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Reinsurance
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
SEC Schedule, 12-17, Insurance Companies, Reinsurance [Abstract]  
Reinsurance REINSURANCE
The Company purchases reinsurance and other protection to manage its risk portfolio and to reduce its exposure to large losses. The Company currently has in place contracts that provide for recovery of a portion of certain claims and claim expenses, generally in excess of various retentions or on a proportional basis. In addition to loss recoveries, certain of the Company’s ceded reinsurance contracts provide for payments of additional premiums, for reinstatement premiums and for lost no-claims bonuses, which are incurred when losses are ceded to the respective reinsurance contracts. The Company remains liable to the extent that any reinsurer fails to meet its obligations.
The following table sets forth the effect of reinsurance and retrocessional activity on premiums written and earned and on net claims and claim expenses incurred:
Year ended December 31,202320222021
Premiums Written
Direct$865,771 $1,264,410 $994,286 
Assumed7,996,595 7,949,130 6,839,512 
Ceded(1,394,553)(2,017,380)(1,894,423)
Net premiums written$7,467,813 $7,196,160 $5,939,375 
Premiums Earned
Direct$1,013,372 $1,105,164 $799,717 
Assumed8,072,193 7,079,632 6,257,814 
Ceded(1,614,432)(1,850,807)(1,863,350)
Net premiums earned$7,471,133 $6,333,989 $5,194,181 
Claims and Claim Expenses
Gross claims and claim expenses incurred$3,950,362 $5,851,140 $5,905,616 
Claims and claim expenses recovered(376,853)(1,512,300)(2,029,529)
Net claims and claim expenses incurred$3,573,509 $4,338,840 $3,876,087 
In assessing an allowance for reinsurance assets, which includes premiums receivable and reinsurance recoverable, the Company considers historical information, financial strength of reinsurers, collateralization amounts, and counterparty credit ratings to determine the appropriateness of the allowance. In assessing future default for reinsurance assets, the Company evaluates the provision for current expected credit losses under the probability of default and loss given default method. The Company utilizes its internal capital and risk models, which use counterparty ratings from major rating agencies, and assesses the current market conditions for the likelihood of default. The Company updates its internal capital and risk models for counterparty credit ratings and current market conditions on a periodic basis. Historically, the Company has not experienced material credit losses from reinsurance assets.
Premiums receivable reflect premiums written based on contract and policy terms and include estimates based on information received from both insureds and ceding companies, supplemented by our own judgement, including our estimates of premiums that are written but not reported. Due to the nature of reinsurance, ceding companies routinely report and remit premiums to us subsequent to the contract coverage period, although the time lag involved in the process of reporting and collecting premiums is typically shorter than the lag in reporting losses.
At December 31, 2023, the Company’s premiums receivable balance was $7.3 billion (2022 - $5.1 billion). Of the Company’s premiums receivable balance as of December 31, 2023, the majority are receivable from highly rated counterparties. The provision for current expected credit losses on the Company’s premiums receivable was $3.5 million at December 31, 2023 (2022 - $4.6 million). The following table provides a roll forward of the provision for current expected credit losses of the Company’s premiums receivable:
Year ended December 31,20232022
Beginning balance$4,606 $2,776 
Provision for (release of) allowance
(2,788)1,830 
Acquired (1)
1,696 — 
Ending balance$3,514 $4,606 
(1)Represents Validus’ provision for current expected credit losses on premiums receivable, acquired November 1, 2023.
Reinsurance recoverable reflects amounts due from reinsurers based on the claim liabilities associated with the reinsurance policy. The Company accrues amounts that are due from reinsurers based on estimated ultimate losses applicable to the contracts.
At December 31, 2023, the Company’s reinsurance recoverable balance was $5.3 billion (2022 - $4.7 billion). Of the Company’s reinsurance recoverable balance at December 31, 2023, 60.6% is fully collateralized by our reinsurers, 38.5% is recoverable from reinsurers rated A- or higher by major rating agencies and 0.9% is recoverable from reinsurers rated lower than A- by major rating agencies (2022 - 47.2%, 52.0% and 0.8%, respectively). The reinsurers with the three largest balances accounted for 17.6%, 14.3% and 8.7%, respectively, of the Company’s reinsurance recoverable balance at December 31, 2023 (2022 - 20.8%, 7.0% and 5.4%, respectively). The provision for current expected credit losses was $13.3 million at December 31, 2023 (2022 - $12.2 million). The three largest company-specific components of the provision for current expected credit losses represented 10.9%, 10.7% and 8.1%, respectively, of the Company’s total provision for current expected credit losses at December 31, 2023 (2022 - 14.3%, 9.1% and 8.0%, respectively). The following table provides a roll forward of the provision for current expected credit losses of the Company’s reinsurance recoverable:
Year ended December 31,20232022
Beginning balance$12,169 $8,344 
Provision for (release of) allowance
(3,644)3,825 
Acquired (1)
4,754 — 
Ending balance$13,279 $12,169 
(1)Represents Validus’ provision for current expected credit losses on reinsurance recoverable, acquired November 1, 2023.