LONDON (Bloomberg) - Bermuda-based Hiscox plc., the Lloyd's of London insurer that gets a third of its revenue from the US, is planning to boost sales to rich individuals and businesses in the UK and Europe by 10 percent a year to help it weather the economic slowdown.

"If you have three or four cars we're interested in insuring you," CEO Bronek Masojada said yesterday in a telephone interview. "If you have one car and you want to save £50 then you don't come to us."

UK insurers such as Aviva plc., RSA Insurance Group plc. and Admiral Group plc. are pulling out of some types of general insurance and focusing on overseas growth as increased competition and the recession drive down prices. Hiscox, which insures assets from classic cars to oil refining equipment, wants to expand by selling specialist policies to the wealthiest five percent of the population and small businesses employing fewer than 100 people.

"We're insuring stuff people have, and people have it independent of the economic climate," Mr. Masojada said.

The insurer, the third-biggest underwriter at Lloyd's has budgeted £10 million for advertising on billboards and print media this year. Sales in the European and UK units made up a third of total premiums written last year.

The company said it is benefiting from rising premium rates for reinsurance, or insurance sold to primary insurance companies. First-quarter sales for the group increased 51 percent to £486.5 million helped by the falling value of the pound against the dollar.

Hiscox, like rivals Amlin plc. and Catlin Group plc., increased its underwriting capacity by raising £50 million of extra capital in November allowing it to take advantage of rising rates.

Masojada said the insurer has no current plans to raise more capital even taking into account higher rates in catastrophe reinsurance, the company's biggest line of business, and the expansion in Europe.

"We've got sufficient capacity for what we plan to do," he said. "We'll look again at the end of the summer.

Insurers are benefiting from higher prices of primary insurance and reinsurance after the supply of capital, used to back policies, contracted last year because of the credit crunch and the most costly hurricane season since 2005.

Hiscox, which has doubled the number of US employees in the past year, said premiums in hurricane exposed areas rose between 10 percent and 50 percent in the first quarter.

The company expects prices to continue to rise throughout the rest of the year.

Hiscox fell 5.75 pence, or 1.7 percent, to 337.25 pence at in London trading, valuing the company at £1.2 billion.