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Background and Business Description - Additional Information (Detail) | 3 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) Segment $ / shares shares | Dec. 31, 2014 | Dec. 31, 2015 $ / shares shares | Apr. 30, 2013 $ / shares shares
Background And Basis Of Presentation [Line Items] |  |  |  |
Entity Incorporation, Date of Incorporation | Apr. 29, 1991 |  |  |
Number of reportable segments | Segment | 2 |  |  |
Investment Warrants Expiration Date |  | Apr. 30, 2023 |  |
Payment of permitted policy claim (percent) |  | 25.00% |  |
Common stock, shares authorized | 130,000,000 |  | 130,000,000 |
Common Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share | $ / shares | $ 0.01 |  | $ 0.01 | $ 0.01
Preferred stock, shares authorized | 20,000,000 |  | 20,000,000 |
Preferred Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share | $ / shares | $ 0.01 |  | $ 0.01 |
Common stock, shares issued | 45,047,686 |  | 45,044,222 |
Warrants Distributed In Bankruptcy |  |  |  | 5,047,138
Warrants issued exercise price | $ / shares |  |  |  | $ 16.67
Ambac Assurance [Member] |  |  |  |
Background And Basis Of Presentation [Line Items] |  |  |  |
Net par exposure for policies allocated to the Segregated Account | $ | $ 13,832,551,000 |  |  |
Minimum surplus amount | $ | 100,000,000 |  |  |
Statutory Accounting Practices, Statutory Capital and Surplus, Balance | $ | $ 646,492,000 |  |  |
Successor [Member] |  |  |  |
Background And Basis Of Presentation [Line Items] |  |  |  |
Common stock, shares issued |  |  |  | 45,000,000
Warrants Distributed In Bankruptcy |  |  |  | 5,047,138

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- Definition Minimum surplus amount that will cap the benefits of the Reinsurance Agreement between Ambac Assurance and the Segregated Account of Ambac Assurance. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Number of securities into which the class of warrant or right may be converted. For example, but not limited to, 500,000 warrants may be converted into 1,000,000 shares. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(i)(2)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690 + Details
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