Reinsurance (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 reinsurance_company	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013
Reinsurance Retention Policy [Line Items]
Trust agreements and irrevocable letters of credit amount	25,200,000
Reinsurance recoverable	464,600,000			452,600,000	451,500,000	467,800,000	494,300,000	485,300,000	456,100,000	444,700,000
Supplier Concentration Risk | Reinsurance Recoverable
Reinsurance Retention Policy [Line Items]
Number of major reinsurance companies	5
Reinsurance recoverable percentage	73.00%
Single life and joint first-to-die policies
Reinsurance Retention Policy [Line Items]
Retention limit		5,000,000	10,000,000
Joint last-to-die policies
Reinsurance Retention Policy [Line Items]
Retention limit			12,000,000
Second-to-die policies
Reinsurance Retention Policy [Line Items]
Retention limit		6,000,000
Phoenix Life
Reinsurance Retention Policy [Line Items]
Reinsurance recoverable	67,200,000
Phoenix Life | Supplier Concentration Risk | Reinsurance Recoverable
Reinsurance Retention Policy [Line Items]
Reinsurance recoverable percentage	15.00%