Note 14 - Statutory Information Statutory Information (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 Differences Between GAAP Basis and STAT Basis [Member] years	Dec. 31, 2013 Statutory Policyholder Surplus [Member] PENNSYLVANIA	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Guaranty Reinsurance Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Radian Guaranty Reinsurance Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Radian Guaranty Reinsurance Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Guaranty Reinsurance Inc [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Mortgage Insurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Radian Mortgage Insurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Radian Mortgage Insurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Mortgage Insurance [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Insurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Radian Insurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Radian Insurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Insurance [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Mortgage Assurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Radian Mortgage Assurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Radian Mortgage Assurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Mortgage Assurance [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Guaranty [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Radian Guaranty [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Radian Guaranty [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Guaranty [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Jul. 31, 2013 Radian Asset Assurance [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Radian Asset Assurance [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Radian Asset Assurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Asset Assurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Radian Asset Assurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Radian Asset Assurance [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Asset Assurance [Member] Statutory Policyholder Surplus [Member] NEW YORK	Sep. 30, 2014 Radian Asset Assurance [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Radian Asset Assurance [Member] Adjusted Net Investment Income [Member] NEW YORK	Dec. 31, 2013 Financial Guarantee [Member] Radian Asset Assurance [Member] Minimum [Member] NEW YORK	Dec. 31, 2013 Financial Guarantee [Member] Radian Asset Assurance [Member] Maximum [Member] NEW YORK	Dec. 31, 2011 Statutory Accounting Practices, Various Statutory Audit Adjustments [Member] Radian Guaranty Reinsurance Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Statutory Accounting Practices, Various Statutory Audit Adjustments [Member] Radian Insurance [Member]
Statutory Accounting Practices [Line Items]
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents	$ 1,300,000,000
Statutory Unassigned Negative Surplus				360,700,000	377,700,000			69,100,000	85,400,000			305,000,000	317,300,000			161,000,000	160,500,000			623,100,000	685,100,000
Statutory surplus				59,300,000	42,300,000	26,200,000		98,000,000	81,800,000	20,000,000		230,800,000	218,600,000	162,400,000		18,000,000	18,500,000	16,500,000		1,317,800,000	926,000,000	843,200,000					1,198,000,000	1,144,100,000	973,900,000							5,600,000
Statutory contingency reserve				38,500,000				6,900,000	0	0		35,500,000	20,600,000	0						23,000,000	0	0					264,000,000	300,100,000	421,400,000
Additional Risk And Capital Information
Claims Paying Resources																											1,600,000,000
Required statutory surplus				20,000,000				20,000,000				20,000,000				1,125,000											66,400,000
Minimum Statutory Surplus Committed To Be Maintained Each Quarter																5,000,000
Cash Dividends Paid to Parent Company by Consolidated Subsidiaries	7,600,000																							36,000,000	54,000,000	53,400,000
Payment of Dividend by Subsidiary to Parent																								36,000,000							32,000,000
Statutory Minimum Policyholders' Surplus Required For Financial Guaranty Insurers In The State Of New York																											65,000,000
Statutory Minimum Policyholders' Surplus Required For Other Lines Of Insurance By The State Of New York																											1,400,000
Policyholder Dividends, Rate on Policy Earnings			10.00%																											10.00%		100.00%
Aggregate Risk Limit for Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts																																	0.33%	4.00%
STAT Accounting Information [Abstract]
Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Companies Are Required Each Year To Establish A Contingency Reserve Equal To This Percentage Of Premiums Earned In Such Year		50.00%
Number Of Years A Fifty Percent Contingency Reserve Is Required To Be Maintained		10
Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Companies Contingency Reserve May Be Reduced With Regulatory Approval To The Extent That Losses In Any Calendar Year Exceed This Percentage Of Earned Premiums For Such Year		35.00%
For Financial Guaranty Policies, Each Insurer Must Establish A Contingency Reserve Equal To The Greater Of This Percentage Of Premiums Written Or A Stated Percentage Of The Principal Guaranteed		50.00%
Range Of Years The Contingency Reserve Must Be Maintained, Low End		15
Range Of Years The Contingency Reserve Must Be Maintained, High End		20
Statutory Accounting Practices, Statutory Amount Available for Dividend Payments							0				0				0				0				0
Statutory Accounting Practices, Statutory Net Income Amount				$ 55,500,000	$ 16,000,000	$ (37,600,000)		$ 18,100,000	$ 1,700,000	$ (11,100,000)		$ 26,500,000	$ 58,000,000	$ 9,900,000		$ (500,000)	$ 2,000,000	$ (600,000)		$ (23,800,000)	$ (175,900,000)	$ (545,100,000)					$ (24,900,000)	$ 103,300,000	$ 69,100,000						$ 9,000,000	$ 5,600,000