Pacific Life Insurance Review 2020

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, not all companies are accepting new life insurance applications. For the latest information on how to cope with financial stress during this emergency, see NerdWallet’s financial guide to COVID-19.

Founded in California in 1868, Pacific Life offers life insurance, annuities and investment products to individuals and businesses. The company sells term life insurance and a broad selection of permanent policies, including life insurance that can provide long-term care benefits. Pacific Life is a top seller of indexed universal life insurance, a type of permanent policy. Life insurance quotes are not available through the company’s website.

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Pacific Life Insurance

Pacific Life earned 4.5 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and financial strength ratings from A.M. Best.

Based on these ratings, Pacific Life is among NerdWallet’s Best Life Insurance Companies for 2020.

Life insurance offerings vary by state, but Pacific Life generally offers:

Two types of term life. With level-premium term life, the annual price stays the same for the entire term. Terms of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years are available. With annual renewable term life, the policy can be renewed each year, and the price increases annually.

Universal life and variable universal life policies. A wide selection is available, including survivorship policies. With survivorship life insurance, a couple can be insured on one policy. The death benefit is paid after both people die. Pacific Life is the top U.S. seller of indexed universal life insurance, according to Wink’s Sales & Market Report.

Life insurance with long-term care benefits. These policies double as long-term care insurance and life insurance. The death benefit is reduced if the policy is used to pay for long-term care. If no long-term care benefits are drawn, the policy pays the full death benefit after the insured person dies.

Whole life insurance for businesses. Pacific Life offers whole life insurance for workplace benefit plans.

Pacific Life complaints and customer satisfaction

Over three years, Pacific Life drew significantly fewer than the expected number of complaints about individual life insurance to state regulators compared with life insurance companies of its size, according to NerdWallet’s analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Pacific Life ranked ninth out of 24 life insurance companies evaluated for customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power 2019 U.S. Life Insurance Study. Pacific Life scored “about average” overall and in all categories except for application process, where its score was below average.

Methodology: Life insurance ratings

NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on weighted averages of complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and financial strength ratings from A.M. Best, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the NAIC and A.M. Best 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.

Methodology: Insurer complaints

NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2016-2018. To assess how insurers compare to 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. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.