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Label Element Value
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Document Type dei_DocumentType 485BPOS
Document Period End Date dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate Dec. 31, 2017
Registrant Name dei_EntityRegistrantName VIRTUS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST
Central Index Key dei_EntityCentralIndexKey 0000792359
Amendment Flag dei_AmendmentFlag false
Trading Symbol dei_TradingSymbol vvit
Document Creation Date dei_DocumentCreationDate Apr. 23, 2018
Document Effective Date dei_DocumentEffectiveDate Apr. 30, 2018
Prospectus Date rr_ProspectusDate Apr. 30, 2018
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Series  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Series
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading
Investment Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock
The Series has an investment objective of long-term capital appreciation.
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading
Fees and Expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock
The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Series. The table does not include any fees or sales charges imposed under the variable contracts for which the Series is an investment option. If they were included, your costs would be higher.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] rr_ShareholderFeesCaption
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption
Annual Series Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment.)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination April 30, 2019
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading
Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock
The Series pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Series Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Series’ performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Series’ portfolio turnover rate was 80% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 80.00%
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading
Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Series with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Series for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the Series’ total operating expenses remain the same and that the expense reimbursement arrangement remains in place for the contractual period. The example does not reflect variable contract fees and charges, and if it did, the costs shown would be higher. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading
Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The Series utilizes a rules based investment process and may invest in securities representing the approximately 130 sub-sectors of the primary sectors of the S&P 500® Index and/or cash equivalents (high-quality short-term securities). Allocations to each sub-sector are based on quantitative models.

The Series has the flexibility to invest in any combination of the sub-sectors and high-quality short-term securities, or 100% in high-quality short-term securities. A relative strength momentum model is utilized to rank each sub-sector of the equity market. The Series will allocate to those sub-sectors that the model determines are more likely to outperform the broad market. A market risk indicator model is also used to determine whether the market is in a lower or higher level of risk based on price trends in the overall market. When the market is determined to be in a higher level of risk, a defensive cash equivalent position may be built by allocating from those sub-sectors of the market that are not exhibiting absolute positive momentum, up to 100% of Series assets.

The subadviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Series' investments and manages the investments of the Series to conform with its investment policies as described in this prospectus.
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading
Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

The Series may not achieve its objective(s), and it is not intended to be a complete investment program. The value of the Series' investments that supports your share value may decrease. If between the time you purchase shares and the time you sell shares the value of the Series' investments decreases, you will lose money. Investment values can decrease for a number of reasons. Conditions affecting the overall economy, specific industries or companies in which the Series invests can be worse than expected, and investments may fail to perform as the adviser expects. As a result, the value of your shares may decrease. Purchase and redemption activities by variable contract owners may impact the management of the Series and its ability to achieve its investment objective(s). The redemption by one or more large variable contract owners or groups of variable contract owners of their holdings in the Series could have an adverse impact on the remaining variable contract owners in the Series including by accelerating the realization of capital gains and increasing the Series' transaction costs. The principal risks of investing in the Series are:

>      Equity Securities Risk.  The risk that events negatively affecting issuers, industries or financial markets in which the Series invests, will impact the value of the stocks held by the Series and thus, the value of the Series' shares over short or extended periods. Investments in a particular style or in small or medium-sized companies may enhance that risk.

​

>      Market Volatility Risk.  The risk that the value of the securities in which the Series invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual issuers and/or general economic conditions. Price changes may be temporary or may last for extended periods.

​

>      Portfolio Turnover Risk.  The risk that the Series' principal investment strategies will result in a consistently high portfolio turnover rate. See the "Portfolio Turnover" section above for more information about the impact that portfolio turnover can have on your investment.

​

>      Quantitative Model Risk.  The risk that investments selected using quantitative models may perform differently from the market as a whole or from their expected performance. There can be no assurance that use of a quantitative model will enable the Series to achieve positive returns or outperform.

​

>      Sector Focused Investing Risk.  The risk that events negatively affecting a particular industry or market sector in which the Series focuses its investments will cause the value of the Series' shares to decrease, perhaps significantly. To the extent that the Series invests a significant portion of its portfolio in ETFs representing one or more of the primary sectors of the S&P 500® Index (such as consumer discretionary, energy, healthcare) or in an ETF representing U.S. Treasuries, the Series is more vulnerable to conditions that negatively affect such sectors as compared to a Series that is not significantly invested in such sectors.

​

>      Short-Term Investments Risk.  The risk that the Series' short-term investments will not provide the liquidity or protection intended or will prevent the Series from experiencing positive movements in the Series' principal investment strategies.

​

>      U.S. Government Securities Risk.  The risk that U.S. Government securities in the Series' portfolio will be subject to price fluctuations, or that an agency or instrumentality will default on an obligation not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney
If between the time you purchase shares and the time you sell shares the value of the Series’ investments decreases, you will lose money.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading
Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Series. The bar chart shows the Series’ performance over the life of the Series. The table shows how the Series’ average annual returns compare to those of a broad-based market index. The Series’ past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Series will perform in the future. The Series’ returns in the chart and table do not reflect the deduction of any separate account or variable contract charges. The returns would have been less than those shown if such charges were deducted.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Series. The bar chart shows the Series’ performance over the life of the Series. The table shows how the Series’ average annual returns compare to those of a broad-based market index.
Performance Availability Phone [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone
800-367-5877
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress
virtus.com
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture
The Series’ past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Series will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading] rr_BarChartHeading
Calendar Year Annual Total Return for Class A Shares
Bar Chart Narrative [Text Block] rr_BarChartNarrativeTextBlock
Annual Return (%)
Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads [Text] rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads
The Series’ returns in the chart and table do not reflect the deduction of any separate account or variable contract charges. The returns would have been less than those shown if such charges were deducted.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock
​ ​
Best Quarter:
 ​ ​
1Q/2013:
 ​ ​
10.37%
 ​ ​
Worst Quarter:​
 ​ ​
3Q/2015:
 ​ ​
-4.73%
 ​ ​
Year to date (3/31/18):​
 ​ ​
-0.23%
 ​ ​
Performance Table Heading rr_PerformanceTableHeading
Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/16)
Performance Table Closing [Text Block] rr_PerformanceTableClosingTextBlock
Class I Shares have been in existence only since April 30, 2013; therefore, limited performance information for Class I Shares is available to include here. However, the returns for Class I Shares for other periods would have been substantially similar to those shown for Class A Shares because Class I Shares and Class A Shares are invested in the same portfolio of securities. Class A Shares pay distribution and services (12b-1) fees and Class I Shares do not; therefore, had the Class I Shares been operational during the periods shown only for Class A Shares, investment performance for Class I Shares would have been higher than for Class A Shares.
 
The S&P 500® Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index of 500 of the largest U.S. companies. The index is calculated on a total return basis with dividends reinvested. The index is unmanaged and not available for direct investment.
 
Updated performance information is available at virtus.com or by calling 800-367-5877.
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Series | Class A  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Shareholder Fees vvit_ShareholderFee none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.00%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.83%
Total Annual Series Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 2.08%
Less: Expense Reimbursement rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.38%) [1]
Total Annual Series Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.70% [1]
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 173
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 615
5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 1,084
10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 2,380
2012 rr_AnnualReturn2012 10.69%
2013 rr_AnnualReturn2013 28.71%
2014 rr_AnnualReturn2014 2.23%
2015 rr_AnnualReturn2015 (9.32%)
2016 rr_AnnualReturn2016 (0.97%)
2017 rr_AnnualReturn2017 20.44%
Year to Date Return, Label rr_YearToDateReturnLabel Year to date
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate Mar. 31, 2018
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn (0.23%)
Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel Best Quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Mar. 31, 2013
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 10.37%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel Worst Quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Sep. 30, 2015
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (4.73%)
Label rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel Class A
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 20.44%
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 7.31%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 6.12%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Feb. 14, 2011
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Series | Class I  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Shareholder Fees vvit_ShareholderFee none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.00%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.85%
Total Annual Series Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.85%
Less: Expense Reimbursement rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.40%) [1]
Total Annual Series Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.45% [1]
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 148
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 543
5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 963
10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 2,137
Label rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel Class I
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 20.73%
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 5.44%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Apr. 30, 2013
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Series | S&P 500® Index (does not reflect fees or expenses)  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text] rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes (does not reflect fees or expenses)
Label rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel S&P 500® Index (does not reflect fees or expenses)
1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 21.83%
5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 15.79%
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Series | S&P 500® Index (does not reflect fees or expenses) | Class A  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text] rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes (does not reflect fees or expenses)
Label rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel S&P 500® Index (does not reflect fees or expenses)
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 13.03%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Feb. 14, 2011
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Series | S&P 500® Index (does not reflect fees or expenses) | Class I  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes [Text] rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes (does not reflect fees or expenses)
Label rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel S&P 500® Index (does not reflect fees or expenses)
Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 14.04%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Apr. 30, 2013
[1] The Series' investment adviser has contractually agreed to limit the Series' total annual operating expenses (excluding certain expenses, such as front-end or contingent deferred sales charges, taxes, leverage expenses, interest, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, unusual or infrequently occurring expenses (such as litigation), acquired fund fees and expenses, and dividend expenses, if any) so that such expenses do not exceed 1.70% for Class A Shares and 1.45% for Class I Shares through April 30, 2019. Following the contractual period, the adviser may discontinue these expense reimbursement arrangements at any time. Under certain conditions, the adviser may recapture operating expenses reimbursed under these arrangements for a period of three years after the date on which it was incurred or waived by Virtus.