Pacific Life Insurance Company Review

Pacific Life is a well-known and highly rated provider with an impressive lineup of reasonably priced policies for applicants of every age.

Product Availability

Review Breakdown

Price/Value

In many cases, the right life insurance company is ultimately the one which offers you the lowest rates. 

What you pay for life insurance is based on several factors like your age, health condition, and lifestyle, with each company using their own scale to measure risk factors differently.

For the average young applicant in decent health, Pacific Life’s rates are lower than average. Their prices are competitive for applicants of all ages, too, though the company doesn’t offer the absolute lowest rates on term coverage.

When it comes to applicants with underlying health conditions, Pacific Life looks at some conditions more favorably than others.

They tend to provide the best underwriting for applicants with high cholesterol and sleep apnea, as well as those who have a family health history of cancer.

Their rates are less competitive for individuals with a history of tobacco use and those who have hypertension.

Pacific Life’s treatment of other conditions like weight loss and diabetes is favorable.

Financial Strength

Financial strength is fundamental to choosing a life insurance provider, as you want to be sure the company is capable of paying out claims.

As exemplified by its logo, Pacific Life embodies strength, high performance, and consistency.

Its financial report reflects this strength, as they’ve been awarded an “A” or better by all four credit rating agencies, something only a small handful of life insurers can say today.

These include Standard & Poor’s, Fitch, Moody’s and A.M. Best, putting their Comdex score near the top ten percent and putting them among the most elite life insurance companies in the United States.

Here’s a quick breakdown of their current ratings:

A.M. Best	A+
Fitch	AA-
Moody’s	A1
Standard & Poor’s	AA-

These numbers suggest Pacific Life is in excellent shape, as does their recent financial performance.

Pacific Life boasts $171 billion in company assets.

The company also paid out over $2.7 billion of benefits to policyholders in 2019.

User Experience

Pacific Life presents its customers with a generally positive user experience, whether they’re exploring the company’s products, applying for a policy, or filing a claim.

While their application is among the quickest, their website could be a bit more resourceful.

Ratings

J.D. Power and the Better Business Bureau provide valuable ratings for life insurance companies, which assess customer satisfaction.

Here are Pacific Life’s scores from each:

• J.D. Power: 3 / 5
• BBB: A-

The J.D. Power U.S. Life Insurance Study uses customer responses to judge companies’ communication with policyholders, application process, and similar factors.

Their ranking puts Pacific Life’s customer experience at “about average” among the companies surveyed.

Paired with the BBB’s rating, this score suggests policyholders are generally content with their experience as Pacific Life customers.

Website

Pacific Life’s website provides basic information on the company and its financials, as well as all of its products.

There’s also a calculator that can help you determine how much life insurance you need, based on your income, expenses, investing, and retirement goals.

As a policyholder, you’ll find fewer online tools, though. While you can download forms and view policy information online, to change your address, beneficiary, or payment details, you’ll have to make a phone call.

Application

J.D Power gives Pacific Life a 2 out of 5 for its application process. 

The application is fairly short and straightforward, and you can expect a traditional underwriting process for most policies.

Pacific Life’s site helps connect you with agents in your area when you enter your location, who can help initiate the application process.

In addition to its standard policies which require an application followed by a medical exam, Pacific Life now offers policies with simplified underwriting, which don’t require an exam for approval.

Product Availability

Pacific Life’s scope of term to permanent life insurance products lends itself to individuals, families, and also businesses of all sizes.

Term Life

Pacific Life gives you a few term life options:

• Pacific Term Elite: With a flat death benefit and level premiums, it comes in 10-year, 20-year, and 30-year options and can be converted to a universal one without any additional underwriting.
• Pacific TERM Art: Option 2 comes with annual renewals and premiums which increase each year. These policies are a competitively priced alternative for applicants who only need coverage for a short span of time.
• PL Promise Term: This level premium policy requires a minimum of $50,000 of coverage in terms of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years. PL Promise payments can be made on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis.

Universal Life

One of the key target markets for Pacific is their universal lineup.

Not including the indexed or variable options, here are the policies which fall under the standard universal umbrella.

• PL Promise GUL: This policy comes with a no-lapse guarantee and a minimum face value of $25,000. Premiums can be paid a month early or late without negating your guarantee.
• Versa-Flex NLG: Even if your cash value plummets below $0, your policy is guaranteed to stay in force, as long as you make your premiums.
• Versa-Flex Venture UL: This variation of Versa-Flex offers premium flexibility and the potential to change your coverage and death benefit.
• Pacific Estate Preserver III: The preserver policy is designated for estate planning, paying out a death benefit when both insured individuals pass.

Depending on your age, what you’re looking to accomplish, and how much permanent death benefit you need, one may be a better option than the next.

Indexed Universal Life

Pacific Life offers multiple types of policies which are tied to mutual funds or indices of the stock markets.

An indexed universal plan ties the cash accumulation portion of the contract to a market index, typically the S&P 500, to offer the potential of increased gain beyond basic stated interest rates.

Four different products are available under this specific type, including:

• Pacific Discovery Xelerator IUL 2: The death benefit and cash value accumulation of this policy, paired with its flexibility are beneficial for retirees.
• Pacific Discovery Protector IUL: This is an ideal option for individuals looking to preserve their wealth and have access to their retirement assets.
• Pacific Indexed Accumulator 6: With death benefit protection and index-based performance, and guaranteed floors, this product is perfect for successful business owners.
• Pacific Indexed Estate Preserver 3: These survivorship policies offer flexibility for estate planning with minimized policy charges along the way.

Variable Universal Life

If you are less averse to risk and willing to go out on a limb for the possibility of more gain, a variable life insurance policy may be for you.

You will need to talk with a registered representative in order to buy the policies below because of these assumed risks:

• Pacific Select VUL 2: The long term policy offers flexibility to mix and match VUL investment options to meet your goals.
• Pacific Select VUL – Accumulation: This policy provides individuals with security and supplementary income.
• Pacific Select Survivorship VUL: This VUL policy is geared towards estate preservation with ease and versatility.
• Pacific Prime VUL: Prime VUL simplifies growing your investments, with convenient tools that streamline your policy management.

Whole Life

Pacific Life also offers a workplace whole life insurance policy, Flex16.

This policy is interest-sensitive and comes with fixed premiums.

Whole life insurance from Pacific Life can be attached to a number of qualified plans.

Beyond this workplace plan, Pacific Life does not offer any traditional whole life insurance policy options, something to keep in mind if you need more expansive whole life coverage than the Flex 16 policy offers.

Non -Med Coverage up to $3 million

One of Pacific Life’s most competitive products is its Executive Class Underwriting, which offers policies up to $3 million without a medical exam. 

Applicants between the ages of 25-60 with a track record of good health who earn at least $200,000 a year in a non-risky profession could be eligible for simplified underwriting for several policies.

All it takes is a quick phone call to start the underwriting process on this exclusive product for highly compensated individuals.

Brand/Size

Pacific has a storied history, beginning in 1868, when the governor of California, Leland Stanford, founded the company as Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company.

After nearly 20 years in business, the company continued to grow and began its diversification efforts into accident policies.

Another 20 years passed and the insurer merged with Conservative Life, another West coast company, for greater size and impact on the local markets.

In 1971, PIMCO was started, the investment management company under the Pacific name.

1997 was the year the company dropped its mutual status, moving instead towards a mutual holding company and becoming what it is today, Pacific Life Insurance Company.

Just 10 years later, Pacific Asset Management was born, giving Pacific even further prominence in the financial sector as the insurer moved into offering financial advisory services.

The company operates all across the United States, but even has a footprint in Asia and Europe as well, with business ties to insurance, investments, and even aviation.

Today, Pacific Life has over 853,000 clients and more than $1.1 trillion of life insurance in force.

Philanthropy

Pacific Life has long stood for giving generously to people and causes in need.

In 2018, Pacific Life gave $7 million in contributions to the communities it serves, funding hundreds of grantee requests and logging nearly 15,000 volunteer hours across the company.

Pacific has donated over $100 million over the last 33 years, demonstrating a strong commitment to giving.

One of the causes closest to the company’s heart is found in its name, as Pacific Life lends a huge helping hand in assisting the research, preservation, and other aspects of aid to the Pacific Ocean and its living ecosystem.

Even predating its breaching whale icon, Pacific has supported the conservation of whales both in the Pacific and worldwide. In the last 5 years, they’ve pledged $2 million to these efforts.

Brand

Brand name recognition is important to a lot of insurance shoppers, making a company even more dependable in their eyes.

Pacific Life is a popular name in the life insurance industry and beyond. The company has been building a solid reputation and relationship with the public since the 1800s.

Today, the company uses social media to interact with and educate customers. Pacific Life is active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

The company’s signature whale has major household recognition, from its impressive marketing and advertising campaigns, commercials, and sponsorship of events.

Philanthropy

Through all of its successes, Protective has remained steadfast in its commitment to its core values of integrity, services, trust, and simplicity.

This heart for helping people is also evident in the Protective Life Foundation, the company’s attempt to make a difference in the communities it serves.

Protective and its employees donate to and volunteer with hundreds of nonprofits to improve people’s quality of life and solve issues facing our neighborhoods and the environment.

Brand

Brand recognition can be another deciding factor when you purchase life insurance, instilling a level of trust between the company and prospective policyholders.

Protective isn’t the most well-known name in life insurance, but it has built and maintained a solid, substantial reputation over a century. 

Today, the company utilizes social media to promote its brand and stay connected to clients and the community at large.

Protective has over 100,000 followers on Facebook and though the following is smaller, the company actively posts on Twitter and Instagram.

The company also shares its commercials, stories, and educational financial videos on Youtube.

Consensus

The general consensus surrounding Pacific Life is positive among consumers, financial experts, and insurance agents.

Though its term policies aren’t always the most competitively priced, Pacific has a wide array of term and permanent policies and prices are generally below average overall.

For the cheapest term rates, you may want to look elsewhere, though if you want the brand, you won’t pay much more.

Pacific is a financially strong and secure company with a historical backbone here in the United States, and its business model is one which aims to continue to do so in the coming years with special attention to people, community, and wildlife.