Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Provided In Connection With Outstanding Debt Of Subsidiaries (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Assets
Total investments	$ 9,316,968	$ 8,999,068
Cash and cash equivalents	421,157	506,885	$ 525,584	$ 408,032
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	987,323	778,009
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	441,260	230,671
Reinsurance recoverable	279,564	134,526	66,694
Accrued investment income	38,076	39,749
Deferred acquisition costs	335,325	199,380
Receivable for investments sold	105,841	220,834
Other assets	175,382	181,011
Goodwill and other intangible assets	251,186	265,154
Total assets	12,352,082	11,555,287
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	2,848,294	2,767,045	1,412,510
Unearned premiums	1,231,573	889,102
Long-term debt	948,663	960,495
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Reinsurance balances payable	673,983	523,974
Payable for investments purchased	305,714	391,378
Other liabilities	301,684	245,145
Total liabilities	6,309,911	5,777,139
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	1,175,594	1,045,964
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,866,577	4,732,184
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	12,352,082	11,555,287
RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (Parent Guarantor)
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	7,067	10,185	5,986	8,796
Investments in subsidiaries	4,074,769	3,902,519
Accrued investment income	105	1,253
Receivable for investments sold	136	26
Other assets	410,757	390,302
Goodwill and other intangible assets	130,407	137,064
Total assets	5,017,928	4,872,523
Liabilities
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	14,644	2,641
Payable for investments purchased	0	999
Other liabilities	19,707	19,699
Total liabilities	151,351	140,339
Shareholders' Equity
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	5,017,928	4,872,523
Reportable Legal Entities | RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (Parent Guarantor)
Assets
Total investments	387,274	349,892
Cash and cash equivalents	7,067	10,185	5,986	8,796
Investments in subsidiaries	4,074,769	3,902,519
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	7,413	81,282
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	105	1,253
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	136	26
Other assets	410,757	390,302
Goodwill and other intangible assets	130,407	137,064
Total assets	5,017,928	4,872,523
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Long-term debt	117,000	117,000
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	14,644	2,641
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	999
Other liabilities	19,707	19,699
Total liabilities	151,351	140,339
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,866,577	4,732,184
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	5,017,928	4,872,523
Reportable Legal Entities | RenRe North America Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	119,163	127,087
Cash and cash equivalents	162	5,908	1,033	4,027
Investments in subsidiaries	34,761	48,754
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	91,892	69,739
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	289	169
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	2	1
Other assets	37,204	29,532
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	283,473	281,190
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	42	202
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	6
Other liabilities	10,544	1,148
Total liabilities	10,586	1,356
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	272,887	279,834
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	283,473	281,190
Reportable Legal Entities | Platinum Underwriters Finance, Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	267,556	205,777
Cash and cash equivalents	6,671	7,103	0
Investments in subsidiaries	843,089	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	551	348
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	99	68,537
Other assets	4,689	12,852
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	1,122,655	1,162,526
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Long-term debt	255,352	268,196
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	123	204
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	25
Other liabilities	0	6,620
Total liabilities	255,475	275,045
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	867,180	887,481
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	1,122,655	1,162,526
Reportable Legal Entities | RenaissanceRe Finance, Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	45,027	0
Cash and cash equivalents	9,397	677	0
Investments in subsidiaries	1,165,413	1,185,736
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	106	0
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	45	0
Other assets	127,572	115,456
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	1,347,560	1,301,869
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Long-term debt	545,889	545,187
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	96,061	68,204
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	13,350	0
Total liabilities	655,300	613,391
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	692,260	688,478
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	1,347,560	1,301,869
Reportable Legal Entities | Other RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. Subsidiaries And Eliminations (Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries)
Assets
Total investments	8,497,948	8,316,312
Cash and cash equivalents	397,860	483,012	$ 518,565	$ 395,209
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	987,323	778,009
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	441,260	230,671
Reinsurance recoverable	279,564	134,526
Accrued investment income	37,025	37,979
Deferred acquisition costs	335,325	199,380
Receivable for investments sold	105,559	152,270
Other assets	118,098	124,215
Goodwill and other intangible assets	120,779	128,090
Total assets	11,320,741	10,584,464
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	2,848,294	2,767,045
Unearned premiums	1,231,573	889,102
Long-term debt	147,422	147,112
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Reinsurance balances payable	673,983	523,974
Payable for investments purchased	305,714	390,348
Other liabilities	270,610	222,320
Total liabilities	5,477,596	4,939,901
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	1,175,594	1,045,964
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,667,551	4,598,599
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	11,320,741	10,584,464
Consolidating Adjustments
Assets
Total investments	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(6,118,032)	(6,004,918)
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	(99,305)	(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	(522,938)	(491,346)
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	(6,740,275)	(6,647,285)
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Long-term debt	(117,000)	(117,000)
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	(110,870)	(71,251)
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	(12,527)	(4,642)
Total liabilities	(240,397)	(192,893)
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	(6,499,878)	(6,454,392)
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	$ (6,740,275)	$ (6,647,285)