Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014		Dec. 31, 2013
Revenues
Gross premiums written	$ 309,605	$ 402,509	$ 726,168	$ 1,119,224	$ 336,643	$ 357,711	$ 653,745	$ 1,010,766	$ 2,557,506		$ 2,358,865	[1]	$ 2,388,446
Reinsurance premiums ceded	(33,128)	(48,810)	(55,418)	(191,325)	(33,623)	(30,137)	(54,014)	(195,434)	(328,681)		(313,208)		(375,800)
Net premiums written	276,477	353,699	670,750	927,899	303,020	327,574	599,731	815,332	2,228,825		2,045,657		2,012,646
Change in unearned premiums	266,823	201,312	(98,062)	(352,009)	253,621	164,997	(136,290)	(334,930)	18,064		(52,602)		86,149
Net premiums earned	543,300	555,011	572,688	575,890	556,641	492,571	463,441	480,402	2,246,889		1,993,055		2,098,795
Net investment income	31,612	31,572	33,611	31,029	30,169	25,265	21,286	23,366	127,824		100,086		96,089
Net realized gains (losses) on investments	(2,928)	(1,187)	2,244	4,169	6,902	2,042	2,233	3,740	2,298		14,917		(764)
Change in net unrealized losses on investments	(34,862)	3,916	(34,676)	33,227	(2,040)	(23,982)	14,156	9,024	(32,395)		(2,842)		(52,419)
Income from investment affiliate	(1,261)	2,482	284	2,776	530	1,754	779	5,348	4,281		8,411		4,790
Other insurance related income and other loss									5,111		1,229		(6,607)
Foreign exchange (losses) gains	797	(2,592)	(2,671)	(4,265)	3,674	(12,281)	3,156	(6,730)	(8,731)		(12,181)		3,949
Total revenues									2,345,277		2,102,675		2,143,833
Expenses
Losses and loss expenses	214,748	256,010	266,146	240,929	223,723	224,125	155,646	161,521	977,833	[2]	765,015	[2]	776,796	[2]
Policy acquisition costs	102,285	105,039	104,323	98,411	89,307	86,157	78,644	85,359	410,058		339,467		360,403
General and administrative expenses	98,563	96,886	84,025	84,235	99,173	82,556	74,403	73,230	363,709		329,362		316,008
Share compensation expenses	10,062	9,983	9,242	9,054	8,821	8,764	8,341	7,147	38,341		33,073		27,630
Finance expenses	16,581	18,512	18,682	20,967	17,605	16,273	17,086	17,360	74,742		68,324		68,007
Transaction expenses					4,695	149	3,252	0	0		8,096	[3]	0
Total expenses									1,864,683		1,543,337		1,548,844
Income before taxes, (loss) income from operating affiliate and (income) attributable to AlphaCat investors									480,594		559,338		594,989
Tax expense	756	(2,018)	(2,549)	(2,565)	243	953	(1,391)	40	(6,376)		(155)		(383)
(Loss) income from operating affiliate	(1,708)	(7,963)	1,738	3,984	(7,077)	(5,895)	3,824	4,808	(3,949)		(4,340)		542
(Income) attributable to AlphaCat investors	(974)	(1,438)	0	0					(2,412)		0		0
Net income	95,038	92,879	88,351	191,589	146,492	55,342	171,216	181,793	467,857		554,843		595,148
Net (income) attributable to noncontrolling interest	(25,996)	(26,229)	(22,561)	(18,178)	(20,584)	(15,670)	(17,849)	(20,777)	(92,964)		(74,880)		(62,482)
Net income available to Validus	$ 69,042	$ 66,650	$ 65,790	$ 173,411	$ 125,908	$ 39,672	$ 153,367	$ 161,016	374,893		479,963		532,666
Other comprehensive loss
Change in foreign currency translation adjustments									(3,716)		(7,501)		(1,954)
Change in minimum pension liability, net of tax									544		(210)		0
Change in fair value of cash flow hedge									(841)		(228)		0
Other comprehensive loss									(4,013)		(7,939)		(1,954)
Comprehensive income available to Validus									$ 370,880		$ 472,024		$ 530,712
Weighted average number of common shares and common share equivalents outstanding
Basic (shares)	82,538,834	82,635,316	84,003,549	83,251,243	86,421,127	90,593,329	90,952,523	93,451,999	83,107,236		90,354,745		102,202,274
Diluted (shares)	85,181,258	85,629,494	87,313,154	87,583,129	90,948,156	91,939,610	95,276,836	97,799,519	86,426,760		94,690,271		103,970,289
Basic earnings per share available to common shareholders	$ 0.84	$ 0.79	$ 0.77	$ 2.07	$ 1.44	$ 0.42	$ 1.67	$ 1.71	$ 4.47		$ 5.24		$ 5.02
Earnings per diluted share available to common shareholders	$ 0.81	$ 0.78	$ 0.75	$ 1.98	$ 1.38	$ 0.41	$ 1.61	$ 1.65	4.34		5.07		4.94
Cash dividends declared per share									$ 1.28		$ 1.2		$ 3.2

[1] The results of Western World have been included in the Company's consolidated results from the October 2, 2014 date of acquisition.

[2] Upon closing the acquisition of Western World, an adjustment of $15,586 was made to increase net reserves to reflect fair value. This adjustment was fully amortized to income through a reduction in losses and loss expenses of $10,979 and $4,607 during the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

[3] The transaction expenses relate to costs incurred in connection with the acquisition of Western World, which was completed on October 2, 2014. Transaction expenses are primarily comprised of legal, financial advisory and audit related services.