Summary of Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Summary of Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies
Nature of Operations	Nature of Operations Hilltop Holdings Inc. (“Hilltop” and, collectively with its subsidiaries, the “Company”) is a financial holding company registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. On November 30, 2012, Hilltop acquired PlainsCapital Corporation pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger whereby PlainsCapital Corporation merged with and into our wholly owned subsidiary (the “PlainsCapital Merger”), which survived the PlainsCapital Merger under the name “PlainsCapital Corporation” (“PlainsCapital”). PlainsCapital is a financial holding company, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that provides, through its subsidiaries, an array of financial products and services. In addition to traditional banking services, PlainsCapital provides residential mortgage lending, investment banking, public finance advisory, wealth and investment management, treasury management, capital equipment leasing, fixed income sales, asset management, and correspondent clearing services. Certain disclosures within the notes to consolidated financial statements are specific to financial products and services of PlainsCapital and its subsidiaries and therefore include information at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012 and relating to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013. Prior to the consummation of the PlainsCapital Merger, the Company’s primary operations were limited to providing fire and homeowners insurance to low value dwellings and manufactured homes primarily in Texas and other areas of the southern United States through the Company’s wholly owned property and casualty insurance holding company, National Lloyds Corporation (“NLC”), formerly known as NLASCO, Inc. On September 13, 2013 (the “Bank Closing Date”), PlainsCapital Bank (the “Bank”) assumed substantially all of the liabilities, including all of the deposits, and acquired substantially all of the assets of Edinburg, Texas-based First National Bank (“FNB”) from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”), as receiver, and reopened acquired branches of FNB under the PlainsCapital Bank name (the “FNB Transaction”). Pursuant to the Purchase and Assumption Agreement (the “P&A Agreement”), the Bank and the FDIC entered into loss-share agreements whereby the FDIC agreed to share in the losses of certain covered loans and covered other real estate owned (“OREO”) that the Bank acquired, as further described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements. Based on preliminary purchase date valuations, the fair market value of the assets acquired was $2.2 billion, including $1.1 billion in covered loans, $286.2 million in securities, $121.0 million in covered OREO and $45.9 million in non-covered loans. The Bank also assumed $2.2 billion in liabilities, consisting primarily of deposits. FNB’s expansive branch network allows the Bank to further develop its Texas footprint through expansion into the Rio Grande Valley, Houston, Corpus Christi, Laredo and El Paso markets, among others.
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), and in conformity with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). In the opinion of management, these financial statements contain all adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the results of the interim periods presented. Accordingly, the financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. Results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for a full year or any future period. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Estimates regarding the allowance for loan losses, the fair values of financial instruments, the FDIC Indemnification Asset, reserves for losses and loss adjustment expenses, the mortgage loan indemnification liability, and the potential impairment of assets are particularly subject to change. The Company has applied its critical accounting policies and estimation methods consistently in all periods presented in these consolidated financial statements. As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the purchase date valuations for the FNB Transaction are considered preliminary because management made significant estimates and exercised significant judgment in estimating fair values and accounting due to the short time period between the Bank Closing Date and September 30, 2013. The presentation of the Company’s historical consolidated financial statements has been modified and certain items in the prior period financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation, which is more consistent with that of a financial institution that provides an array of financial products and services. Hilltop owns 100% of the outstanding stock of PlainsCapital. PlainsCapital owns 100% of the outstanding stock of the Bank and 100% of the membership interest in PlainsCapital Equity, LLC. The Bank owns 100% of the outstanding stock of PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital Company (“PrimeLending”), PNB Aero Services, Inc. and PCB-ARC, Inc. The Bank has a 100% membership interest in First Southwest Holdings, LLC (“First Southwest”) and PlainsCapital Securities, LLC, as well as a 51% voting interest in PlainsCapital Insurance Services, LLC. Hilltop also owns 100% of NLC, which operates through its wholly owned subsidiaries, National Lloyds Insurance Company (“NLIC”) and American Summit Insurance Company (“ASIC”). PrimeLending owns a 100% membership interest in PrimeLending Ventures Management, LLC, the controlling and sole managing member of PrimeLending Ventures, LLC (“Ventures”). Through a series limited liability company structure, Ventures establishes one or more separate operating divisions with select business partners, such as home builders, to originate residential mortgage loans. The principal subsidiaries of First Southwest are First Southwest Company (“FSC”), a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and First Southwest Asset Management, Inc., a registered investment advisor under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the above-named entities. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. Noncontrolling interests have been recorded for minority ownership in entities that are not wholly owned and are presented in compliance with the provisions of Noncontrolling Interest in Subsidiary Subsections of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”). PlainsCapital also owns 100% of the outstanding common stock of PCC Statutory Trusts I, II, III and IV (the “Trusts”), which are not included in the consolidated financial statements under the requirements of the Variable Interest Entities Subsections of the ASC, because the primary beneficiaries of the Trusts are not within the consolidated group. The following significant accounting policies are in addition to the significant accounting policies described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 15, 2013.
FDIC Indemnification Asset	FDIC Indemnification Asset The Company has elected to account for amounts receivable under the loss-share agreements with the FDIC as an indemnification asset (“FDIC Indemnification Asset”) in accordance with FASB ASC 805. The FDIC Indemnification Asset is initially recorded at fair value, based on the discounted value of expected future cash flows under the loss-share agreements. The difference between the present value and the undiscounted cash flows the Company expects to collect from the FDIC will be accreted into noninterest income within the consolidated statements of operations over the life of the FDIC Indemnification Asset. The FDIC Indemnification Asset is reviewed quarterly and adjusted for any changes in expected cash flows based on recent performance and expectations for future performance of the covered portfolio. These adjustments are measured on the same basis as the related covered loans and covered OREO. Any increases in cash flow of the covered assets over those expected will reduce the FDIC Indemnification Asset and any decreases in cash flow of the covered assets under those expected will increase the FDIC Indemnification Asset. Any amortization of changes in value is limited to the contractual term of the loss-share agreements. Increases and decreases to the FDIC Indemnification Asset are recorded as adjustments to noninterest income within the consolidated statements of operations over the life of the loss-share agreements.
Covered Other Real Estate Owned	Covered Other Real Estate Owned Acquired OREO subject to FDIC loss-share agreements is referred to as “covered OREO” and reported separately in our consolidated balance sheets. Covered OREO is reported exclusive of expected reimbursement cash flows from the FDIC. Foreclosed covered loan collateral is transferred into covered OREO at the collateral’s fair value, less selling costs. Covered OREO was initially recorded at its estimated fair value based on similar market comparable valuations, less estimated selling costs. Subsequently, loan collateral transferred to OREO is recorded at its net realizable value. Any subsequent valuation adjustments due to declines in fair value of the covered OREO will be charged to noninterest expense, and will be partially offset by noninterest income representing the corresponding increase to the FDIC Indemnification Asset for loss reimbursements. Any recoveries of previous valuation decreases will be credited to noninterest expense with a corresponding charge to noninterest income for the portion of the recovery that is due to the FDIC.