Pacific Life Insurance Company Review

Pacific Life Insurance Company at a Glance

Pacific Life Pros: More than 150 years of experience in the insurance industry. High financial strength ratings through several organizations. Offers several forms of life insurance. Offers flexible premium options. Offers online claims reporting and online bill pay.

Pacific Life Cons: Not a BBB-accredited company. No official claims response time frame promise. Official website does not detail information about claims. Many negative customer reviews. Some modern customer service options are missing.

What Types of Insurance Does Pacific Life Offer?

Pacific Life is a specialized insurance company, with a focus on life insurance. Their coverage offerings include:

If you’re in the market for life insurance or annuities, Pacific Life insurance company may have just the type of product you’re looking for.

What to Know about Pacific Life

Pacific Life insurance company was founded in 1868, giving the carrier well over a century of experience in the industry. The carrier’s headquarters is in Newport Beach, California, but coverage is available nationwide. Pacific Life offers a variety of life insurance products, as well as long-term care benefits, annuities, and mutual fund options.

At the end of 2019, Pacific Life had a reported $171 million in company assets, and another $12 million in operating revenues. The insurance company has nearly 3,400 employees found on its LinkedIn network. The carrier has also received stable financial strength ratings from several organizations, including an “AA-,” or very strong rating from Fitch, an “A1,” or good rating from Moody’s, and an “AA-,” or very strong rating through Standard & Poor’s Global.

Because of its high ratings, nationwide reach, and extremely long-standing history, Pacific Life insurance company has developed a reputation as a financially stable insurance company with a positive outlook for the future. A.M. Best, the leading global credit rating agency monitoring the insurance industry, gives Pacific an “A+” rating, indicating the carrier is a superior choice for insurance customers. A high rating from A.M. Best assures customers that Pacific is capable of offering guaranteed, secure coverage from a reputable carrier.

Established in 1899, A.M. Best is one of the oldest rating companies in the world. Reviews from A.M. Best indicate an insurance company’s financial strength and creditworthiness, and are based on comprehensive evaluations of the company’s operating performance, business profile, and balance sheet. For customers who aren’t as familiar with insurance companies’ reputations, A.M. Best’s rating system allows them to make an informed decision about who they can trust to meet their needs in the short term, and also to remain a strong, financially sound company in the long term.

What Discounts Does Pacific Life Offer?

While Pacific Life does not make information about their specific discounts readily available, most life insurance companies today offer several common discounts on comparable coverages. These discounts often include:

Your independent insurance agent can help you find more information on exact discounts offered by Pacific Life and additional ways to save money through the insurance company, helping you to get the most bang out of your buck on coverage.

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Pacific Life Customer Service

Pacific Life offers one phone line for all general customer inquiries. The carrier provides the following customer service options:

The best way to ensure a smooth customer service experience is by working with an independent insurance agent. These agents can help make customer service easier for you by handling claims and other concerns.

Pacific Life FAQ

What is Pacific Life's average claims response time frame?

Pacific allows customers to file claims via email, website, snail mail, or phone. However, the carrier does not provide a specific claims response time frame promise.

What is Pacific Life's customer service availability?

Pacific Life has one phone line for customer service inquiries, and separate phone lines for other departments. The phone line for general customer service inquiries is available at restricted hours, Monday-Friday. The insurance company also has a social media presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, which makes them more accessible to customers.

What is Pacific Life's claims process?

Pacific Life provides phone, online, snail mail, and email claims reporting services, but does not list any further information about their claims process on the official website. They do not even advertise a specific claims reporting phone number, but rather break up their contact departments by type of insurance, annuities, etc.

Does Pacific Life create a user-friendly experience for customers?

While Pacific Life’s official website is certainly visually appealing, well laid out, and easy to navigate, it could benefit from including more information about the carrier’s claims process. There’s virtually no information about claims to be found on the company’s website, which is strange for a modern carrier. The company does provide online claims reporting, but does not provide other modern customer service options such as requesting quotes, getting matched with an agent online, or 24/7 claims reporting via phone. The carrier is active on social media, which benefits them and their customers. Overall, however, Pacific Life falls a bit short in the user-friendliness department.

Does Pacific Life have good life insurance?

Pacific specializes in life insurance. Their variable universal life insurance policies come with the following perks:

• Flexible premiums
• Variable investment options
• Guaranteed minimum interest crediting rate options

Your independent insurance agent can help you find out more about Pacific Life’s variable universal life insurance policies, as well as their other products.

Is Pacific Life a good insurance company?

Pacific Life has received high ratings through A.M. Best and the BBB, but they are not accredited through the latter organization and have had several complaints filed against them in recent years. While the carrier has a rich history and is financially sound, customer reviews are mixed, with many disturbingly dismal encounters with the carrier reported. All things considered, it may be up to individual interpretation whether Pacific Life can be considered a good insurance company.

Pacific Life Customer Reviews

Consumer Affairs

“They were very helpful in setting me up with a program that best suited what I was looking for. They sympathized with my family's loss and helped me the best they could. It was very easy and with only one difficulty the staff helped me figure it out and I never had an issue after it. Thank you customer service crew. I had loads of issues with payout but the staff and customer services were so helpful in showing me how I can pay out online, over the phone and via my account. This was a little iffy for me at first but then once I figured out how funding works I realized I selected the best choice for my annuity.”

Consumer Affairs

“The company explains things in plain English so dummies like me can understand them. They answer all questions I have ever asked and I am happy with the company I chose. You can withdraw money in several ways and at certain ages. The company sets up a plan that fits a person's needs and the annuity can be distributed the way the owner wants it. You can take a lump sum and then have monthly payments for the rest of your life. You can have an amount put into the annuity fund each month to build the fund and have it grow until the age when it starts paying out.”

Better Business Bureau

“Pacific Life has been the most disorganized, sloppy insurance company I have ever dealt with. They insisted I complete the same address and bank account change forms twice, then after confirming my new address, continued to send paperwork to the old, incorrect address. They also sent payments to the wrong bank account after confirming my updated bank account. This paperwork has personal confidential information in it, and the old bank account is closed, which is concerning. I will never do any business with Pacific Life again.”

Yelp

“This review is long overdue, I've interacted with this company many times over the last few years and I can attest this company is terrible all around. Poor customer service and unprofessional on all levels. They are the bottom feeders of Orange County business...”

Yelp

“Many years ago my mother bought a policy from Pacific Life. When she died Pacific Life refused to pay the death benefit and now they won't cancel the policy without forcing me the insured from jumping through several legal hoops. Pacific Life is not a life insurance company, they are a premium collection agency."

TrustedChoice.com's Final Review

We award Pacific Life Insurance a final rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars. The carrier has been around for more than 150 years now, which is both noteworthy and impressive for the insurance industry today. With high ratings from A.M. Best, the BBB, and other institutions, Pacific Life has clearly demonstrated strong financial stability. The carrier offers several forms of life insurance coverage, annuities, and mutual funds across the nation. However, while they do offer online bill pay and claims reporting, they do not offer 24/7 claims reporting via phone, or other modern customer service options such as getting matched with an agent or requesting quotes online. The official website also does not include any information about the carrier’s claims process, which is strange. Further, there are many distressing customer reviews spotted across the web, with many reports detailing frustrations with not receiving benefit payouts, or rude customer service encounters.

Bottom line: As far as we’re concerned, if an insurance company doesn’t treat its customers right, no amount of financial strength or history in the industry can make up for it. If excellent customer service and dependable coverage is important to you, we recommend working with your independent insurance agent to survey your other options before settling on Pacific Life to be your next trusted insurance company.