Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit), Continuing Operations [Abstract]

Components Of Income Tax Expense

The provision for income tax expense consists of the following components:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2013			2012		2011
	(Amounts in thousands)
Federal
Current	$	30,266		$	9,340	$	31,390
Deferred	(14,970		)	6,238		20,518
	$	15,296		$	15,578	$	51,908
State
Current	$	5,234		$	2,079	$	2,934
Deferred	(577		)	742		(907		)
	$	4,657		$	2,821	$	2,027
Total
Current	$	35,500		$	11,419	$	34,324
Deferred	(15,547		)	6,980		19,611
Total	$	19,953		$	18,399	$	53,935

Reconciliation Of Income Taxes

The income tax provision reflected in the consolidated statements of operations is reconciled to the federal income tax on income before income taxes based on a statutory rate of 35% as shown in the table below:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2013			2012			2011
	(Amounts in thousands)
Computed tax expense at 35%	$	46,234		$	47,359		$	85,785
Tax-exempt interest income	(26,381		)	(27,789		)	(31,414		)
Dividends received deduction	(2,239		)	(1,482		)	(1,704		)
State tax expense	4,944			1,918			1,299
Other, net	(2,605		)	(1,607		)	(31		)
Income tax expense	$	19,953		$	18,399		$	53,935

Deferred Tax Assets And Liabilities

Significant components of the Company’s net deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

	December 31,
	2013			2012
	(Amounts in thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
20% of net unearned premium	$	68,586		$	66,353
Discounting of loss reserves and salvage and subrogation recoverable for tax purposes	12,810			15,019
Write-down of impaired investments	1,714			1,723
Tax credit carryforward	40,309			37,557
Expense accruals	12,497			10,910
Other deferred tax assets	5,653			4,860
Total gross deferred tax assets	141,569			136,422
Deferred tax liabilities:
Deferred acquisition costs	(68,063		)	(65,069		)
Tax liability on net unrealized gain on securities carried at fair value	(33,964		)	(48,483		)
Tax depreciation in excess of book depreciation	(9,667		)	(10,191		)
Undistributed earnings of insurance subsidiaries	(4,024		)	(4,499		)
Tax amortization in excess of book amortization	(1,447		)	(914		)
Other deferred tax liabilities	(9,184		)	(7,711		)
Total gross deferred tax liabilities	(126,349		)	(136,867		)
Net deferred tax assets (liabilities)	$	15,220		$	(445	)

Summary Of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

	2013		2012
	(Amounts in thousands)
Balance at January 1	$	5,926	$	4,567
Additions based on tax positions related to:
Current year	1,225		330
Prior years	3,633		1,539
Additions (reductions) based on tax positions related to prior years	0		(308		)
Additions (reductions) as a result of as lapse of the applicable statute of limitations	0		(202		)
Balance at December 31	$	10,784	$	5,926