HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. provides group life, accident and health and property and casualty insurance coverages, underwriting agency and intermediary services, both to commercial customers and individuals. The Company concentrates its activities in selected narrowly defined specialty lines of business. The Company operates primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain, although some of its operations have a broader international scope. The Company underwrites insurance both on a direct basis, where it insures a risk in exchange for a premium, and on a reinsurance basis, where it insures all or a portion of another insurance companys risk in exchange for all or a portion of the premium. The Company markets its insurance products both directly to customers and through a network of independent or affiliated agents and brokers.