Earnings Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013		Sep. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2013		Mar. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012		Sep. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2012		Mar. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Earnings Per Share, Basic, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations before non-controlling interests	$ 3,852		$ 2,486		$ 3,420		$ 2,049		$ 3,591		$ 3,667		$ 3,271		$ 2,433		$ 11,807	$ 12,962	$ 11,562
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests																	1,482	72	(170)
Net income from continuing operations - net of tax																	10,325	12,890	11,732
Discontinued operations - net of tax	9,320		601		1,207		1,262		202		386		688		999		12,390	2,275	1,777
Net income attributable to Fortegra Financial Corporation	$ 12,558		$ 3,222		$ 4,442		$ 2,493		$ 3,783		$ 4,024		$ 3,944		$ 3,414		$ 22,715	$ 15,165	$ 13,509
Total weighted average basic common shares outstanding	19,410,655		19,405,597		19,540,610		19,556,743		19,507,733		19,531,694		19,705,276		19,904,819		19,477,802	19,655,492	20,352,027
Effect of dilutive stock options and restricted stock awards																	1,004,850	944,870	913,774
Total weighted average diluted common shares outstanding	20,388,890		20,404,508		20,523,090		20,625,041		20,507,329		20,463,238		20,632,233		20,739,196		20,482,652	20,600,362	21,265,801
Earnings per share - Basic:
Net income from continuing operations - net of tax	$ 0.17	[1]	$ 0.14	[1]	$ 0.17	[1]	$ 0.06	[1]	$ 0.18	[1]	$ 0.19	[1]	$ 0.17	[1]	$ 0.12	[1]	$ 0.53	$ 0.65	$ 0.57
Discontinued operations - net of tax	$ 0.48	[1]	$ 0.03	[1]	$ 0.06	[1]	$ 0.07	[1]	$ 0.01	[1]	$ 0.02	[1]	$ 0.03	[1]	$ 0.05	[1]	$ 0.64	$ 0.12	$ 0.09
Net income attributable to Fortegra Financial Corporation	$ 0.65	[1]	$ 0.17	[1]	$ 0.23	[1]	$ 0.13	[1]	$ 0.19	[1]	$ 0.21	[1]	$ 0.20	[1]	$ 0.17	[1]	$ 1.17	$ 0.77	$ 0.66
Earnings per share - Diluted:
Net income from continuing operations - net of tax	$ 0.16	[1]	$ 0.13	[1]	$ 0.16	[1]	$ 0.06	[1]	$ 0.17	[1]	$ 0.18	[1]	$ 0.16	[1]	$ 0.11	[1]	$ 0.50	$ 0.63	$ 0.55
Discontinued operations - net of tax	$ 0.46	[1]	$ 0.03	[1]	$ 0.06	[1]	$ 0.06	[1]	$ 0.01	[1]	$ 0.02	[1]	$ 0.03	[1]	$ 0.05	[1]	$ 0.61	$ 0.11	$ 0.09
Net income attributable to Fortegra Financial Corporation	$ 0.62	[1]	$ 0.16	[1]	$ 0.22	[1]	$ 0.12	[1]	$ 0.18	[1]	$ 0.20	[1]	$ 0.19	[1]	$ 0.16	[1]	$ 1.11	$ 0.74	$ 0.64
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, Other Disclosures [Abstract]
Weighted average anti-dilutive common shares																	509,314	480,795	301,010

[1] (1) - Earnings per share amounts may not recalculate due to rounding.