This chapter examines the growth of fire insurance in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Britain, places the industry in its economic context and explores some of the likely determinants of its growth. The orthodox view seems to hold for fire insurance. The number of salaried and waged employees of insurance offices remained tiny in relation to their ‘output’ and ‘income’, measured by sums insured and premiums received. The insurance data also raise questions about the measurement of services within the historical national accounting framework. The chapter also examines the factors which may have most immediately influenced demand for insurance, namely the level of damage and loss by fire, and changing perceptions of fire risk and looks at the relationship between construction activity and fire insurance. The chapter considers various determinants of demand, including the volume of building and the price of insurance. It explores the price of insurance and its relative cost to policyholders a little further.