Investments (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Investments [Abstract]

Summary of available for sale securities

The following is a summary of available for sale securities at December 31:
										Net
			Cost or		Gross		Gross			Unrealized
	Fair		Amortized		Unrealized		Unrealized			Gains
	Value		Cost		Gains		Losses			(Losses)
2013:
Fixed maturities:
U.S. government obligations	$	113,389	$	113,348	$	81	$	(40	)	$	41
Residential mortgage-backed securities		13,252		12,058		1,334		(140	)		1,194
Commercial mortgage-backed securities		28,565		28,406		308		(149	)		159
State and municipal obligations		115,250		115,278		407		(435	)		(28	)
Corporate securities		137,215		136,991		3,207		(2,983	)		224
Foreign government obligations		23,879		23,689		588		(398	)		190
Total fixed maturities		431,550		429,770		5,925		(4,145	)		1,780
Equity securities:
Financial institutions		18,850		7,780		11,171		(101	)		11,070
Industrial & miscellaneous		126,978		64,307		63,009		(338	)		62,671
Total equity securities		145,828		72,087		74,180		(439	)		73,741
Total	$	577,378	$	501,857	$	80,105	$	(4,584	)		75,521
							Applicable federal income taxes				(26,432	)
							Net unrealized gains - net of tax			$	49,089
2012:
Fixed maturities:
U.S. government obligations	$	70,742	$	70,720	$	43	$	(21	)	$	22
Residential mortgage-backed securities		25,040		23,954		1,218		(132	)		1,086
Commercial mortgage-backed securities		11,828		11,006		849		(27	)		822
State and municipal obligations		194,865		194,258		757		(150	)		607
Corporate securities		120,596		118,574		2,923		(901	)		2,022
Foreign government obligations		22,598		22,047		602		(51	)		551
Total fixed maturities		445,669		440,559		6,392		(1,282	)		5,110
Equity securities:
Financial institutions		12,394		5,925		6,542		(73	)		6,469
Industrial & miscellaneous		95,188		52,202		44,568		(1,582	)		42,986
Total equity securities		107,582		58,127		51,110		(1,655	)		49,455
Total	$	553,251	$	498,686	$	57,502	$	(2,937	)		54,565
							Applicable federal income taxes				(19,098	)
							Net unrealized gains - net of tax			$	35,467

Fixed maturity and equity security investments in unrealized loss position

The following table summarizes, for fixed maturity and equity security investments in an unrealized loss position at December 31, the aggregate fair value and gross unrealized loss categorized by the duration those securities have been continuously in an unrealized loss position.

	2013							2012
	Number of Securities		Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Loss			Number of Securities		Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Loss
Fixed maturity securities:
12 months or less		451	$	123,145	$	(3,105	)		170	$	90,607	$	(483	)
Greater than 12 months		53		18,249		(1,040	)		58		19,283		(799	)
Total fixed maturities		504		141,394		(4,145	)		228		109,890		(1,282	)
Equity securities:
12 months or less		10		1,682		(204	)		20		6,955		(842	)
Greater than 12 months		2		1,980		(235	)		11		6,640		(813	)
Total equity securities		12		3,662		(439	)		31		13,595		(1,655	)
Total		516	$	145,056	$	(4,584	)		259	$	123,485	$	(2,937	)

Fair value and cost or amortized cost of fixed maturity investments by contractual maturity

The fair value and the cost or amortized cost of fixed maturity investments at December 31, 2013, by contractual maturity, are shown below.  Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities because borrowers have, in some cases, the right to call or prepay obligations with or without call or prepayment penalties.  Pre-refunded municipal bonds are classified based on their pre-refunded call dates.

	Fair Value				Cost or Amortized Cost
One year or less	$	99,367	23.0	%	$	98,926	23.0	%
Excess of one year to five years		197,404	45.7			198,046	46.1
Excess of five years to ten years		54,287	12.6			53,719	12.5
Excess of ten years		6,258	1.5			5,838	1.4
Total maturities		357,316	82.8			356,529	83.0
Asset-backed securities		74,234	17.2			73,241	17.0
	$	431,550	100.0	%	$	429,770	100.0	%

Major categories of investment income

Major categories of investment income for the years ended December 31 are summarized as follows:

		2013			2012			2011
Fixed maturities		$	9,023		$	10,052		$	11,016
Equity securities			2,166			2,121			1,738
Money market funds, Short-term and other			49			43			60
			11,238			12,216			12,814
Investment expenses			(2,468	)		(2,286	)		(2,085	)
	Net investment income	$	8,770		$	9,930		$	10,729

Realized gains (losses) on investments

Gains and losses on investments, including equity method earnings from limited partnerships, for the years ended December 31 are summarized below:

	2013			2012			2011
Fixed maturities:
Gross gains	$	7,235		$	3,860		$	6,443
Gross losses		(4,371	)		(3,961	)		(6,805	)
Net gains (losses)		2,864			(101	)		(362	)
Equity securities:
Gross gains		15,374			3,191			7,409
Gross losses		(2,718	)		(1,131	)		(2,960	)
Net gains		12,656			2,060			4,449
Limited partnerships - net gain (loss)		7,995			7,052			(21,890	)
Total net gains (losses)	$	23,515		$	9,011		$	(17,803	)

Adjustments for other-than-temporary impairments

Gain and loss activity for fixed maturity and equity security investments, as shown in the previous table, include adjustments for other-than-temporary impairment for the years ended December 31 summarized as follows:

	2013			2012			2011
Cumulative charges to income at beginning of year	$	7,773		$	8,178		$	7,604
Writedowns based on objective and subjective criteria		742			888			1,906
Recovery of prior writedowns upon sale or disposal		(1,745	)		(1,293	)		(1,332	)
Net pre-tax realized gain (loss)		1,003			405			(574	)
Cumulative charges to income at end of year	$	6,770		$	7,773		$	8,178
Addition (reduction) to earnings per share from net
after-tax realized gain (loss)	$	.04		$	.02		$	(.03	)
Unrealized gain on investments previously written down at end of the year - see note below	$	13,129		$	8,158		$	6,782

Financial information of significant limited partnership investment

The summarized financial information of the significant limited partnership investment as of and for the years ended December 31 is as follows:

	2013			2012		2011
Total assets	$	493,028		$	641,071	$	633,165
Total partners' capital		444,337			559,745		579,568
Net increase (decrease) in partners' capital resulting from operations		(64,550	)		60,734		(266,314	)