Pacific Life
Bottom line: With high marks from consumers, lots of information available online and a wide range of policies, Pacific Life is a good option for many shoppers.- Low rate of customer complaints.
- Offers a variety of term and permanent policies.
- Some policies are not available in New York.
- No online quotes.
Why trust NerdWallet
1,413 life insurance rates sets collected.
441 life insurers analyzed by our team of experts.
185 policies assessed.
Dive deeper: Ratings methodology for life insurance.
NerdWallet's life insurance content, including ratings and recommendations, is overseen by a team of writers and editors who specialize in life insurance. We follow strict editorial guidelines to ensure the content on our site is accurate and fair so you can make financial decisions with confidence and choose the products that work best for you.
About Pacific Life insurance
Pacific Life earned 5 stars out of 5 for overall performance, thanks to its exceptional financial strength, low volume of consumer complaints and informative website.
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.
Based on its star rating, Pacific Life is among NerdWallet’s best life insurance companies for 2025.
Pros
- Good reputation among its customers.
- Offers a variety of term and permanent policies.
Cons
- Some policies are not available in New York.
- No online quotes.
» MORE: Compare life insurance quotes
Pacific Life insurance policies
Options vary by state, but Pacific Life generally offers a range of term and permanent policies.
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's available in 10-, 20- and 30-year terms.
Pacific Life made our list of the best term life insurance companies for 2025.
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: Joint life insurance
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 | $18.04 | $14.76 |
30 | $18.46 | $15.57 |
40 | $27.86 | $23.53 |
50 | $68.50 | $53.74 |
60 | $196.79 | $138.57 |
Source: Direct from insurer. Rates reflect the super preferred class and were generated on 11/8/24. | ||
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. 7 out of 21 companies in J.D. Power's 2024 U.S. Life Insurance Study for overall customer satisfaction.
What Reddit users say about Pacific Life
Reddit is an online forum where users share their thoughts in “threads” on various topics. The popular site includes plenty of discussion on financial subjects like life insurance, so we sifted through Reddit forums to get a pulse check on how users feel about insurers. People post anonymously, so we cannot confirm their individual experiences or circumstances.
Comments on Reddit about Pacific Life are generally positive. People note that it’s a reputable company with affordable premiums for term life insurance. Several Redditors advise checking the conversion options on the policy in case you want to switch your coverage from term to permanent life insurance in the future. (Learn more about convertible term life insurance.) Some commenters said Pacific Life’s application process was quick and easy, while others said it involved a lot of paperwork.
Questions from Reddit: Our experts answer
What should I look for when considering a policy from Pacific Life?
When comparing life insurance quotes, make sure you’re looking at equivalent policies — that the term lengths and coverage amounts are the same, for example. Then see whether any of the policies include life insurance riders that offer additional benefits. If you’re shopping for a term policy and there’s a chance you might want permanent coverage someday, check the policy’s conversion options. You can also read NerdWallet’s life insurance reviews to learn about various companies’ products and financial strength.
Should I convert my Pacific Life term policy to permanent coverage?
Term life insurance covers you for a set amount of time, such as 10 or 20 years. You may find that you’ll still need coverage beyond the end of the term — for example, if you have dependents relying on your income or you want to leave money for funeral costs. In such cases, you may be able to convert your policy to permanent life insurance that can last for the rest of your life. The broker or financial professional who sold you your Pacific Life insurance policy can help you understand your conversion options.
What it’s like to apply for a policy with Pacific Life
Pacific Life doesn’t offer an online application process. Instead, the website directs you to search for a financial professional near you who can help you apply for the right policy. When you enter your ZIP code, the site produces a list of names, addresses and phone numbers for the nearest professionals selling Pacific Life products.
How Pacific Life’s customer experience stacks up
The Pacific Life website is easy to navigate, with pages dedicated to each of the company’s types of life insurance. From there, you can download guides featuring detailed information about products available in your state. Alternatively, from the homepage you can choose a “life goal,” such as protecting your family, and see associated product recommendations. For assistance, the site directs you to local financial professionals and offers a detailed contact page.
We called Pacific Life’s customer service line, hoping to get information about the company’s term life insurance policies. After navigating an automated menu, we were connected with a live representative within a minute. However, she wasn’t able to answer our questions and instead directed us to the website to find a financial professional. She told us that Pacific Life’s customer service line is meant to help existing policyholders, not provide info on coverage options.
Pacific Life doesn’t offer a mobile app to manage your policy.
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.
How to contact Pacific Life
Pacific Life can be reached by:
Phone: You can call 800-347-7787 on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Email: There’s no public email address available, but the company’s contact page has an online form you can use.
Live chat: Not available.
- How we review life insurance companies
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
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.
Article sources
NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary, trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's high standards for journalism by reading our editorial guidelines.
- 1.J.D. Power. J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. Accessed Feb 5, 2025.
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 2021-2023. 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.
