Reinsurance

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Reinsurance Disclosures [Abstract]

Reinsurance

Reinsurance

The Company reinsures a portion of its insurance exposures in order to reduce its net liability on individual risks and catastrophe losses. Reinsurance coverage and retentions vary depending on the line of business, location of the risk and nature of loss. The Company’s reinsurance purchases include the following: property reinsurance treaties that reduce exposure to large individual property losses and catastrophe events; casualty reinsurance treaties that reduce its exposure to large individual casualty losses, workers’ compensation catastrophe losses and casualty losses involving multiple claimants or insureds; and facultative reinsurance that reduces exposure on individual policies or risks for losses that exceed treaty reinsurance capacity. Depending on the operating unit, the Company purchases specific additional reinsurance to supplement the above programs.

The following is a summary of reinsurance financial information:

(In thousands)	2014			2013			2012
Written premiums:
Direct	$	6,185,242		$	5,626,172		$	4,964,069
Assumed	877,596			884,919			815,810
Ceded	(1,065,891		)	(1,010,918		)	(881,340		)
Total net written premiums	$	5,996,947		$	5,500,173		$	4,898,539
Earned premiums:
Direct	$	5,889,021		$	5,328,955		$	4,723,882
Assumed	886,063			857,119			770,981
Ceded	(1,030,666		)	(959,537		)	(821,347		)
Total net earned premiums	$	5,744,418		$	5,226,537		$	4,673,516
Ceded losses and loss expenses incurred	$	475,802		$	556,108		$	528,018
Ceded commission earned	$	160,215		$	137,449		$	121,089

The Company reinsures a portion of its exposures principally to reduce its net liability on individual risks and to protect against catastrophic losses. Estimated amounts due from reinsurers are reported net of reserves for uncollectible reinsurance of $1,144,000, $1,385,000 and $1,680,000 as of December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The following table presents the amounts due from reinsurers as of December 31, 2014:

(In thousands)
Munich Re	$	141,489
Allegany Grp	109,976
Lloyd’s of London	101,308
Swiss Re	97,300
Partner Re	70,756
Axis Capital	63,352
Berkshire Hathaway	48,804
Ace Group	44,215
Everest Re	43,207
Hannover Re Group	41,749
Arch Capital Group	23,453
Other reinsurers less than $20,000	212,270
Subtotal	997,879
Residual market pools	505,562
Total	$	1,503,441