Validus Holding, Ltd. said it expects its insured losses fromHurricanes Ike and Gustav to amount to $185 million, adding that itbelieves industrywide losses from Ike could be $4 billion higherthan estimated.

The Hamilton, Bermuda-based insurer broke down the losses bysegment, with Ike producing the highest loss at $165 million, andGustav totaling $20 million.

The company said its reinsurance segment stands to lose $124million, offshore energy could lose $44 million, and its insurancecould see losses of $17 million.

"Regarding Hurricane Ike, we believe that currently reportedindustry loss estimates in the $8 billion to $12 billion rangesignificantly underestimate the likely insured cost of this storm,"Ed Noonan, chairman and chief executive officer of Validus, said ina statement. "Although Ike was a Category 2 storm on theSaffir-Simpson hurricane scale at landfall, we believe the largewind field and the storm's high integrated kinetic energy combinedwith wind damage through the Ohio Valley are not fully contemplatedin current industry estimates.

"In addition, our view of the loss to the offshore energymarkets caused by Hurricane Ike lead us to conclude that currentlyreported industry estimates for this segment are likely toincrease," he continued.

"Our estimates for Hurricane Ike are predicated on an industryloss of $15 billion to $17 billion, comprised of $13 billion to $15billion onshore and $2 billion to $3 billion from offshoreenergy."

Validus' losses are net of reinstatement premiums, reinsuranceand other recoveries. The estimates are based on the company'sevaluation of impacted contracts and information provided bycustomers and brokers.

Actual losses may vary materially from these estimates due tothe inherent uncertainties resulting from its preliminaryinformation, the company said.