Hiscox to stop writing casualty reinsurance

Hiscox Ltd. on Monday confirmed in response to an inquiry that it will stop writing casualty reinsurance.

“The ongoing, challenging market conditions mean that writing casualty reinsurance business is no longer sustainable for us,” a Hiscox spokesman said in an email.

Primary casualty operations will continue, as will specialty for Hiscox Re. “We continue to write casualty business through Hiscox Retail and Hiscox London Market,” the spokesman continued. “Hiscox Re will continue to focus on other specialty areas, where we see opportunity, such as cyber, surety, terror, pandemic, (personal accident) retro, nuclear and film completion.”

Casualty reinsurance is a relatively small book of business for Hiscox and not considered a “core” interest, a market source said.