Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Provided In Connection With Outstanding Debt Of Subsidiaries (Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Assets
Total investments	$ 9,459,870	$ 9,316,968
Cash and cash equivalents	454,087	421,157	$ 449,149	$ 506,885
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	1,283,275	987,323
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	628,091	441,260
Reinsurance recoverable	325,819	279,564	167,228
Accrued investment income	40,547	38,076
Deferred acquisition costs	388,681	335,325
Receivable for investments sold	316,948	105,841
Other assets	173,984	175,382
Goodwill and other intangible assets	248,325	251,186
Total assets	13,319,627	12,352,082
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	2,934,688	2,848,294	2,811,523
Unearned premiums	1,596,495	1,231,573
Debt	945,701	948,663
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Reinsurance balances payable	972,266	673,983
Payable for investments purchased	604,613	305,714
Other liabilities	217,036	301,684
Total liabilities	7,270,799	6,309,911
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	1,187,991	1,175,594
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,860,837	4,866,577	4,760,593
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	13,319,627	12,352,082
Reportable Legal Entities | RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (Parent Guarantor)
Assets
Total investments	142,794	387,274
Cash and cash equivalents	4,177	7,067	5,106	10,185
Investments in subsidiaries	4,311,578	4,074,769
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	44,346	7,413
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	161	105
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	45	136
Other assets	414,825	410,757
Goodwill and other intangible assets	128,818	130,407
Total assets	5,046,744	5,017,928
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	117,000	117,000
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	60,897	14,644
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	8,010	19,707
Total liabilities	185,907	151,351
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,860,837	4,866,577
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	5,046,744	5,017,928
Reportable Legal Entities | RenRe North America Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	122,599	119,163
Cash and cash equivalents	164	162	265	5,908
Investments in subsidiaries	35,691	34,761
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	91,891	91,892
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	255	289
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	3	2
Other assets	38,063	37,204
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	288,666	283,473
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	0	0
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	91	42
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	1,498	10,544
Total liabilities	1,589	10,586
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	287,077	272,887
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	288,666	283,473
Reportable Legal Entities | Platinum Underwriters Finance, Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	192,290	267,556
Cash and cash equivalents	4,164	6,671	2,233	7,103
Investments in subsidiaries	852,931	843,089
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	510	551
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	87,506	99
Other assets	932	4,689
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	1,138,333	1,122,655
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	252,141	255,352
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	89	123
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	6,349	0
Total liabilities	258,579	255,475
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	879,754	867,180
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	1,138,333	1,122,655
Reportable Legal Entities | RenaissanceRe Finance, Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Assets
Total investments	31,701	45,027
Cash and cash equivalents	6,080	9,397	6,443	677
Investments in subsidiaries	1,183,615	1,165,413
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	0	0
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	0	0
Reinsurance recoverable	0	0
Accrued investment income	141	106
Deferred acquisition costs	0	0
Receivable for investments sold	0	45
Other assets	128,928	127,572
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	1,350,465	1,347,560
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	546,062	545,889
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	98,583	96,061
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	6,962	13,350
Total liabilities	651,607	655,300
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	698,858	692,260
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	1,350,465	1,347,560
Reportable Legal Entities | Other RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. Subsidiaries And Eliminations (Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries)
Assets
Total investments	8,970,486	8,497,948
Cash and cash equivalents	439,502	397,860	$ 435,102	$ 483,012
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Premiums receivable	1,283,275	987,323
Prepaid reinsurance premiums	628,091	441,260
Reinsurance recoverable	325,819	279,564
Accrued investment income	39,480	37,025
Deferred acquisition costs	388,681	335,325
Receivable for investments sold	229,394	105,559
Other assets	113,556	118,098
Goodwill and other intangible assets	119,507	120,779
Total assets	12,537,791	11,320,741
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	2,934,688	2,848,294
Unearned premiums	1,596,495	1,231,573
Debt	147,498	147,422
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	0	0
Reinsurance balances payable	972,266	673,983
Payable for investments purchased	604,613	305,714
Other liabilities	200,015	270,610
Total liabilities	6,455,575	5,477,596
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	1,187,991	1,175,594
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	4,894,225	4,667,551
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	12,537,791	11,320,741
Consolidating Adjustments
Assets
Total investments	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(6,383,815)	(6,118,032)
Due from subsidiaries and affiliates	(136,237)	(99,305)
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	(522,320)	(522,938)
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	0
Total assets	(7,042,372)	(6,740,275)
Liabilities
Reserve for claims and claim expenses	0	0
Unearned premiums	0	0
Debt	(117,000)	(117,000)
Amounts due to subsidiaries and affiliates	(159,660)	(110,870)
Reinsurance balances payable	0	0
Payable for investments purchased	0	0
Other liabilities	(5,798)	(12,527)
Total liabilities	(282,458)	(240,397)
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders’ equity	(6,759,914)	(6,499,878)
Total liabilities, noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity	$ (7,042,372)	$ (6,740,275)