ARIAS (UK) was formed in 1991, mainly at the instigation of John Butler (then Legal Officer of the Mercantile & General Reinsurance Co and recently retired from a law firm).
A working party comprising John Thomas QC (now Lord Thomas), John Powell, Hugh Thompson (an independent consultant with a reinsurance underwriting background) and John Butler established ARIAS (UK) as a non-profit making Society with the support of over 20 founding members comprising law and accounting firms.
In addition, substantial initial support was received from three market institutions (also founding members): Lloyd’s, LIRMA (now IUA) and BIIBA (now BIBA).