Long-term Debt (Details)			3 Months Ended						0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Retail Notes USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Medium Term Notes USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Euro Denominated Notes USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Euro Denominated Notes EUR (€)	Mar. 31, 2013 Secured Term Loan Springleaf Financial Funding Company USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Secured Term Loan Springleaf Financial Funding Company USD ($)	Apr. 11, 2013 Secured Term Loan Springleaf Financial Funding Company Subsequent events USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Securitizations USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Junior Subordinated Debt (Hybrid debt) USD ($)
Principal maturities of long-term debt by type of debt
Contractual interest rate, minimum (as a percent)			4.95%	5.40%						1.57%
Interest rates (as a percent)					4.13%	4.13%	5.50%				6.00%
Contractual interest rate, maximum (as a percent)			7.50%	6.90%						6.00%
Second quarter 2013	$ 539,003,000		$ 69,983,000	$ 469,020,000
Third quarter 2013	36,441,000		36,441,000
Fourth quarter 2013	419,540,000		2,903,000		416,637,000
First quarter 2014	1,115,000		1,115,000
Remainder of 2014	356,861,000		356,861,000
2015	797,679,000		47,679,000	750,000,000
2016	375,000,000			375,000,000
2017	7,050,000,000			3,300,000,000			3,750,000,000
2018-2067	350,000,000										350,000,000
Securitizations	3,371,344,000									3,371,344,000
Total principal maturities	13,296,983,000		514,982,000	4,894,020,000	416,637,000		3,750,000,000			3,371,344,000	350,000,000
Total carrying amount	12,387,034,000	12,454,316,000	480,516,000	4,197,649,000	394,575,000		3,764,468,000			3,378,274,000	171,552,000
Face amount of each issuance of debt						323,400,000	3,750,000,000	3,750,000,000
Mandatory prepayment of secured term loan									714,900,000
Secured term loan outstanding									3,035,000,000
Amount of the subsidiary's stock that may be used to secure debt							$ 167,900,000