Hiscox Ltd’s reinsurance business, Hiscox Re, delivered profit before tax of $286.7 million in 2025, a 7% increase year-on-year, as the segment strengthened its undiscounted combined ratio to 67.4%.
Premium and Underwriting Performance
Hiscox Re generated insurance contract written premium (ICWP) of $1.094 billion in 2025, up 6% from $1.032 billion in 2024. Net ICWP rose 8% to $538.7 million, supported by growth in pro-rata and specialty lines, including parametric climate resilience, mortgage, and surety.
The segment’s insurance service result increased to $189.4 million from $165.7 million the previous year. The combined ratio improved by 1.6 percentage points, aided by a relatively benign second half in terms of natural catastrophe losses.
Despite rate reductions of 5% during 2025 amid heightened competition—particularly in property catastrophe—attachment points and terms and conditions remained broadly stable. Cumulative rate increases since 2018 stood at 83% by year-end 2025.
At the January 1, 2026 renewals, rates declined by 13%, driven by competition from traditional reinsurers and alternative capital. However, the company stated that pricing remains adequate following significant rate hardening in recent years.
Third-Party Capital and ILS
Insurance-linked securities (ILS) assets under management increased to $1.5 billion at January 1, 2026, up from $1.4 billion a year earlier. The platform attracted more than $300 million in inflows from new and existing partners during 2025, offsetting planned returns and boosting deployable capital at renewals.
Fee income from ILS and quota-share partners reached $109.4 million in 2025, compared to $128.2 million in 2024.
Broader Group Performance
Within the Lloyd’s of London market-facing business, Hiscox London Market reported ICWP of $1.249 billion, up slightly from $1.229 billion in 2024. Profit before tax rose to $255.3 million from $215 million, while the combined ratio improved to 85.9% from 88.6%.
Hiscox Retail posted ICWP of $2.634 billion, compared to $2.441 billion in 2024. Profit before tax increased to $352.1 million from $317.2 million, with a combined ratio of 92.6%, marginally better than the prior year.
Group-wide, Hiscox generated ICWP of $4.979 billion in 2025, up from $4.703 billion in 2024, while net ICWP rose to $3.865 billion. The Group’s insurance service result climbed to $613.9 million from $553.5 million, and the undiscounted combined ratio strengthened to 87.8% from 89.2%.
Positive prior-year reserve development of $292.7 million, compared with $145.5 million in 2024, further supported results. The investment result also improved to $442.7 million from $383.9 million.
Overall, Hiscox reported profit before tax of $732.7 million for 2025, up from $685.4 million in 2024.
Group Chief Executive Officer Aki Hussain described 2025 as a pivotal year, citing strong underwriting performance, accelerated innovation, and continued execution of the company’s growth strategy. The insurer increased its final dividend per share by 20% for a second consecutive year and launched a third share buyback, bringing total shareholder returns announced over the past three years to more than $1.1 billion.
