Net Income Attributable to Shareholders of Crawford & Company per Common Share (Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014
Common Class A
Numerator:
Allocation of undistributed earnings	$ 371	$ 4,384	$ 156	$ 6,660
Dividends paid	2,149	1,514	4,288	3,016
Net income available to common shareholders, basic	$ 2,520	$ 5,898	$ 4,444	$ 9,676
Denominator:
Weighted-average common shares outstanding, basic (shares)	30,673	30,256	30,597	30,088
Earnings per share - basic (usd per share)	$ 0.08	$ 0.19	$ 0.15	$ 0.32
Common Class B
Numerator:
Allocation of undistributed earnings	$ 299	$ 3,578	$ 127	$ 5,465
Dividends paid	1,235	988	2,469	1,975
Net income available to common shareholders, basic	$ 1,534	$ 4,566	$ 2,596	$ 7,440
Denominator:
Weighted-average common shares outstanding, basic (shares)	24,690	24,690	24,690	24,690
Earnings per share - basic (usd per share)	$ 0.06	$ 0.18	$ 0.11	$ 0.30