Disposal of Shareholding

Hiscox PLC
11 July 2005


                            HISCOX PLC ANNOUNCEMENT
               Disposal of Shareholding in Heritage Group Limited

Hiscox plc ('Hiscox') announces today that its subsidiary, Hiscox Insurance
Company (Guernsey) Ltd, has disposed of a 49 per cent interest in Heritage Group
Limited, an independent financial services group based in Guernsey, Jersey and
London.

The shareholding has been sold for a total consideration of £3.75 million to
Hologram Holdings Limited, a company owned by the management team at Heritage.
An original investment of £250,000 was made between 2001 and 2003. A net profit
of £2.8 million will be recognised in Hiscox plc's 2005 accounts.

The shareholding was originally purchased by Hiscox to support the management
team in their management buy-out from their owners, given the strong trading
relationship between the two organisations. That relationship continues today
with Heritage Group managing the back-office for Hiscox in Guernsey.

                                    - ends -

For further information:

Hiscox plc
Bronek Masojada    Chief Executive                 020 7448 6012
Stuart Bridges     Finance Director                020 7448 6013
Fiona Fong         Director of Communications      020 7448 6447

The Maitland Consultancy
Suzanne Bartch                                     020 7399 5151

Notes to editors

Hiscox plc is a specialist insurance group listed on the London Stock Exchange
where it has a market capitalization of circa £500 million. There are three main
underwriting parts of the Group - Global Markets, UK and International Retail.
The Global Markets business underwrites, via Syndicate 33, mainly
internationally traded business in the London Market - generally large or
complex business which needs to be shared with other insurers or needs the
international licences of Lloyd's. The UK business offers a wide range of
specialist insurance for professionals and business customers, as well as high
net worth individuals. It has regional offices in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds,
Maidenhead and Colchester. The European business has offices in Paris,
Amsterdam, Munich, Brussels and Guernsey and writes mainly high value household
business and some specialist professional indemnity business. Guernsey
underwrites kidnap and ransom business and fine art. For further information, go
to www.hiscox.com

The Heritage Group is an independent financial services organisation that
manages over $1billion of assets from offices in Guernsey, Jersey and London.
Through Prism, its captive management company, the Group is a member of the
Channel Island Stock Exchange. Group services include captive insurance and
protected cell company management, offshore financial structures including
trusts and companies, aircraft and marine registration, insurance broking and
underwriting management. The roots of the original management team go back over
twenty years and clients range from high net worth individuals to some of the
world's major corporations. For further information go to www.heritage.co.gg


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange