Related Party Transactions (Details 3) (USD $)					12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013 Liquidity agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Liquidity agreement	Dec. 31, 2013 Liquidity agreement Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Liquidity agreement Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Intercompany loan agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Intercompany loan agreement	Dec. 31, 2013 Intercompany loan agreement Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Capital support agreement	Dec. 31, 2013 Capital support agreement Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Capital support agreement Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Credit Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Credit Agreement	Dec. 31, 2013 AIC	Nov. 30, 2011 AIC	Nov. 30, 2011 AFC Commercial loan	Nov. 30, 2011 AFC Allstate Bank Commercial loan
Related Party Transactions
Amount available for borrowings under the agreement					$ 1,000,000,000				$ 1,000,000,000		$ 1,000,000,000
Maturity period of advances					364 days
Notice period for payables on demand						10 days
Reference rate for advances						30-day commercial paper
Amount of loan outstanding under the Liquidity Agreement			0	0			0	0					0	0
Cash paid for purchases of investments																	176,000,000
Fair value																	175,000,000
Accrued investment income	358,000,000	489,000,000																1,000,000
Percentage of risk-based capital ratio												150.00%
Commitment fee as a percentage of the amount of the capital and surplus maximum that remains available at the beginning of the period										1.00%
Minimum risk-based capital ratio at which agreement will be terminated (as a percent)												300.00%
Voting stock to be held as per agreement (as a percent)												50.00%
Payable associated with the defined benefit pension plan due to AIC forgiven																4,000,000
Increase in additional capital paid-in capital on account of defined benefit obligation forgiven																	1,000,000
Return of capital															$ 500,000,000