Earnings per share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Basic earnings per share
Net income available to Validus common shareholders	$ 94,963	$ 65,790	$ 261,773	$ 239,201
Less: Dividends on outstanding warrants	0	(1,081)	0	(2,486)
Net income allocated to Validus common shareholders	$ 94,963	$ 64,709	$ 261,773	$ 236,715
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding	81,950,833	84,003,549	82,386,047	83,627,396
Basic earnings per share available to common shareholders	$ 1.16	$ 0.77	$ 3.18	$ 2.83
Earnings per diluted share
Net income available to Validus common shareholders	$ 94,963	$ 65,790	$ 261,773	$ 239,201
Less: Dividends on outstanding warrants	0	0	0	0
Net income allocated to Validus common shareholders	$ 94,963	$ 65,790	$ 261,773	$ 239,201
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding	81,950,833	84,003,549	82,386,047	83,627,396
Weighted average number of diluted common shares outstanding	83,373,003	87,313,154	83,785,659	87,448,142
Earnings per diluted share available to common shareholders	$ 1.14	$ 0.75	$ 3.12	$ 2.74
Other details:
Anti-dilutive securities excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share	507,262	630,174	253,631	315,410
Warrants
Earnings per diluted share
Weighted average number of diluted common shares outstanding, aggregate	0	2,073,231	0	2,409,149
Stock options
Earnings per diluted share
Weighted average number of diluted common shares outstanding, aggregate	33,796	50,160	34,837	261,792
Unvested restricted shares
Earnings per diluted share
Weighted average number of diluted common shares outstanding, aggregate	1,388,374	1,186,214	1,364,775	1,149,805