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Investments - Summary of Roll-Forward of Ambac's Cumulative Credit Losses on Debt Securities for Which Portion of Other-than-Temporary Impairment was Recognized in Other Comprehensive Income (Detail) - Successor [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Other than Temporary Impairment, Credit Losses Recognized in Earnings [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning	$ 54,362	$ 40,512	$ 52,070	$ 31,176
Additions for credit impairments recognized on:
Securities not previously impaired	307	580
Securities previously impaired	1,985	8,756
Reductions for credit impairments previously recognized on:
Balance at end	$ 54,362	$ 40,512	$ 52,070	$ 31,176

X

- Definition

Other than temporary impairments additions for credit impairments recognized.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Other than temporary impairments reductions for credit impairments previously recognized.

+ References

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- Definition

This item represents an increase to the cumulative amount of credit losses recognized in earnings for an other than temporary impairment (OTTI) of a debt security held for which a previous OTTI was recognized and the investor does not intend to sell the debt security and it is not more likely than not that the investor will be required to sell the debt security before recovery of its amortized cost basis.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27340-111563

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- Definition

This item represents an increase to the cumulative amount of credit losses recognized in earnings for an other than temporary impairment (OTTI) of a debt security held for which no such other than temporary impairment (OTTI) was previously recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27340-111563

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- Definition

The cumulative amount of credit losses recognized in earnings related to debt securities held for which a portion of an other than temporary impairment (OTTI) was recognized in other comprehensive income (a component of shareholders' equity).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27340-111563

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X

- Definition

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

+ References

No definition available.

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