Investments - Summary of Proceeds and Gains (Losses) Realized on Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2019
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Proceeds received, Fixed maturity securities	$ 149,319	$ 170,223	$ 651,058	$ 360,246
Proceeds received, Equity securities	1,367	2,710	18,489	8,493
Investment gain realized on transfer			135,300
Reinsurance block of in-force fixed and variable annuity business					$ 2,900,000
Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Gross gains realized	1,258	3,980	149,574	8,002
Gross losses realized	(1,047)	(5,893)	(7,128)	(7,530)
Equity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Gross gains realized	428	885	5,562	2,478
Gross losses realized	$ (32)	$ (321)	$ (542)	$ (502)

Investment Gain (Loss) On Reinsurance

No definition available.

Name:	hmn_InvestmentGainLossOnReinsurance
Namespace Prefix:	hmn_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Proceeds From Sale And Maturity Of Marketable Securities (Excluding FHLB Repayments)

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hmn_ProceedsFromSaleAndMaturityOfMarketableSecuritiesExcludingFHLBRepayments
Namespace Prefix:	hmn_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of realized gain on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27357-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtSecuritiesAvailableForSaleRealizedGain
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of realized loss on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtSecuritiesAvailableForSaleRealizedLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of cash inflow from sale, maturity, prepayment and call of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3151-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3179-108585

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118954083&loc=d3e26853-111562

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleAndMaturityOfAvailableForSaleSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount before valuation allowance recoverable under reinsurance contracts. Examples include, but are not limited to, settled and unsettled claims, incurred but not reported losses, loss adjustment expense, premium paid, policy benefits and policy reserves.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ReinsuranceRecoverablesGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfAvailableForSaleSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_FixedMaturitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_EquitySecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: