REINSURANCE (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

REINSURANCE

Schedule of premiums written and earned along with losses and settlement expenses incurred

(in thousands)	2017		2016		2015
WRITTEN
Direct	$	848,153	$	844,430	$	819,130
Reinsurance assumed		37,159		30,434		34,456
Reinsurance ceded		(135,458)		(133,912)		(131,615)
Net	$	749,854	$	740,952	$	721,971
EARNED
Direct	$	835,118	$	835,294	$	797,180
Reinsurance assumed		32,521		27,886		35,724
Reinsurance ceded		(129,702)		(134,572)		(132,743)
Net	$	737,937	$	728,608	$	700,161
LOSSES AND SETTLEMENT EXPENSES INCURRED
Direct	$	486,986	$	405,873	$	307,445
Reinsurance assumed		16,072		13,196		23,184
Reinsurance ceded		(101,474)		(69,291)		(31,584)
Net	$	401,584	$	349,778	$	299,045

Schedule of net reinsurance balances recoverable, after consideration of collateral, from top 10 reinsurers

			Net Reinsurer				Ceded
	A.M. Best	S & P	Exposure as of		Percent of		Premiums		Percent of
(dollars in thousands)	Rating	Rating	12/31/2017		Total		Written		Total
Munich Re / HSB	A+, Superior	AA-, Very Strong	$	59,277	17.0	%	$	24,747	18.3	%
Swiss Re / Westport Ins. Corp.	A+, Superior	AA-, Very Strong		47,680	13.6	%		10,671	7.9	%
Endurance Re	A+, Superior	A, Strong		29,771	8.5	%		5,695	4.2	%
Aspen UK Ltd.	A, Excellent	A, Strong		26,204	7.5	%		6,895	5.1	%
Berkley Insurance Co.	A+, Superior	A+, Strong		17,404	5.0	%		5,589	4.1	%
Transatlantic Re	A, Excellent	A+, Strong		15,726	4.5	%		6,212	4.6	%
General Re	A++, Superior	AA+, Very Strong		14,997	4.3	%		3,694	2.7	%
Scor Reinsurance Co.	A+, Superior	AA-, Very Strong		14,226	4.1	%		5,433	4.0	%
Tokio Millennium Re	A++, Superior	A+, Strong		14,133	4.0	%		7,775	5.7	%
Hannover Ruckversicherung	A+, Superior	AA-, Very Strong		13,649	3.9	%		7,302	5.4	%
All other reinsurers*				96,643	27.6	%		51,445	38.0	%
Total ceded exposure			$	349,710	100.0	%	$	135,458	100.0	%

*All other reinsurance balances recoverable, when considered by individual reinsurer, are less than 2 percent of shareholders’ equity.