LONDON (Reuters) - Bermuda-based insurer Hiscox has negotiated a $750 million credit line with a group of five banks, giving it the flexibility to write more business in the event of an upturn in insurance prices.

The facility, which renews and builds on an existing $350 million credit line, was arranged by Lloyds Banking Group, which is also putting up $150 million.

Barclays, Commerzbank, Credit Agricole and ING are providing the remainder.

The facility will allow Bermuda-based Hiscox, which provides cover against natural disasters and offers a range of insurance policies tailored to wealthy individuals, to take advantage of a potential upswing in insurance prices, chief financial officer Stuart Bridges said.

"It's a contingent facility which would allow us to expand in those circumstances," he told Reuters.

Relatively subdued natural disaster losses last year have left property and casualty insurers holding excess capital, pushing insurance prices to a cyclical low, and weighing on share prices across the sector.

But analysts say the market could turn if forecasts for an unusually active hurricane season in the United States this summer prove accurate.