Pacific Life offers competitive rates at every age and solid coverage options for people with a variety of builds and health conditions.
By
Logan SachonLogan SachonSenior Managing Editor, Life Insurance & ResearchLogan Sachon is a former senior managing editor of life insurance and research at Policygenius. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, Business Insider, CNN Money, BuzzFeed, Money Under 30, VICE, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.&Jessica SillersJessica SillersContributing WriterJessica Sillers is a contributing writer at Policygenius who specializes in life insurance. Her writing as also appeared in Business Insider, Prudential, Haven Life, Fabric by Gerber Life, MoneyGeek, Credit Sesame, and elsewhere.
Edited by
Adam MorganAdam MorganEditorial DirectorAdam Morgan is a former editorial director at Policygenius who led the editorial team. Previously, he led editorial teams matrixed across multiple financial publications at Red Ventures — including Bankrate, NextAdvisor, Million Mile Secrets, and others. As a journalist, his work has appeared in Esquire, Scientific American, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.
Our proprietary ratings methodology takes multiple factors into account, including customer satisfaction, cost, financial strength, and policy offerings. See the “Ratings methodology” section for more details.
4.8
AM Best rating
AM Best is a global credit rating agency that scores the financial strength of insurance companies on a scale from A++ (Superior) to D (Poor).
A+
Cost
Using a mix of internal and external rate data, we grade the cost of each insurance company's premiums on a scale from least expensive ($) to most expensive ($$$$$).
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Policygenius awards
Best life insurance for customer satisfaction 2023
The bottom line
Pacific Life offers some of the lowest rates for term life insurance across age brackets. It also has the most competitive rates for many health conditions and physical builds.
Pros
Extremely affordable across age brackets
Affordable guaranteed universal life insurance option for people who need lifetime coverage
Favorable underwriting for many health conditions
Cons
Traditional term life not available in NY
There are better carriers for active duty military, people who have a history of alcohol abuse, and people who have been through bankruptcy
Basic coverages offered
Term life insurance: Pacific Life’s Promise Term is a traditional term life insurance policy available starting at $50,000 in terms of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years.
No-medical-exam term life insurance: Pal+ is Pacific Life’s accelerated underwriting, no-medical-exam term option. It’s available for people 18 to 70 applying for up to $3 million in coverage.
Indexed universal life insurance: Pacific Life has three indexed universal life products: Pacific Horizon IUL 2022, Pacific Horizon ECV IUL, and Pacific Horizon Survivorship IUL. (Note: These products are not available through the Policygenius marketplace.)
Variable universal life insurance: Pacific Life has three variable universal life insurance policies: Pacific Select VUL 2, Pacific Select Harbor VUL, and Pacific Admiral VUL. (Note: These products are not available through the Policygenius marketplace.)
Additional coverages offered
Acceleration of death benefit rider: The common ADB rider, available at no additional cost on your term life policy, allows you to access some of the policy’s death benefit (Up to $500,000 or 75% of your total coverage, whichever is smaller) if you’re diagnosed with a qualifying terminal illness.
Children’s level term rider: For an additional cost, the child rider provides life insurance coverage to the insured’s children, up to $10,000 per child.
Waiver of premium rider: For an additional cost, the waiver of premium rider will waive premiums during a period of qualifying disability.
Ratings methodology
Price
5.0/5
Our price rating scale looks at the average cost of life insurance for a sample 20-year term policy with a $1 million coverage for a 35-year-old female non-smoker with a Standard Plus risk classification, the rating an insurance company gives you that determines your rates (if a company doesn't have a Standard Plus rating, we use its Standard rates). The quote we got from Pacific Life puts it in the least expensive category for our rating system.
Customer experience
5.0/5
Pacific Life is the leading insurer on our customer experience scale, with the lowest complaint score in the industry. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index is a reliable customer satisfaction barometer because it measures each company against an “industry average” complaint score of 1.00 — lower numbers mean fewer complaints than average. Pacific Life scored 0.13, meaning it receives an impressive 87% fewer complaints than the average life insurance company. This is an excellent sign that you can expect outstanding service, and it’s why Pacific Life earned a perfect score on our customer experience scale.
Transparency
4.1/5
We base our transparency scale on how easy it is to communicate with insurance experts at the company and find information on its website. Pacific Life’s website provides helpful information on term lengths, coverage amounts, and financial strength ratings, although the company lost a few points for not making average rate information clearer. Pacific Life offers phone, physical mail addresses, and email options to contact for support.
Financial strength
4.4/5
A.M. Best, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), and Moody’s are all credit ratings agencies that score other companies’ financial health. Each uses a slightly different scoring system, so our financial strength rating weighs and combines all of them to determine a financial strength rating. Pacific Life scored A+ from A.M. Best, AA- from S&P, and Aa3 from Moody’s. All of these mean the company is considered to be high quality and low risk, in the most superior Prime category and second-strongest subcategory. In other words, you can feel confident that Pacific Life is in superior financial standing and can meet its obligations to customers with very low credit risk.
A closer look at Pacific Life life insurance
Who is Pacific Life best for?
Pacific Life is our top recommendation for people with type 2 diabetes, thanks to its flexible guidelines and affordable rate options.
Pacific Like is also our top pick for guaranteed universal life insurance. Its policy is one of the most affordable, convenient permanent life insurance options, especially for smokers.
And Pacific Life’s rates stay competitive across age groups, making it an excellent choice for seniors over 60. Pacific Life’s lower policy minimum ($50,000 for term, compared to $100,000 at most companies) and flexible approach to covering people with certain health concerns can help you find coverage that fits throughout your life.
What makes Pacific Life unique?
Pacific Life stands out for its top customer satisfaction rating, competitive rates, and more accommodating guidelines for certain health conditions. People with diabetes, larger builds, or sleep apnea may have an easier time finding affordable coverage with Pacific Life than other insurers. Pacific Life also offers lower minimum coverage amounts and keeps rates competitive as people reach their 60s, which may help explain why it has such a strong record for customer satisfaction.
Who should consider a different life insurance company?
Pacific Life is not available in New York State, so New Yorkers will have to seek coverage elsewhere. It also doesn’t generally offer the most favorable rates to people who are active duty military, people who have been through bankruptcy, or people with a history of alcohol abuse.
Expert opinions on Pacific Life
"Pacific Life is a great option for people with larger builds and people with some health conditions including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. It also has some of the most affordable term rates for people over 60." —Matt Burke, licensed life insurance specialist at Policygenius
Pacific Life life insurance rates
The chart below shows average monthly premium prices for a 20-year term life insurance policy with $500,000 in coverage for non-smokers in a Preferred health classification; quotes are based on the Policygenius Life Insurance Price Index methodology.
Age/sex
Pacific Life average
Industry average
25-year-old female
$18.67
$21.08
25-year-old male
$23.79
$26.90
35-year-old female
$22.23
$25.58
35-year-old male
$25.98
$30.34
45-year-old female
$43.07
$47.86
45-year-old male
$54.92
$60.76
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Pacific Life history, reputation, and social responsibility
Pacific Life was founded in 1868 as The Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of California by founders who saw promise in the frontier. [1] The company held steady through early economic crisis in the 1870s, becoming the oldest life insurance company on the West Coast when California Mutual failed. Pacific Life acquired Alliance Mutual, survived economic recessions and earthquakes, and ultimately grew to become a Fortune 500 company with over 4,000 employees and $1.2 trillion of life insurance in force. [2] Pacific Life is a mutual holding company that has no publicly traded stock.
In April 2021, Pacific Life issued a new sustainability framework to make an impact on Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals. The company dedicated $800 million ESG bond issuance to go to projects in renewable energy, green building, and affordable housing. According to reports, all proceeds from the ESG bond issuance have been invested, so the company is following through on its commitment to making a positive ESG impact. [3]
Pacific Life in the news
In December 2022, a Wink’s Sales & Market Report named Pacific Life a top five company for indexed universal life based on market share. (InsuranceNewsNet)
In October 2022, Pacific Life announced a partnership with Human API, an electronic health records provider, to help it streamline its underwriting process. (Yahoo! Finance)
In April 2022, Pacific Life named Mary Beth Eckert as its first chief information and digital officer in November. (Wall Street Journal)
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Pacific Life vs. other companies
Compare Pacific Life to similar life insurance companies using the table below.
Policygenius uses external sources, including government data, industry studies, and reputable news organizations to supplement proprietary marketplace data and internal expertise. Learn more about how we use and vet external sources as part of oureditorial standards.
Logan Sachon is a former senior managing editor of life insurance and research at Policygenius. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, Business Insider, CNN Money, BuzzFeed, Money Under 30, VICE, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.
Jessica Sillers is a contributing writer at Policygenius who specializes in life insurance. Her writing as also appeared in Business Insider, Prudential, Haven Life, Fabric by Gerber Life, MoneyGeek, Credit Sesame, and elsewhere.
Adam Morgan is a former editorial director at Policygenius who led the editorial team. Previously, he led editorial teams matrixed across multiple financial publications at Red Ventures — including Bankrate, NextAdvisor, Million Mile Secrets, and others. As a journalist, his work has appeared in Esquire, Scientific American, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.
