Leases (Components of Lease Expense) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Lease Expense [Line Items]
Operating lease cost	$ 2,259	$ 2,152
Finance lease cost: Amortization of assets	142	284
Finance lease cost: Interest on lease liabilities	6	0
Total finance lease cost	148	284
Variable lease cost	176	788
Short-term lease cost	$ 476	$ 739

Total finance lease expense, comprised of amortization expense on the right-of-use asset and interest expense.

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	sigi_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

[Line Items] for Line Items for Components of lease expense, including operating leaess, finance leases, variable costs, and short term leases.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sigi_LeaseExpenseLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	sigi_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of interest expense on finance lease liability.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918686-209980

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888419&loc=SL77918638-209977

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 53
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888399&loc=SL77918982-209971

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinanceLeaseInterestExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of amortization expense attributable to right-of-use asset from finance lease.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinanceLeaseRightOfUseAssetAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of operating lease expense. Excludes sublease income.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888419&loc=SL77918638-209977

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of short-term lease cost, excluding expense for lease with term of one month or less.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShortTermLeaseCost
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of variable lease cost, excluded from lease liability, recognized when obligation for payment is incurred for finance and operating leases.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration