Note 13 - Other Liabilities FHLB Advances (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Advances from Federal Home Loan Banks	$ 82,532	$ 0
Federal Home Loan Bank, Advances, General Debt Obligations, Disclosures, Collateral Pledged	88,400
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances
Advances from Federal Home Loan Banks	$ 82,500
Federal Home Loan Bank, Advances, Weighted Average Interest Rate	2.73%
Federal Home Loan Bank, Advances, Maturity Period, Fixed Rate	90 days
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Next Twelve Months	$ 60,500
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Two	3,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Three	8,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Five	9,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal after Year Five	2,000
Federal Home Loan Bank, Advances, General Debt Obligations, Disclosures, Collateral Pledged	$ 88,400
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances \| Minimum
Federal Home Loan Bank, Ratio of Market Value of Collateral to Advances	1.03
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances \| Maximum
Federal Home Loan Bank, Ratio of Market Value of Collateral to Advances	1.05

The ratio of the market value of the collateralized eligible assets to the principal balance of the FHLB advances

No definition available.

Name:	rdn_FederalHomeLoanBankRatioofMarketValueofCollateraltoAdvances
Namespace Prefix:	rdn_
Data Type:	xbrli:pureItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of borrowings as of the balance sheet date from the Federal Home Loan Bank, which are primarily used to cover shortages in the required reserve balance and liquidity shortages.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6479118&loc=d3e64650-112822

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AdvancesFromFederalHomeLoanBanks
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of the collateral pledged in support of federal home loan bank advances outstanding.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75038535&loc=d3e64711-112823

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6479118&loc=d3e64650-112822

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FederalHomeLoanBankAdvancesGeneralDebtObligationsDisclosuresCollateralPledged1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Maturity period on fixed rate advances made and reported by Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank), in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FederalHomeLoanBankAdvancesMaturityPeriodFixedRate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Weighted average interest rate on advances made and reported by Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank).

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FederalHomeLoanBankAdvancesWeightedAverageInterestRate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing after the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-04.(a))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e24072-122690

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 470
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6802200&loc=d3e1835-112601

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongTermDebtMaturitiesRepaymentsOfPrincipalAfterYearFive
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the next fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongTermDebtMaturitiesRepaymentsOfPrincipalInNextTwelveMonths
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongTermDebtMaturitiesRepaymentsOfPrincipalInYearFive
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the third fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongTermDebtMaturitiesRepaymentsOfPrincipalInYearThree
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the second fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongTermDebtMaturitiesRepaymentsOfPrincipalInYearTwo
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis=us-gaap_FederalHomeLoanBankAdvancesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: