Pacific Life Insurance Review

Pros Explained

• Great product selection: Pacific Life offers two term life policies, two universal life insurance policies, four indexed universal policies, and six variable universal life insurance policies. 
• No maximum coverage amounts: Unlike some insurers, Pacific Life doesn’t cap how much life insurance you can buy, offering coverage amounts over $10 million to meet even the most affluent individuals' coverage needs.
• Few customer complaints: Pacific Life has few customer complaints for a company of its size, with the fourth-lowest complaint index (based on a three-year average) among the companies we reviewed.
• Cheap term life insurance rates: Pacific Life offers some of the cheapest term life insurance rates of the companies we reviewed.

Cons Explained

• No online quotes: While many life insurance companies offer term quotes online, Pacific Life doesn’t, requiring you to work directly with an agent or the company to get a quote. 
• Must apply through an agent or financial professional: If you want to apply for Pacific Life, you must apply through a financial professional or appointed life insurance agent, even for term life insurance.
• No whole life insurance available: Although Pacific Life has a robust selection of universal life insurance products, it doesn’t sell whole life insurance.

Financial Stability

AM Best is a credit rating agency that grades insurance companies on their ability to meet their financial obligations and pay out claims. A high score means a company is capable of handling its future debts and insurance obligations.

Pacific Life has an A+ (Superior) AM Best rating, which it shares with 18 of the 45 companies we reviewed. An A+ is AM Best’s second-highest financial strength rating. 

Customer Complaints and Satisfaction

Another metric for evaluating an insurance company’s reputation and reliability is the number of customer complaints it receives. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) creates a complaint index for all insurance companies based on complaints sent to state regulators. The index is scaled based on each company's market share. 

A company with a 1.00 complaint index has received the expected number of complaints for its size. Pacific Life’s three-year average complaint index is 0.086, showing that the company has received relatively few complaints.

Pacific Life also ranks sixth in the J.D. Power 2023 Individual Life Insurance Study. Out of 1,000 points, Pacific Life earned 799—9 points above the industry average of 790—outranking the two largest life insurers by market share, New York Life and Northwestern Mutual.

Types of Life Insurance Offered by Pacific Life

Pacific Life offers two term life insurance policies and several universal life insurance options.

Pacific Life Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is usually the cheapest life insurance option. It’s best for covering obligations with a specific end date, such as a mortgage, student loans, or your child’s education expenses. You can buy term life coverage that lasts from 10 to 30 years from Pacific Life. You can choose from two policies:

• PL Promise Term: You can choose terms lasting 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years, with a minimum coverage amount of $50,000. The policy includes an accelerated death benefit rider for terminal illness at no cost, with the option to add a waiver of premium or children’s term rider. It can convert to universal life insurance up until the time you turn 70.
• Pacific Elite Term: Policies are available for applicants 18 to 75, with coverage starting at $750,000. Term life plans are available for 10, 20, or 30 years, though issue ages are capped at 50 for 30-year policies and 65 for 20-year policies. Terminal illness and waiver of premium riders are available, and policies can be converted to a universal life policy before age 70.

Pacific Life Universal Life Insurance

Universal life insurance offers permanent coverage with the flexibility to raise or lower your death benefit or premium as life and financial needs change. Pacific Life provides two universal life insurance policies to choose from.

• PL Promise GUL: This policy offers a no-lapse guarantee to protect your death benefit and prevent a policy lapse. You can choose how long the guarantee lasts, ranging from up until age 90 to up until age 121. Coverage starts at $25,000 and you can buy it until you turn 80. Besides the no-lapse guarantee, each policy comes with a terminal illness rider. You can pay to add a chronic illness rider or a children’s term rider.
• Versa-Flex Venture UL: If you buy this policy before turning 75, you get a no-lapse guarantee rider that lasts up to 20 years. You can further customize this policy with optional riders such as the annual renewable term, long-term care, or term insurance riders. 

Pacific Life Indexed Universal Life Insurance

Indexed universal life insurance gives you the same flexibility as universal life and a chance to build cash value faster by tracking a stock market index like the S&P 500. Each policy has a guaranteed minimum rate to hedge against losses and protect your death benefit. These policies can be complex, so they are best for savvy investors or people working closely with a knowledgeable financial advisor.

Pacific Life offers four indexed universal life insurance policies:

• Pacific Horizon IUL 2: You can design your policy to fit your needs (optimizing for long-term performance, early surrender value, or a mix of both) by allocating the cash value portion of the premium payment to a fixed or indexed account, depending on your goals. 
• Pacific Horizon ECV IUL: This policy includes a 1% guaranteed minimum interest rate and offers a no-lapse guarantee rider to ensure the policy remains in force regardless of how the policy performs. You can invest the cash value in volatility control indexed accounts such as the BlackRock Endura Index.
• Pacific Horizon Survivorship IUL: This policy is similar to the ECV IUL but covers two lives, which can be more cost-effective for a couple than purchasing two separate policies. It includes a free no-lapse guarantee rider and the ability to split it into two separate policies if your needs change later.
• Pacific Trident IUL: This IUL offers multiple ways to grow your cash value. Fixed accounts have a 1% guaranteed interest rate and indexed accounts have a 0% guaranteed minimum rate, meaning the policy won’t lose cash value due to index performance. You can also extend the no-lapse guarantee to cover your whole life.

Pacific Life Variable Universal Life Insurance

Variable universal life insurance from Pacific Life includes market-driven investment choices with guaranteed minimum interest crediting. These policies provide various investment strategies. Your goals and risk tolerance can help determine which policy is best for you.

You can choose from five Pacific Life variable universal life insurance policies.

• Pacific Select Harbor VUL: This policy offers a wide range of variable investment options, including the ability to change funds so you’re not locked into a single asset allocation.
• Pacific Admiral VUL: Choose from 22 variable investment options for three indexed and two fixed accounts to maximize your growth potential.
• Pacific Legacy Survivorship VUL: This policy covers two lives, allowing a couple to leave a legacy for future generations or provide for a business partner or charity after the second person dies.
• Pacific Protector VUL: This policy offers fixed account or variable investment options to help you accumulate cash value faster.
• Pacific Select VUL 2: Choose between two fixed account options for lower-risk growth or several variable investment or indexed accounts for more aggressive cash value growth.

Does Pacific Life Require a Life Insurance Medical Exam?

Pacific Life uses a streamlined process for applications worth up to $3 million to determine whether you need to undergo a life insurance medical exam. Once a financial professional submits your electronic application, Pacific Life decides how to process it.

• Accelerated underwriting: This underwriting process is available for healthy applicants ages 18 to 60 who qualify for a standard or better rate class. You won’t have to take a medical exam or have Pacific Life review a statement from your doctor.
• Modified underwriting: This process is for all risk classes and applicants between the ages of 18 and 70. You won’t have to undergo a medical exam if you’ve had a physical with lab work in the year before applying for life insurance from Pacific Life.
• Traditional underwriting: If you don’t qualify for accelerated or modified underwriting, you’ll go through the traditional underwriting process, which requires a medical exam.

Available Riders From Pacific Life

Life insurance riders let you tailor your policy to your needs with additional features and coverage. Rider availability and cost vary by type of life insurance and product. Pacific Life offers many valuable riders, including:

• Waiver of premium rider: This rider prevents your policy from lapsing by waiving your premium if you become disabled and cannot work.
• Disability income rider: This rider provides a monthly income if you become disabled and can’t work.
• Long-term care rider: Adding a long-term care (LTC) rider to your permanent life insurance policy allows you to access some of your death benefit to pay for long-term care expenses. 
• Chronic illness rider: If you’re diagnosed with a chronic illness, you can access part of the death benefit to use for illness-related expenses. 
• Children’s term insurance rider: Adding a child term rider to your Pacific Life policy provides up to $10,000 in term life insurance for your child, which they can convert to a permanent policy later in life. 
• Annual renewal term rider: This rider allows you to purchase additional term life insurance for yourself, which is typically cheaper than buying a separate policy.
• Accelerated death benefit rider: Also called a terminal illness rider, this rider is typically included in your policy at no cost and provides a portion of the death benefit early if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness with less than 12 months to live.

How Much Does Pacific Life Insurance Cost?

Pacific Life has below-average term life insurance costs compared to the other 44 companies we reviewed, making it an affordable option if you’re in good health and don’t smoke. Life insurance rates can vary significantly from company to company. It’s a good idea to get quotes from several insurers to determine which company has the best rates for your coverage needs and health profile. 

The table below shows sample Pacific Life term life insurance quotes for various age groups.

How Much Does Pacific Life Insurance Cost for Older Adults?

Pacific Life is also affordable for 65-year-olds who only need temporary coverage. Its 15-year term life insurance quotes for older adults are lower than average compared to competitors. Below are Pacific Life's average rates for 65-year-olds with no significant medical issues.

How Does Pacific Life Compare to Other Life Insurance Companies?

How to Buy Life Insurance From Pacific Life

Pacific Life doesn’t offer online life insurance quotes or applications. To buy life insurance from Pacific Life, you must contact the company directly or work with a licensed financial professional. Enter your ZIP code into the locator tool on Pacific Life’s website to find a financial professional in your area.

Customer Service

In addition to calling, you can reach Pacific Life’s customer service department by filling out a contact form online. According to the contact form, you should receive an email response within 48 hours, but calling 800-800-7646 will get a quicker response.

The Bottom Line

Pacific Life offers a wide range of policy types and coverage amounts to meet virtually anyone’s coverage needs. It has cheap term life insurance rates, few customer complaints, and high customer satisfaction scores. But you must work with a licensed professional to get a quote or apply for coverage, and the company doesn’t offer whole life insurance. Pacific Life may be a good fit for someone looking to build wealth through life insurance or buy a large amount of term coverage at a great price.  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Pacific Life Reliable?

Yes. Pacific Life is an independent company with more than $178 billion in assets and a long track record of stable ratings with rating agencies AM Best, Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P Global. Its financial stability ratings show its ability to meet its monetary obligations, including paying out life insurance claims promptly and in full.

Does Pacific Life’s Life Insurance Build Cash Value?

Pacific Life’s permanent life insurance policies, which include universal, variable universal, and indexed universal life insurance, build cash value. A portion of every premium payment goes toward the cash value account. Each policy’s growth rate varies. Indexed and variable policies can grow faster because they allow cash value to be invested in the stock market, bonds, mutual funds, and other investment vehicles.

How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?

The first step in determining how much life insurance you need is deciding what you want your death benefit to cover, whether it’s replacing your income, paying for college tuition, paying off your mortgage, or funding end-of-life expenses. Once you determine how much coverage you need, you can decide if you need term or permanent life insurance. Some may find a combination is the best way to cover temporary and lifelong expenses.

How We Review Life Insurance Companies

To compile our list of the best life insurance companies, Investopedia first conducted preliminary research on dozens of life insurance companies and determined that 45 met our minimum standard for financial strength, customer satisfaction, and online transparency. For each of these, we then gathered a total of 70 evaluation criteria, resulting in 3,150 data points altogether. Data was collected between May 20 and July 3, 2024, and sourced from company webpages, media representatives, third-party rating agencies (AM Best, NAIC, and J.D. Power), and customer service calls.

We combined subject matter expertise, consumer survey and company survey data, and industry research to create a quantitative model that scores each company based on six major categories:

• Application and Online Service Features: 15%
• Policy Types: 22%
• Policy Features and Riders: 35%
• Financial Stability: 6%
• Customer Satisfaction: 10%
• Cost: 12%

For more information, read our full methodology explanation.