Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Provided In Connection With Outstanding Debt Of Subsidiaries (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Assets
Total investments	$ 9,214,555	$ 8,999,068
Cash and cash equivalents	493,330	506,885	$ 524,546	$ 525,584
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	1,181,331	778,009
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	511,421	230,671
Reinsurance recoverable	240,769	134,526
Accrued investment income	37,245	39,749
Deferred acquisition costs	351,841	199,380
Receivable for investments sold	193,071	220,834
Other assets	181,290	181,011
Goodwill and other intangible assets	254,678	265,154
Total assets	12,659,531	11,555,287
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	2,861,099	2,767,045
Unearned premiums	1,434,136	889,102
Debt	951,620	960,495
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Reinsurance balances payable	774,660	523,974
Payable for investments purchased	437,826	391,378
Other liabilities	227,847	245,145
Total liabilities	6,687,188	5,777,139
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	1,164,553	1,045,964
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,807,790	4,732,184
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	12,659,531	11,555,287
Reportable Legal Entities | RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (Parent Guarantor)
Assets
Total investments	195,577	349,892
Cash and cash equivalents	10,147	10,185	12,748	5,986
Investments in subsidiaries	4,080,741	3,902,519
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	119,086	81,282
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	153	1,253
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	46	26
Other assets	405,702	390,302
Goodwill and other intangible assets	132,072	137,064
Total assets	4,943,524	4,872,523
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	117,000	117,000
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	4,012	2,641
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	999
Other liabilities	14,722	19,699
Total liabilities	135,734	140,339
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,807,790	4,732,184
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	4,943,524	4,872,523
Reportable Legal Entities | RenRe North America Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	117,733	127,087
Cash and cash equivalents	857	5,908	1,797	1,033
Investments in subsidiaries	38,860	48,754
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	92,192	69,739
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	224	169
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	4	1
Other assets	31,877	29,532
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	281,747	281,190
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	0	0
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	153	202
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	1	6
Other liabilities	5,638	1,148
Total liabilities	5,792	1,356
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	275,955	279,834
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	281,747	281,190
Reportable Legal Entities | Platinum Underwriters Finance, Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	275,624	205,777
Cash and cash equivalents	1,745	7,103	1,061	0
Investments in subsidiaries	899,635	867,909
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	514	348
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	4,019	68,537
Other assets	10,222	12,852
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	1,191,759	1,162,526
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	258,563	268,196
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	96	204
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	4,259	25
Other liabilities	5,265	6,620
Total liabilities	268,183	275,045
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	923,576	887,481
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	1,191,759	1,162,526
Reportable Legal Entities | RenaissanceRe Finance, Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	2,530	677	6,735	0
Investments in subsidiaries	1,218,521	1,185,736
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	2,345	0
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	0	0
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	0	0
Other assets	123,787	115,456
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	1,347,183	1,301,869
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	545,713	545,187
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	95,928	68,204
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	641,641	613,391
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	705,542	688,478
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	1,347,183	1,301,869
Reportable Legal Entities | Other RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. Subsidiaries And Eliminations (Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries)
Assets
Total investments	8,625,621	8,316,312
Cash and cash equivalents	478,051	483,012	$ 502,205	$ 518,565
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	1,181,331	778,009
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	511,421	230,671
Reinsurance recoverable	240,769	134,526
Accrued investment income	36,354	37,979
Deferred acquisition costs	351,841	199,380
Receivable for investments sold	189,002	152,270
Other assets	124,129	124,215
Goodwill and other intangible assets	122,606	128,090
Total assets	11,861,125	10,584,464
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	2,861,099	2,767,045
Unearned premiums	1,434,136	889,102
Debt	147,344	147,112
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Reinsurance balances payable	774,660	523,974
Payable for investments purchased	433,566	390,348
Other liabilities	212,349	222,320
Total liabilities	5,863,154	4,939,901
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	1,164,553	1,045,964
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,833,418	4,598,599
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	11,861,125	10,584,464
Consolidating Adjustments
Assets
Total investments	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(6,237,757)	(6,004,918)
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	(213,623)	(151,021)
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	0	0
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	0	0
Other assets	(514,427)	(491,346)
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	(6,965,807)	(6,647,285)
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	(117,000)	(117,000)
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	(100,189)	(71,251)
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	(10,127)	(4,642)
Total liabilities	(227,316)	(192,893)
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	(6,738,491)	(6,454,392)
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	$ (6,965,807)	$ (6,647,285)