Hiscox written premiums rise 3% in first nine months

Hiscox reported a rise in written premiums for the first nine months of the year on Thursday as it hailed solid retail growth.

Group insurance contract written premiums (ICWP) rose 3% to $3.87bn. Hiscox said this was due to continued capital deployment in Re & ILS and solid growth in the retail segment.

The insurer said large natural catastrophe losses and overall claims experience were within expectations for the first nine months of the year, despite an active loss environment.

It also said it expects to reserve a net loss of $75m for Hurricane Milton in the fourth quarter. This is based on an industry insured loss of $40bn, which is split broadly equally between Hiscox's London Market and Re & ILS businesses.

Chief executive Aki Hussain said: "The group continues to deliver a solid performance, with our combined focus on building growth and earnings momentum.

"Our priorities of achieving high quality growth in all markets in our retail business, and selectively deploying capital into attractive big-ticket lines, are unchanged and we continue to make significant progress against the group's strategy to deliver sustainable, less volatile returns while growing the business."