Last updated: February 20th, 2023
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Pacific Life was founded in California in 1868, and today they serve individuals and businesses by providing a variety of insurance policies, annuities, and investment opportunities.
Customers looking for affordable term life coverage will benefit the most from Pacific Life. Their rates are competitive across every age bracket, so even older applicants can be confident that they’re getting an affordable rate. They have no online application, and they also require a medical exam, but these inconveniences are offset by the rider options that can be used to customize your policy.
In short, Pacific Life is a great option for those looking for affordable term life insurance or those looking for the flexible investment of universal life insurance plans.
| Pacific Life Insurance Company Details | |
|---|---|
| A.M Best Rating | A+ |
| S&P Rating | AA- |
| BBB Rating | A- |
| Customer Service Phone | 800-800-7646 |
| Website | www.pacificlife.com |
| Address | Pacific Life Insurance P.O. Box 9000 Newport Beach, CA 92658-9030 |
While other insurance companies increase their rates for older customers, Pacific Life maintains competitive rates at every age bracket, making them a solid choice for affordable life insurance.
Pacific Life offers a variety of policies, including universal policies for those interested in using their life insurance as an investment opportunity.
Pacific Life has the distinction of being highly-regarded by J.D. Power, giving customers the confidence in the company’s consistent financial performance.
Many customers are accustomed to the convenience of an online application or at least online quotes. Pacific Life does not provide this option. Applicants will also have to submit to a medical exam for their term life policy.
The Flex 16 whole life option is only available through an employer. Customers looking for whole insurance from the open market will need to look elsewhere.
Universal health policies are great if you know what you’re doing. But some customers may find the investment options of indexed policies disorienting, preferring to stick with traditional investment options such as their 401k or savings account.
| Term Life Details | |
|---|---|
| Length of Coverage | 10, 15, 20, and 30-year periods |
| Minimum Coverage: | $50,000 |
| Maximum Coverage: | $1 Million |
| Estimated Time to Approval: | 3-4 weeks |
| Product Features: |
|
| Brochure: | Promise Term Brochure |
Promise Term provides customers with a standard term life insurance policy, though it can be modified and enhanced with a variety of riders. This plan offers coverage ranging from $50,000 up to $1 million, and comes in 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30-year increments—though these term lengths decrease with the applicant’s age.
The premium stays level, and applicants have the option of converting to a permanent plan at the end of their term.
Applicants can expect to answer medical questions during the application process, as well as undergo a medical exam prior to approval.
| Term Life Details | |
|---|---|
| Length of Coverage | 10, 15, 20, and 30-year periods |
| Minimum Coverage: | $750,000 |
| Maximum Coverage: | $3 Million+ |
| Estimated Time to Approval: | 3-4 weeks |
| Product Features: | · Level Premiums
· Riders Available · Conversion Options |
| Brochure: | Elite Term Brochure |
The Elite term comes in 10, 20, and 30-year terms, offering coverage ranging from $750,000 to $3 million or more. As with the Promise Term plan, applicants can expect to undergo a medical exam prior to approval.
Flex 16 is Pacific’s whole life insurance offering, intended for employer-provided life insurance plans. These aren’t for individuals to purchase apart from their employer. The Flex 16 plan offers a lifetime payment period as well as a fixed premium to ensure long-term stability.
Universal life insurance policies allow the policyholder to accumulate cash value on their plan, and this cash value can then be used to pay premiums.
Pacific offers two different universal life insurance plans:
The latter includes a no-lapse guarantee rider, letting you extend coverage by paying higher premiums.
An indexed universal life insurance policy allows the insured to decide to assign cash value to either a fixed account of an equity-indexed account. Investment opportunities are available from well-known indexes, including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100. This allows the policyholder to accumulate cash value without reducing the death benefit. Because it’s based on market performance, this type of plan carries a greater risk, but it can be useful as a long-term investment strategy.
These can be great investment opportunities if you know what you’re doing. But many customers may find these procedures to be unfamiliar, choosing to rely on traditional investment strategies such as savings accounts, mutual funds, etc.
A variable universal life insurance allows the policyholder to invest the cash component to produce greater annual returns. Unfortunately, this depends on the market, which means that there is no guaranteed return on the investment.
Customers who choose this plan can select from Pacific’s two choices:
As with other universal plans, this option may be unfamiliar territory for the average life insurance customer, who might wish to rely on other investment opportunities.
Pacific also offers life insurance with long-term care benefits. If the insured requires long-term care, (whether at an in-patient facility or in their home) they may borrow from the death benefit to cover these expenses. The death benefit pays 100% if no long-term care is needed.
Term life customers can convert to a permanent policy up to 10 years after their term begins.
If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, you may receive a portion of the death benefit to cover medical bills and other end-of-life expenses. This rider is included at no cost with the Promise Term and Elite term policies.
This rider provides life insurance to children as young as 15 days and as old as 18 years. Coverage can be as high as $10,000.
If you are totally disabled as a result of an accident or qualifying event, you are exempt from paying your monthly premium for a set period of time. This rider lasts the length of your policy, but terminates once you turn 65.
Pacific Life offers competitive rates at every age bracket. The following table illustrates the cost of a 20-year, $250,000 policy for a healthy man:
| Age | SBLI Estimate | Industry Average |
|---|---|---|
| 20-29 | $25.00 | $28.00 |
| 30-39 | $28.00 | $32.00 |
| 40-49 | $56.00 | $61.00 |
| 50-59 | $137.00 | $152.00 |
| 60+ | $340.00 | $504.00 |
*Note: Rounded to the nearest dollar. Figures are given for illustrative purposes only. For an individual estimate, contact Pacific Life.
With other companies, older applicants can experience a price jump at the age of 50 or 60. But with Pacific Life, rates stay competitive for every age group.
Of course, Pacific Life’s rates can still fluctuate with health conditions, and increase for applicants who smoke cigarettes. The policy will be most affordable to non-smokers with milder health problems such as sleep apnea or high cholesterol or those who struggle with anxiety and depression.
Pacific Life is highly ranked by third party sources, including:
In J.D. Power’s 2020 U.S. Life Insurance Study, Pacific Life ranked seventh out of 23 companies. These high financial ratings make Pacific Life a reliable, trusted insurance provider.
Customer ratings
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tracks complaints submitted to state insurance departments and scores them accordingly. A score of 1.0 is average. Pacific Life scored 0.09, meaning they received fewer customer complaints compared to other companies their size.
Brian is the founder and CEO of Insurist and carries Life, Health, and Property & Casualty licenses in all 50 U.S. states. Since 2013, Brian has been a member of Million Dollar Round Table, a designation for the top 1% of financial advisors worldwide. Brian has been featured in Yahoo! Finance, Money.com, Entrepreneur.com, Life Happens, Forbes, MSN, and Good Financial Cents. Brian’s goal is to show customers the best products, the quickest answers to their questions, and provide expert advice.
