Name:	mkl_InvestmentsAvailableforSale
Namespace Prefix:	mkl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Amount, before tax, of unrealized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

No definition available.

Name:	mkl_InvestmentsAvailableforSaleAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedGainBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	mkl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Amount, before tax, of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

No definition available.

Name:	mkl_InvestmentsAvailableforSaleAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	mkl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Amortized cost of investment measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

No definition available.

Name:	mkl_InvestmentsAvailableforSaleAmortizedCostBasis
Namespace Prefix:	mkl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Amount of short-term investment security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

No definition available.

Name:	mkl_ShorttermInvestmentsAvailableforSale
Namespace Prefix:	mkl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Amount, before tax, of unrealized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on a short-term investment security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

No definition available.

Name:	mkl_ShorttermInvestmentsAvailableforSaleAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedGainBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	mkl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Amount, before tax, of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on a short-term investment security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

No definition available.

Name:	mkl_ShorttermInvestmentsAvailableforSaleAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	mkl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Amortized cost of short-term investments measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

No definition available.

Name:	mkl_ShorttermInvestmentsAvailableforSaleAmortizedCostBasis
Namespace Prefix:	mkl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Amount, before tax, of unrealized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

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

Amount, before tax, of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

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

Amortized cost of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118942338&loc=SL82898722-210454

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

Amount of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118942338&loc=SL82898722-210454

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118954083&loc=d3e26610-111562

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

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

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfAvailableForSaleSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_USTreasurySecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_USGovernmentSponsoredEnterprisesDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_USStatesAndPoliticalSubdivisionsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_ForeignGovernmentDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_CommercialMortgageBackedSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_ResidentialMortgageBackedSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_AssetBackedSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: