Investments (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Investments [Abstract]

Summary of available for sale securities

Note B - Investments
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)
2014:
Fixed maturities:
U.S. government obligations	$	101,094	$	101,058	$	108	$	(72	)	$	36
Residential mortgage-backed securities		6,066		5,830		273		(37	)		236
Commercial mortgage-backed securities		36,440		36,210		630		(400	)		230
State and municipal obligations		113,777		113,133		784		(140	)		644
Corporate securities		166,966		170,822		2,005		(5,861	)		(3,856	)
Foreign government obligations		27,466		28,332		114		(980	)		(866	)
Total fixed maturities		451,809		455,385		3,914		(7,490	)		(3,576	)
Equity securities:
Financial institutions		25,343		10,100		15,303		(60	)		15,243
Industrial & miscellaneous		136,764		68,678		70,260		(2,174	)		68,086
Total equity securities		162,107		78,778		85,563		(2,234	)		83,329
Total	$	613,916	$	534,163	$	89,477	$	(9,724	)		79,753
							Applicable federal income taxes				(27,913	)
							Net unrealized gains - net of tax			$	51,840
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

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.

	2014							2013
	Number of Securities		Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Loss			Number of Securities		Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Loss
Fixed maturity securities:
12 months or less		591	$	176,756	$	(6,083	)		451	$	123,145	$	(3,105	)
Greater than 12 months		140		27,667		(1,407	)		53		18,249		(1,040	)
Total fixed maturities		731		204,423		(7,490	)		504		141,394		(4,145	)
Equity securities:
12 months or less		33		13,538		(2,170	)		10		1,682		(204	)
Greater than 12 months		3		686		(64	)		2		1,980		(235	)
Total equity securities		36		14,224		(2,234	)		12		3,662		(439	)
Total		767	$	218,647	$	(9,724	)		516	$	145,056	$	(4,584	)

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, 2014, by contractual maturity, is 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	$	130,407	28.9	%	$	130,322	28.6	%
Excess of one year to five years		189,182	41.9			192,990	42.4
Excess of five years to ten years		47,209	10.4			48,176	10.6
Excess of ten years		9,377	2.1			8,744	1.9
Total maturities		376,175	83.3			380,232	83.5
Asset-backed securities		75,634	16.7			75,153	16.5
	$	451,809	100.0	%	$	455,385	100.0	%

Major categories of investment income

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

		2014			2013			2012
Interest on fixed maturities		$	8,806		$	9,023		$	10,052
Dividends on equity securities			2,693			2,166			2,121
Money market funds, Short-term and other			37			49			43
			11,536			11,238			12,216
Investment expenses			(2,481	)		(2,468	)		(2,286	)
	Net investment income	$	9,055		$	8,770		$	9,930

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:

	2014			2013			2012
Fixed maturities:
Gross gains	$	6,480		$	7,235		$	3,860
Gross losses		(4,596	)		(4,371	)		(3,961	)
Net gains (losses)		1,884			2,864			(101	)
Equity securities:
Gross gains		7,467			15,374			3,191
Gross losses		(1,529	)		(2,718	)		(1,131	)
Net gains		5,938			12,656			2,060
Limited partnerships - net gain		7,108			7,995			7,052
Total net gains	$	14,930		$	23,515		$	9,011

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:

	2014			2013			2012
Cumulative charges to income at beginning of year	$	6,770		$	7,773		$	8,178
Writedowns based on objective and subjective criteria		689			742			888
Recovery of prior writedowns upon sale or disposal		(291	)		(1,745	)		(1,293	)
Net pre-tax realized gain (loss)		(398	)		1,003			405
Cumulative charges to income at end of year	$	7,168		$	6,770		$	7,773
Addition (reduction) to earnings per share from net
after-tax OTI gain (loss)	$	(.02	)	$	.04		$	.02
Unrealized gain on investments previously
written down at end of the year - see note below	$	17,127		$	13,129		$	8,158

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:

	2014		2013			2012
Total assets	$	565,500	$	493,028		$	641,071
Total partners' capital		542,700		444,337			559,745
Net increase (decrease) in partners' capital resulting from operations		125,700		(64,550	)		60,734