slam-dunk for me turned out to be beyond the reach of those onthis particular episode.

The clue read as follows: “Still in existence, it began in 1688in a British coffee shop popular with maritime folk, and it soongot involved with their business.”

None of the three contestants could identify the correctquestion: “What is Lloyd's of London?” Two cited tea-makingcompanies, and the third guessed it was Mermaid Tavern, whereShakespeare supposedly held court (unless, prompted by the recentlyreleased film “Anonymous,” you, too, doubt the literarycontribution of the Bard).

The blind spot was costly. One contestant bet everything shehad, going from the leader's spot with $13,200 to last place with$1. One of the other two paid dearly as well. The third also got itwrong, but only wagered a few hundred dollars, leaving her as thelast contestant standing.

Having covered the insurance industry for more than 30 years,first as a journalist and now as a researcher, I screamed out“Lloyd's” at the TV the moment I heard the clue, only to be stunnedby the blank looks on the poor contestants' faces. Had they beengiven a sharper hint (rephrasing the answer as “soon got involvedinsuring their business”), perhaps one or more of theplayers might have come up with the correct response.

But then again, perhaps not, since even though Lloyd's generatesabout one-third of its premium volume in the U.S. market, not many“civilians”—those not involved in the industry on a dailybasis—know how critical Lloyd's is to our economic well-being.

In fact, to this day, my civilian friends might have heard ofLloyd's, but believe it's an insurance company of some sort (ratherthan a market of individual syndicates) and have little grasp ofhow much business Lloyd's does in this country beyond the popularmedia stories about coverage for some prominent body part of afamous actress.

That's really a shame, because those who make their living in oraround insurance know what a huge player Lloyd's has been in theU.S. market, and realize how difficult life would be without itsunderwriting skill and capacity.

Lloyd's doesn't advertise to the mass consumer market the sameway other insurance providers do, mainly because they don't haveto. They have all the name recognition and credibility they needamong the brokers and buyers who look to cover their risks in theLloyd's market.

But all things considered, the identity of Lloyd's should notstump the average American, let alone a high-brow “Jeopardy”contestant. It just goes to show how little the public knowsabout insurance.

Indeed, it might be beneficial for the industry to put moreeffort into teaching everyone about how the industry actuallyfunctions, who the key players are in covering our risks, and—mostimportantly—the critical role insurance in general, and Lloyd's inparticular, plays in keeping our economy running, especially in theworst of times, from the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 to9/11.