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Pacific Life Insurance Review 2024
![Georgia Rose](https://www.nerdwallet.com/assets/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Image20-160x160.jpg)
Lead Writer | Finance, technology, science
Georgia Rose is a lead writer on the international team at NerdWallet. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Independent and The Associated Press. Throughout her career, Georgia has written on a variety of subjects, including personal finance, government policy, science and technology. She enjoys researching complex topics and distilling the information for her readers. Before joining the international team, she wrote for the insurance vertical, specializing in life insurance.
![Katia Iervasi](https://www.nerdwallet.com/assets/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/24-065-6706_Katia-Iervasi_background-bone-160x160.png)
Assistant Assigning Editor | Life insurance, disability insurance, health care
Katia Iervasi is an assistant assigning editor at NerdWallet. An insurance authority, she previously spent over six years covering insurance topics as a writer, where she loved untangling complicated topics and answering readers’ burning money questions. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication and has studied writing, fact-checking and editing with Poynter. Her writing and analysis has been featured in The Washington Post, Forbes, Yahoo, Entrepreneur, Best Company and FT Advisor. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Katia currently lives in New York City.
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![insurance-product-card-logo](https://www.nerdwallet.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85/cdn/insurance/logos/pacific_life.png)
Pacific Life
5.0
on Nerdwallet
Financial strength ratingThese ratings indicate an insurer’s ability to pay future claims.
Online purchaseThis indicates whether the company offers a way to apply for and purchase policies entirely online.
NAIC complaintsRatings are based on complaints to state regulators relative to a company’s size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC.
Policies offeredTerm policies last a set number of years, while permanent policies typically last a lifetime. No-exam policies don’t require a medical exam.
Pros
- Drew significantly fewer complaints than expected to state regulators for a company of its size.
- Offers a variety of term and permanent policies with many riders to choose from.
Cons
- Select policies are not available in New York.
- Quotes are not available online.
![insurance-product-card-logo](https://www.nerdwallet.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85/cdn/insurance/logos/pacific_life.png)
on Nerdwallet
Pacific Life
5.0
Financial strength ratingThese ratings indicate an insurer’s ability to pay future claims.
Online purchaseThis indicates whether the company offers a way to apply for and purchase policies entirely online.
NAIC complaintsRatings are based on complaints to state regulators relative to a company’s size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC.
Policies offeredTerm policies last a set number of years, while permanent policies typically last a lifetime. No-exam policies don’t require a medical exam.
Pros
- Drew significantly fewer complaints than expected to state regulators for a company of its size.
- Offers a variety of term and permanent policies with many riders to choose from.
Cons
- Select policies are not available in New York.
- Quotes are not available online.
In our life insurance reviews, our editorial team considers the customer and the insurer. These are some of the factors we take into account:
Policies offered. There are many types of life insurance on the market, and they fall into three key categories:
Term life insurance offers temporary coverage and a guaranteed payout if the policyholder dies during the term.
Permanent life insurance typically lasts a lifetime and builds cash value that can be borrowed against in the future.
No-exam life insurance issues coverage without the need for a medical exam.
Financial strength. We use AM Best ratings to confirm an insurer’s long-term financial stability and ability to pay claims. For life insurance, NerdWallet typically recommends considering insurers with ratings of A- or higher. Here’s the breakdown:
Exceptional: A+, A++.
Strong: A-, A.
Moderate: B, B+.
Complaints. These ratings are based on complaints to state regulators relative to a company’s size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The best life insurance companies have fewer than the expected number of complaints.
Buy online. This indicates whether an insurer allows you to apply for and buy a policy completely online.
Dive deeper: Ratings methodology for life insurance
Founded in California in 1868, Pacific Life offers life insurance, annuities and investment products to individuals and businesses. Pacific Life sells term life insurance and a broad selection of permanent policies, but you can’t get a quote via the insurer’s site.
» MORE: Compare life insurance quotes
Pacific Life insurance rating
5.0
NerdWallet ratingPacific Life earned 5 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account consumer experience, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and financial strength ratings.
Based on these ratings, Pacific Life is among NerdWallet’s Best Life Insurance Companies.
Pacific Life insurance policies
Life insurance products vary by state, but Pacific Life generally offers:
Term life insurance. There are two types of term life insurance policies to choose from. With the company’s Promise Term, you can convert all or some of your death benefit to a new universal life insurance policy at any point before you are 70 years old. Policies are available in 10-, 15-, 20-, 25- or 30-year terms, and you can customize your coverage with riders such as an accelerated death benefit. The company’s Elite Term lets you convert your policy to a cash value life insurance policy up to 10 years after its start date. It is available in 10-, 20- and 30-year terms.
Permanent life insurance. Pacific Life offers universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance and indexed universal life insurance, all of which provide lifelong coverage and build cash value over time. The company also sells survivorship policies, which cover two people — typically a couple — under one policy. The death benefit is paid after both people die.
» MORE: Life insurance for couples
Pacific Life insurance rates
Below are monthly rates for a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy from Pacific Life. These are sample rates for a nonsmoking man and woman in excellent health — the final quote you’re offered will depend on factors like your age, health, lifestyle, occupation and driving record.
Age | Monthly rate - man | Monthly rate - woman |
---|---|---|
20 | $18.52 | $15.16 |
30 | $18.94 | $15.99 |
40 | $28.42 | $24.03 |
50 | $69.88 | $54.81 |
60 | $200.70 | $141.35 |
70 | N/A | N/A |
Source: Quotacy. Rates reflect the super preferred class and were generated on 7/5/23. |
Pacific Life customer complaints and satisfaction
Over three years, Pacific Life has drawn far fewer complaints to state regulators than expected for a company of its size, according to a NerdWallet analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Pacific Life ranked No. 6 out of 22 companies in J.D. Power's 2023 U.S. Life Insurance Study for overall customer satisfaction
More about Pacific Life insurance
You can download consumer guides on Pacific Life's policies via the company’s website. Payments for policies can be made online. You can also access and download life insurance forms to make adjustments to your policy, such as changing a beneficiary or updating your address.
Pacific Life sells other products and services, including annuities and commercial real estate investments.
![](https://www.nerdwallet.com/assets/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-2.png)
Life insurance buying guide
Before you start comparing companies, choose the type of life insurance you want, such as term or whole life. Decide which life insurance riders, if any, you want the policy to include. Calculate how much life insurance you need and how long you want the coverage to last. Check that the insurers you’re considering offer the coverage you’re looking for.
When comparing rates, be sure the quotes are for the same amount of coverage over the same period of time. It’s also important to make sure the policy’s medical requirements match your needs. For example, if you want to skip the life insurance medical exam but don’t mind answering health questions, confirm that the application process for each policy you're comparing aligns with that.
Price may not be the biggest driver behind your decision to buy. Look at the number of consumer complaints each company receives, as high numbers can be a red flag about the quality of service.
For more guidance, see our life insurance buying guide.
Methodology
Life insurance ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on consumer experience, complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and weighted averages of financial strength ratings, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. Within the consumer experience category, we consider ease of communication and website transparency, which looks at the depth of policy details available online. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the scores to a curved 5-point scale.
These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2020-2022. To assess how insurers compare with one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.
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