Related Party Transactions (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended																					0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended									12 Months Ended					0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Apr. 20, 2012 Senior Unsecured Credit Facility	Jan. 26, 2009 ING Direct Bancorp Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities	Dec. 31, 2012 ING Investment LLC and ING Investment Management LLC DSL	Dec. 31, 2011 ING Investment LLC and ING Investment Management LLC DSL	Dec. 31, 2010 ING Investment LLC and ING Investment Management LLC DSL	Dec. 31, 2012 SLDI	Dec. 31, 2012 SLDI State of New York	Dec. 31, 2012 Company Funds DSL	Dec. 31, 2011 Company Funds DSL	Dec. 31, 2010 Company Funds DSL	Jan. 02, 2007 Company Funds DSL	Dec. 31, 2012 Affiliated Entities DSL	Dec. 31, 2011 Affiliated Entities DSL	Dec. 31, 2010 Affiliated Entities DSL	Dec. 31, 2012 ING Investors Trust DSL	Dec. 31, 2011 ING Investors Trust DSL	Dec. 31, 2012 ReliaStar Life Insurance Company DSL	Dec. 31, 2011 ReliaStar Life Insurance Company DSL	Dec. 31, 2010 ReliaStar Life Insurance Company DSL	Dec. 31, 2012 ING Investment Management LLC	Dec. 31, 2011 ING Investment Management LLC	Dec. 31, 2010 ING Investment Management LLC	Dec. 31, 2012 ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company and ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York, Affiliate Companies DSL	Dec. 31, 2011 ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company and ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York, Affiliate Companies DSL	Dec. 31, 2010 ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company and ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York, Affiliate Companies DSL	Dec. 31, 2012 ING USA, ILIAC, IIPS, ReliStar Life Insurance Company and Secuirty Life and Security Life of Denver Insurance Company DSL	Dec. 31, 2011 ING USA, ILIAC, IIPS, ReliStar Life Insurance Company and Secuirty Life and Security Life of Denver Insurance Company DSL	Dec. 31, 2010 ING USA, ILIAC, IIPS, ReliStar Life Insurance Company and Secuirty Life and Security Life of Denver Insurance Company DSL	Dec. 31, 2012 ING North America	Dec. 31, 2011 ING North America	Dec. 31, 2010 ING North America	Dec. 31, 2012 US Insurance Company and Affiliates	Dec. 31, 2011 US Insurance Company and Affiliates	Dec. 31, 2010 US Insurance Company and Affiliates	Dec. 31, 2012 ING Institutional Plan Services	Dec. 31, 2011 ING Institutional Plan Services	Dec. 31, 2010 ING Institutional Plan Services	Apr. 02, 2011 ING U.S. Inc.	Dec. 31, 2012 ING U.S. Inc.	Dec. 31, 2011 ING U.S. Inc.	Jun. 30, 2001 ING U.S. Inc.	Dec. 31, 2012 ING U.S. Inc. Net investment income	Dec. 31, 2011 ING U.S. Inc. Net investment income	Dec. 31, 2010 ING U.S. Inc. Net investment income	Dec. 31, 2012 ING USA Surplus Notes	Dec. 31, 2011 ING USA Surplus Notes	Dec. 31, 2010 ING USA Surplus Notes	Dec. 29, 2004 ING USA Surplus Notes	Jan. 26, 2009 ING Support Holding	Nov. 13, 2012 ING Support Holding Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities	Dec. 31, 2012 Dutch State Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities	Dec. 31, 2011 Dutch State Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities	Dec. 31, 2010 Dutch State Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities	Jan. 26, 2009 Dutch State Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities	Jan. 26, 2009 Dutch State ING Bank, FSB and Certain Subsidiaries of ING U.S. Inc. Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities	Jan. 26, 2009 ING Direct Bancorp Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities	Dec. 31, 2010 ING Financial Partners Inc IFA
Operating Agreeements, Investment Advisory and Other Fees
Earning related to agreements	$ 648,800,000	$ 614,000,000	$ 583,500,000								$ 135,000,000	$ 103,200,000	$ 246,100,000		$ 370,600,000	$ 323,200,000	$ 314,300,000						$ 26,200,000	$ 24,700,000	$ 24,100,000													$ 7,100,000	$ 8,400,000	$ 2,200,000
Commissions collected	225,500,000	218,300,000	220,000,000																							225,500,000	218,300,000	220,000,000
Asset Management, admistrative and accounting services fees																							27,000,000	22,800,000	23,700,000
Expenses incurred						27,000,000	23,300,000	19,800,000												3,200,000	3,200,000	3,300,000							212,300,000	207,900,000	204,500,000	183,500,000	180,600,000	209,700,000	30,800,000	29,800,000	53,300,000
Due from affiliates	99,800,000	52,900,000																25,600,000	22,900,000
Reinsurance
Quota share of liability with reinsurer, percentage									100.00%	90.00%
Percentage of Average Daily Net Assets														3.40%
Financing Agreements
Maximum borrowing capacity																																												3.00%
Variable rate basis on reciprocal loans																																									ING U.S., Inc.'s cost of funds
Basis spread on reciprocal loans																																									0.15%
Interest income on reciprocal loans																																													500,000	1,300,000	900,000
Short-term loan to affiliate	0	648,000,000																																								0	648,000,000
Current borrowing capacity				5,000,000,000
Debt instrument, face amount																																																			175,000,000
Annual interest rate on loan	1.00%																																																		6.26%
Interest income																																																11,100,000	11,100,000	11,100,000
Investments, Percentage of Investments Covered by Facility																																																									80.00%	80.00%
Alt-A Back-Up Facility
Risk and rewards transfered																																																				1,100,000,000
Investments, Percentage of Total Exposure Retained																																																									20.00%
Purchase price of participation payable, percentage																																																										90.00%
Loan - Dutch State obligation	0	417,000,000																																																								794,400,000
Fees incurred																																																						1,400,000	1,900,000	2,300,000
Investments sold at par																																																											5,000,000
Cash received for securities sold					600,000																																																						3,600,000
Percentage of securities sold					20.00%																																																						80.00%
Percentage of investment value transfered																																																					80.00%
Percentage of investments retained																																																					20.00%
Consideration received on transfer of customer accounts to affiliates																																																												$ 5,000,000