CONTINGENCIES, COMMITMENTS AND GUARANTEES (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended				1 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum Chartis U.S.	Sep. 30, 2012 Consolidated 2008 Securities Litigation complaint	Mar. 20, 2009 Consolidated 2008 Securities Litigation complaint	Mar. 19, 2009 ERISA Litigation II complaint	Sep. 30, 2012 Canadian Securities Class Action claim	Sep. 30, 2012 Brookfield litigation related to AIGFP	Sep. 30, 2012 Fitzpatrick matter	Sep. 30, 2012 Behm matter	Oct. 02, 2010 Behm matter action	Sep. 30, 2012 False Claims Act complaint multiple	Feb. 25, 2010 False Claims Act complaint individual	Jun. 30, 2012 2006 Regulatory Settlements	Feb. 28, 2006 2006 Regulatory Settlements	Sep. 30, 2012 2006 Regulatory Settlements	Mar. 31, 2012 2006 Regulatory Settlements	Dec. 17, 2010 2006 Regulatory Settlements	Jan. 31, 2012 Consolidated 2004 Securities Litigation	Jul. 31, 2010 Consolidated 2004 Securities Litigation	Sep. 30, 2012 Consolidated 2004 Securities Litigation shareholder individual Objector	Dec. 31, 2011 Consolidated 2004 Securities Litigation fund	Sep. 30, 2012 Consolidated 2004 Securities Litigation Minimum	Feb. 29, 2012 Workers' compensation Premium Reporting plaintiff	Apr. 30, 2011 Workers' compensation Premium Reporting	May 31, 2007 Workers' compensation Premium Reporting	Sep. 30, 2012 Workers' compensation Premium Reporting	Sep. 30, 2012 The Multi-District Litigation state complaint action defendant case conspiracy class	May 20, 2011 The Multi-District Litigation	Sep. 30, 2012 The Heritage Corp. of South Florida v. National Union Fire Ins. Co.	Sep. 30, 2012 Caremark complaint	Sep. 30, 2012 Use of SSDMF	Dec. 31, 2012 Use of SSDMF	Sep. 30, 2012 Multi-state examination of regulatory issues in insurance products state	Sep. 30, 2012 Starr International Litigation
LITIGATION, INVESTIGATIONS AND REGULATORY MATTERS
Increase (decrease) in estimated litigation liability	$ 15,000,000	$ 742,000,000
Increase in the estimated reserves for incurred but not reported death claims																																	55,000,000
Payments for regulatory assessment																																11,000,000
Number of states participating in the accident and health products examination																																		39
Number of objectors to class action suit settlement																					2
Number of purported class action complaints consolidated				4	8	8																									2
Shareholders maximum ownership percentage who have requested to opt out of the class																					1.50%
Number of shareholders who have submitted timely and valid requests to opt out of the class																					25
Number of investment funds controlled by the same investment group who have submitted timely and valid requests to opt out of the class																						7
Shares held by investment group who have submitted timely and valid requests to opt out of the class																							1,000
Civil penalty payable			51,000,000																															250,000
Number of actions brought against AIG											2
Damages claimed							500,000,000			67,000,000																					3,200,000,000
Punitive damages claimed							50,000,000
Percentage of ownership in AIG received by Department of the Treasury																																			80.00%
Number of objectors appealing the final approval of the settlement																					2
Maximum contractual loss								1,500,000,000
Damages claimed, amount currently due									196,000,000
Damages claimed, potential future amounts									78,000,000
Range of loss, minimum									0	0
Range of loss, maximum									274,000,000	67,000,000
Counterclaim sought by AIG										3,600,000
Accrued loss contingency																													7,000,000
Number of individuals (Relators) seeking to assert claims													2
Damages sought, multiple of damages sustained												3
Payments made or placed in escrow accounts initial amount															1,640,000,000
Portion of payments which represented fines and penalties															225,000,000
Deposits into fund under the supervision of the SEC, subsequently disbursed															800,000,000
Workers Compensation Fund escrow, included in Other Assets																450,000,000	597,000,000	338,000,000
Payment released workers compensation escrow accounts in satisfaction of fines, penalties and premium tax obligations														147,000,000
Settlement amount total																				725,000,000								37,000,000
Amount paid under the terms of the separate settlement agreement with Florida																			4,000,000
Minimum number of conspiracies alleged																												1
Settlement agreement, amount which can be paid out of the remaining balance in Workers Compensation Fund																											191,000,000
Settlement agreement, escrow																											450,000,000
Number of parallel actions																												2
Number of separate derivative actions filed																												24
Number of defendants who have settled																												3
Number of states asserted antitrust law violations																												48
Employee Benefits Complaint, number of purported classes																												2
Number of cases that have proceeded																												4
Damages sought, in excess																									$ 3,000,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000				$ 75,000
Number of intervening plaintiffs																								7