HCC Declares 63rd Quarterly Dividend

HOUSTON, Nov. 18, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc.
(NYSE:HCC) today announced its 63rd consecutive quarterly cash dividend.

HCC's Board of Directors has declared a regular cash dividend of $0.155 per
share on the Company's shares of $1.00 par value common stock. The dividend is
payable to stockholders of record on January 3, 2012 and will be paid on or
about January 17, 2012.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. is a leading
international specialty insurance group with offices across the United States
and in the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland. As of September 30, 2011, HCC had
assets of $9.6 billion and shareholders' equity of $3.3 billion. HCC's major
domestic and international insurance companies have financial strength ratings
of "AA (Very Strong)" from Standard & Poor's Corporation, "A+ (Superior)" from
A.M. Best Company Inc., "AA (Very Strong)" from Fitch Ratings, and "A1 (Good
Security)" from Moody's Investors Service, Inc.

For more information about HCC, please visit http://www.hcc.com.

Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made under "safe
harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The types of risks and
uncertainties which may affect the Company are set forth in its periodic reports
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACT: Doug Busker, Director of Investor Relations
HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc.
Telephone: (713) 996-1192