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Pacific Life
on Nerdwallet
Financial strength rating
Online purchase
NAIC complaints
Policies offered
on Nerdwallet
Pacific Life
Financial strength rating
Online purchase
NAIC complaints
Policies offered
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
Pacific 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 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.
Additionally, Pacific Life ranked 5 out of 22 companies in J.D. Power’s 2022 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, mutual funds and commercial real estate investments.
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.
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 2019-2021. 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.
