Reinsurance (Details 3) (USD $)				12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	45 Months Ended	106 Months Ended								12 Months Ended																33 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Contract benefits	Dec. 31, 2012 Contract benefits	Dec. 31, 2011 Contract benefits	Dec. 31, 2013 Interest credited to contractholder funds	Dec. 31, 2012 Interest credited to contractholder funds	Dec. 31, 2011 Interest credited to contractholder funds	Aug. 31, 1998 Allstate Financial	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial reinsurer	Mar. 31, 2011 Allstate Financial	Jun. 30, 2007 Allstate Financial	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Concentrated credit risk A-	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Concentrated credit risk A-	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Prudential	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Prudential	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Citigroup Subsidiaries and Scottish Re	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Citigroup Subsidiaries and Scottish Re	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Life and annuity premiums and contract charges Prudential	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Life and annuity premiums and contract charges Prudential	Dec. 31, 2011 Allstate Financial Life and annuity premiums and contract charges Prudential	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Contract benefits Prudential	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Contract benefits Prudential	Dec. 31, 2011 Allstate Financial Contract benefits Prudential	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Interest credited to contractholder funds Prudential	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Interest credited to contractholder funds Prudential	Dec. 31, 2011 Allstate Financial Interest credited to contractholder funds Prudential	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Operating costs and expenses Prudential	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Operating costs and expenses Prudential	Dec. 31, 2011 Allstate Financial Operating costs and expenses Prudential	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Annuities	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Annuities	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Life insurance	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Life insurance	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Single life	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Joint life	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Accident and health insurance	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Accident and health insurance	Dec. 31, 2013 Allstate Financial Other	Dec. 31, 2012 Allstate Financial Other
Reinsurance recoverable
Percent of morbidity risk ceded for long-term care contracts											100.00%
Percent of morbidity risk ceded for term-life insurance policies											90.00%
Number of unaffiliated reinsurers											14
Retention level for most contracts										$ 1,000,000		$ 5,000,000	$ 2,000,000																								$ 5,000,000	$ 8,000,000
Retention level for contracts issued to individuals age 70 and over												3,000,000																									3,000,000
Retention level for certain large contracts meeting specific criteria												10,000,000	5,000,000																								10,000,000	10,000,000
Total amounts recoverable from reinsurers, industry pools or facilities	7,621,000,000	8,767,000,000									2,872,000,000			4,688,000,000			1,510,000,000	1,690,000,000	156,000,000	160,000,000													1,648,000,000	1,831,000,000	1,029,000,000	1,609,000,000			78,000,000	1,163,000,000	117,000,000	85,000,000
Reinsurance ceded amount				355,000,000	665,000,000	653,000,000	27,000,000	28,000,000	27,000,000												120,000,000	128,000,000	152,000,000	139,000,000	91,000,000	121,000,000	22,000,000	23,000,000	20,000,000	23,000,000	25,000,000	27,000,000
Gross life insurance in force											542,480,000,000
Life insurance in force ceded to unaffiliated reinsurers	$ 196,274,000,000	$ 209,874,000,000	$ 222,379,000,000								$ 196,270,000,000
Percent of reinsurance recoverables with Standard and Poor's A- rating or better															92.00%	95.00%