Hiscox plans to ramp up capacity in anticipation of a pick-up in insurance prices.

The company, which is based in Bermuda, said today it plans to increase the 2018 capacity for its Syndicate 33 at Lloyd’s by £450 million ($594.5 million) to £1.6 billion, driven by improving market conditions.

The move is subject to Lloyd’s approval.

“The increase in capacity is driven by an anticipated improvement in market conditions and a desire to have sufficient capacity available to participate in a widespread market turn,” Hiscox said in its Syndicate business forecast today.

“This follows a period of significant catastrophe activity in 2017 in which more than $100 billion of industry capital is estimated to have been destroyed.”

Last week, Hiscox announced a preliminary estimate of $225 million for net losses from hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

At the same time, Bronek Masojada, chief executive officer of Hiscox, said: “These events are already having an impact on rates in the global insurance market, particularly in affected areas and specific sectors.

“After a number of years of rate reductions, we are starting to see price corrections, most acutely in affected lines such as large property insurance and catastrophe reinsurance, which we expect to spread to non-affected lines.”