**Pacific Life Insurance Review: A Masterclass in Corporate Arrogance and Unprofessionalism** As a law enforcement officer with over two decades of service, I've developed a finely tuned sense for when someone--or some *entity*--is overreaching and abusing authority. I recently began exploring supplemental life insurance options beyond my agency's underwhelming offerings. On Tuesday, July 14th, after inquiring through Zander Insurance, a Pacific Life agent contacted me. What followed was not a professional consultation but a textbook example of why this company deserves every bit of skepticism it receives. I have zero hesitation providing a complete medical history from birth to my current age of 41. Transparency in underwriting is reasonable. What is *not* reasonable--and what I find profoundly insulting--is the company's demand for exhaustive financial disclosure: bank statements, home details, full financial history, driving records, and essentially every scrap of personal data short of my DNA profile. Pacific Life apparently believes that because they are a "big player," customers should simply surrender their entire lives for inspection, waiving privacy rights so their bureaucrats can paw through documents like probation officers with a search warrant. Let me be perfectly clear, as only a law enforcement professional can: There is a categorical difference between providing sensitive information to legitimate governmental authority under strict legal protocols and handing it over to a profit-driven insurance company on a fishing expedition. The condescension dripping from their process is staggering. They offered no coherent explanation for why my full financial life needed to be exposed beyond vague mutterings about "underwriting rules." A basic credit check to flag bankruptcies or fraud risks? Understandable. Demanding my entire financial portfolio like I'm applying for a classified clearance? That's not due diligence; that's entitlement wrapped in corporate jargon. Other reputable providers I spoke with had no such invasive requirements. Yet Pacific Life couldn't even articulate a legitimate purpose. Instead, they simply expected compliance. How delightfully arrogant. No wonder this company maintains its supposedly "high ratings"--those metrics likely reflect balance-sheet stability built on collecting premiums from people who don't push back, not on customer respect or service quality. The agent interaction itself was a farce. Repeated requests to spell my address, restate my employment details, and clarify basic information--multiple times--while children played audibly in the background. If you're going to cold-call potential clients, at minimum secure a quiet professional environment. Asking a customer to repeat themselves three or four times because you can't hear over the chaos is not only unprofessional; it's disrespectful of the client's time and intelligence. I was in a controlled, quiet setting. The least one might expect is reciprocity. In short, Pacific Life exemplifies everything wrong with certain corners of the insurance industry: invasive overreach masquerading as standard procedure, paired with sloppy execution. I terminated the conversation immediately and will never consider them again. Law enforcement professionals--and anyone who values their privacy and dignity--would do well to look elsewhere. There are better options that treat customers as partners rather than suspects whose lives must be laid bare for corporate convenience. **Strongly recommend avoiding. Zero stars.** read more

Seniors be WARNED Pacific Life Annuities are a nightmare for Beneficiaries After my mother passed away, it took seven months to receive funds from her Pacific Life annuity. The delay was exhausting and completely unnecessary. Pacific Life incorrectly classified the annuity as a lump-sum payout due to their own error, which now forces me to pay capital gains taxes that should not apply. Despite acknowledging the mistake, they refused to correct or recategorize it. The gains on the annuity were not material, yet Pacific Life showed zero urgency or flexibility. Communication was slow, confusing, and felt deliberately obstructive. Once the policyholder passed away, it became very clear that Pacific Life is optimized to sell annuities to seniors--not to efficiently pay beneficiaries. If you are a senior considering a Pacific Life annuity, be warned: your children or beneficiaries may have a very hard time accessing their money. If you are a beneficiary, be prepared for delays and rigid bureaucracy during an already difficult time. I would strongly caution anyone considering Pacific Life for retirement or annuity products. read more

Would give no stars, but it's not possible. See Kyle Busch lawsuit. Don't get the product. Lose over 50% before you know it. Make income every year and pay tax on it, then fees are more than income. Class action lawsuit anybody? Busch's attorneys won't handle it. read more

Veronica was a HORRIBLE associate attitude any time i asked any questions .. seems like she doesnt like her job.

Long hold times. Wonky website. I'm about to cancel my policy just because of these two pains.

My wife and have a retirement account with Pacific Life and we cant even get our money . Bernie Madoff would have been a better group to deal with than pacific life . If you invest your money with these people dont expect to get it back . We had a very sorry adviser and broker that put our money in with Pacific Life ( a real idiot ) not telling us that once we did we cant get it back . We invested $50,000 dollars in July of 24 . A year later we wanted to pay off our house ( we are in our mid 70s) and it was a battle just to get $32,000 to pay the house off . Then we learned from that we cant get another dime out until 2038 , we'll both be dead by then . Now they have the other $18,000 ( pacific life ) . we would like to get some more of our money back to have some much needed work done on our house . People please DO NOT INVEST WITH PACIFIC LIFE . You will be much better off putting your money in regular saving account where you can have full access when you need it without penalty . Yes your money may grow in an investment account ( so they say ) but if your are lucky enough to get it without problems you will still be penalized with penalties and fees . So to me with our bad experience we would have been better off with a lower interest savings account at our bank than with this crap . Please read all the bad experiences of people and think about it before you invest ,the stress is not worth it . read more

These people don't even accept credit card payments - you have to type in checking account numbers each time like it's 1975. Remarkable.

We absolutely do not recommend any product from this in competent company. Their unprofessionalism and lack of communication is pathetic. We had an automatic withdrawal that was accidentally doubled, do to a "glitch" as we were told in their symptom. Not only has this "glitch" not been resolved. We have absolutely no more communication. Their business speaks for itself. Terrible read more

The buying experience was extremely poor. It was inefficient, disorganized, and unprofessional. The communication between the underwriter and the customer service reps appeared to be non-existent as information from one rep would contradict what was said by the previous rep. It was almost as if everyone involved was doing this for the very first time. After THREE MONTHS of being tortured by endless record requests, the underwriter decided to take a pass. This is for the best - should I pass, I wouldn't want my family to have to deal with these clowns. read more

I requested a percentage of my annuity at Pacific Life through a third party investment company about 6 weeks ago. First, I had to sign a form to authorize the withdrawal and mail it back to my investment firm. Pacific Life "processed" my request on 10 Nov. 2025 and said it would take 7- 10 days to receive the check. About 2 and 1/2 weeks later, I received a statement showing the transaction but no check. When I called them I was told the checks are mailed from a different location and that it was mailed on 12 Nov. 2025. I told them it had already been longer than 7 - 10 days and was told very sarcastically that the "check was in the mail: and that they had NO control over the Post Office! My investment company was told the same thing when I reported to them. Last week, I called my investment company again to let them know I still had not received the check and to cancel it. You guessed it, another form to sign and submit. It is now 12 Dec. 2025 and I still have not received the "missing" check even though it is no longer valid. I am now waiting for the funds to be returned to my account at which time I will submit another form to close my account with them and find a responsible investment company that does not blame their incompetence on the postal system. read more

this company ask a lot of personal questions that have nothing to do with me wanting to make my payments every month to have coverage. It even asked if my parents are alive and I'm forced to. that my mother was murdered. If I try to skip the question, it says I'll still have no answer the question later find their extremely offensive and a waste of time. If I get denied I'm definitely take legal action for causing me anxiety. read more

When you try to get money out of your brokerage account, you will literally go through hell before you get any decent amount, they should improve on that. Fi you're even considering an investment advisor that can make good returns on investment for you at no cost, search for Laura jane hertges on google, she has helped me and so many others. read more

I applied in June to Pacific Life insurance for a term life policy for my 53 yr old.mentally challenged, perfectly healthy, son. I spoke on the phone several times and filled out numerous forms, electronic signatures etc. They never mentioned there may be a problem. I told the agent that I was about to let his current policy lapse b/c theirs was a better option. Sept. 5, 2024 I rec'd another bill from his previous company which prompted me to call Pacific LIfe. I was told he was denied, no reason was given. They have still not informed me in writing, of the denial. I was told they sent a letter but have not received one. This is clearly discrimination. What a waste of time! read more

I had an annuity account with Pacific Life for almost 25 years. It was time to change to a different company. And Pacific Life proved all the way, that I made the right decision. I requested a full surrender on 08/07/2025. A check was cut on 08/15/2025 and supposedly mailed out but never arrived at the required destination. I called Pacific Life on 09/04/2025 to inform them that the check was never received by my new financial company. Some legit time has to be given for the USPS service to deliver the check. I was told when I called Pacific Life that there would be a stop payment issued and it needed to be investigated that the check wasn't cashed. I made so many phone calls to Pacific Life to find out about the status for a new check to be issued. I experienced rude, unprofessionally and incompetent treatment. I was always put on hold from staff to gather information. And any given time the information was different. I felt that I got the run around. Finally on 09/12/2025 a tracking label for FedEx was created to deliver the new created check. I went to the FedEx website to check on the status and the envelope with the check was never picked up. I called FedEx to inquire about the status and was told that a pick up was never requested by Pacific Life. I called Pacific Life on 09/15/2025 and was told that a couple hours ago a FedEx pick up was requested. On 09/16/2025 I received an email from my new financial company that the original check dated on 08/15/2025 was received on 09/15/2025 via USPS and deposited into my new account. I endured a journey of lies, betrayal and false information for over a month after being a client of Pacific Life for 25 years. My advise stay away and I hope that one day this company will be audited! read more

I would give zero stars if possible. Before passing and in caring for my father, he emphatically told me there were two Pacific Life policies. When he passed, Pacific Life insisted VERY RUDELY ON SEVERAL OF THE CALLS that there was only one. I finally gave up and let it go until a year later I received a letter from Pacific Life addressed to my father on the yearly RMD that must be taken. Thankfully, I had his mail to his home forwarded to my address. I then had to put up with more rudeness from Pacific Life as they searched out and finally found the policy. They compensated us for the policy and paid the puny interest the policy paid for that year. My brother and I could have invested the proceeds and made triple the interest. Pacific Life acted like they were doing us a favor and NEVER APOLOGIZED. DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! They're incompetent and bullies. read more

Pacific Life will deny you life insurance if you are pregnant. I wish they would have just said that before making me go through blood work and a physical. I was very open with them so they were aware prior to the physical. I will never do business with them and can only imagine how an actual life insurance policy would pan out with these crooks. Go elsewhere, save yourself the time. read more

They took approximately 2 months to approve my life insurance application and then, when they finally did approve it, they charged me for the entire 2 months, including the first month when it wasn't in effect! I spoke to numerous people at Pacific Life to have them remove that charge but instead of doing so, they were happy to have me cancel my 15 year policy and lose 15 years of premiums rather than return one month's premium that they shouldn't have charged in the first place. That's very bad business, extremely shortsighted, and unethical in my opinion. If this is how they treat new customers, I would hate to see how they treat families who try to file a claim for the death of a policy holder. read more

Do not invest your money here. When you pass away, they will make it very difficult for your loved one to receive their funds. All the other investment companies had a streamlined process to receive the funds. Not Pacific Life!!!! read more

This company has a serious problem with their technology. When you go online to create a profile, you're instructed to create a username with 6-8 characters, but the system only allows you to enter a maximum of 7 characters. Ok, it's annoying but maybe not a big deal. However, if you're going online to download your 1099, forget about it. They don't offers those for download, they mail them pretty much on the last day of January. Surprised they don't send them by Pony Express. When you ask why they don't have them for download, you'll be told it's their "policy." And while you can get through to a live person relatively easily, these poor souls have no information to share other than parroting the company's "policy." Ridiculous. read more

My father's June 2024 check was fraudulently stolen & his address was changed to Bronx NY which is where his June ck was mailed to & cashed. We immediately reached out to Pacific Life regarding this & at 1st he was told well the check got cashed so we don't know what to tell you. Well that's when they were dealing with him but NOW it's me & I'm refusing for them to just keep b-shit'ng him.-!! They wanted a police report - THEY GOT IT // they said there was a form they were mailing him that had to be notarized & returned. Well paper was never received via mail BUT I did find a way to get it online...we have filled out EVERYTHING THEY ASKED US FOR& when we call customer service they even say we have returned everything that now we are just waiting on CORPORATE WHICH YOU CANT CALL.. it's almost September & this has been going on since June.!! SHAME ON THESE " SUPERVISORS" HIDING BEHIND A CALL CENTER THAT WONT CONNECT US TO THEM SHAME ON YOU PACIFIC LIFE read more

Applied for a 15 year term life insurance policy via SelectQuote. They told me PacLife was the best for my demographic. My physical exam and bloodwork were stellar. All the doctor records have been received, except one (more on that below). I applied for this policy in late July. It is now the end of October. Communication from them is spotty at best but they ask the same question repeatedly if (it seems) they don't like the answer. Sometimes I get an email or text from my rep on what's happening, and sometimes I don't and have to call them. So here is what is apparently holding up the underwriters: It seems they are waiting on records from a doctor's office for a visit that never happened. I have told them, and so has the doctor, repeatedly, there are no records because there was no visit. We have explained why there was no visit. Nothing more to see or tell here. Everyone at PacLife is nice when you call, but if I were a conspiracy theorist I'd think they are doing everything they can to find a reason to not give me a premium policy. BTW.... My husband also applied with PacLife a month after I did and has a policy in hand awaiting his signature. The premiums are ridiculously high and aren't competitive. Time's up. My husband and I are both moving on to more service-oriented firms who value our time and money. read more

I've been on hold now for two hours. My father opened a claim on me 30 years ago, and I am just trying to get answers to transfer ownership of it to me. Based on the reviews, I will likely see what I need to do to empty the account and put the money elsewhere. read more

I don't know what office or branch my Pacific Life Annuity is being taken care of because my attorney transferred part of the settlement to this company. I can say it's the worst insurance company I have ever used. The employees act absolutely unprofessional, as if they are all novices. It seems they don't know what they are doing. They've given me hard time since day one. It's such a hassle to deal with this company. I really want to move my account to another company but I have no choice because of my incompetent lawyer. Stay away from this company people. read more

HORRIBLE SERVICE!! The website is NOT user friendly. I have my userid and password, it want's to send a code to verify it's me....that's great and makes is more secure. The problem is, it want's to send the code to my OLD Company email address! There ZERO other ways to have them Text or send the email to another address. When I call on the given company telephone number, they can't find me in the system at all. I have thousands of dollars on hand with them and yet, you can't find me at all? I've been on the phone for 40 minutes and bounced to 3 different people, all say the same thing. They are polite but just NOT helpful! read more

I had a variable annuity with Pacific Life for over 14 years. I decided it was time to transfer my IRA to Charles Schwab because the return on my investment was weak, and I was around 600.00 a year in fees. After I completed the application with Charles Schwab, the company contacted Pacific Life to request the transfer. Pacific Life transferred my account to Charles Schwab. This is when the nightmare began. Someone at Pacific Life made a mistake. The funds shouldn't have been sent until they had received a custodial release from the investment advisor whos was the custodian on the account. Pacific Life realized they made a mistake and recalled the funds from Charles Schwab. The funds were transferred for the first time to Charles Schwab around March 24th. The funds finally made it to Charles Schwab around May 9th. It took six weeks to complete the transaction, which should have taken a few days. Over the six weeks, I talked to more than 12 customer service people and managers. The market had changed during the six weeks when the check finally showed up at Schwab. My account had lost about 675.00 in value. I explained my situation to Luke, a manager at Pacific Life. He had little empathy for my poor experience or the financial loss, even though his company made a mistake that cost me money, time, and frustration. My suggestion is to keep looking if you're considering Pacific Life. read more

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 and the weirdo that handles their community activities and events.... specifically the 150th anniversary, I believe her name is Stacey Miller... there's a special place in the trash can for her. read more

Whatever you do, don't let your financial advisor get you into investments with this company. Not only are they low-yield investments with high fees, but when you need the money in your retirement, they will do everything they can to avoid letting you have it. My 87-year-old parents have dementia and we have been consolidating their money in a decent money-making account instead of the low yield investments their advisor had them in. All the other companies have co-operated after the appropriate powers of attorney and transfer documents were sent. When Pacific Life received these they sent a letter saying the only other thing they needed was a document signed by my mother. After they got it there were no more requests in writing, but every time we call on the phone to check progress they come up with another document needed. We comply, and then they request another. A compliance expert we talked to said they are just hanging onto the money. They have now asked for a signed doctor's note. We have sent them that. If they invent something else we will have to turn them in to the Insurance Commission in order to get my parents money which we need for their long term care. read more

This so called insurance company doesn't pay. My father took out a small $15k funeral cost policy and they refused payment after he went into hospital for a minor operation. They increased his rate even though it was a no rate increase policy. Stay away from them they stink and will not pay death benefits. read more

Their investments are poorly managed. The products are built to reduce value from the start. You will see that they cannot compete with a basic no frills fidelity annuity that charges only 10 bps. Pacific life doesn't create value for their policy owners. They just charge incredible fees to keep a broken machine going. Be smart and avoid this company for all financial products. Their credit rating should be downgraded as it doesn't reflect their eroding business. read more

Seriously ridiculously rude customer service. I wonder what management is like. From birth the producer aspect I waited two days for a quote? It takes 5 minutes to do myself. Unfortunately they are not Mac capable. I tried making a payment. The first lady was so hyped up at 830am perhaps to much coffee that she interrupted me 4 or 5 times mid sentence. Then just seemed to have an overall snotty attitude. I asked to be transferred to complete my call but she came back onto the que, with a better attitude but no thanks. (Jeanine?) I waited two days called again. Option to leave a message thinking they can call me back. 3 hours later no call. So I call. Waited about ten minutes, Brandon picked up. Misinformed me about payment. I told him no check again, yep I'm right. As I continue to deposit money he also has such a shi++y attitude I tell him so. I said watch I to can have a sh!t attitude. Seriously these people are annoying. It just worries me about the management team read more

I have been waiting on pacific life attorneys to review my poa for my mom's pention so I can get all her tax information from them. I sent all the paperwork they needed & was told I have to wait 5 more business days for them to look @ it. I started this process over a month ago! LAZY, I believe nobody is being accountable @ their jobs because they're all using COVID as an excuse not to! My mom also has an annuity with them & they have had all this information for years but their excuse is it's another department. Aren't we in the 21st century, my God your health care provider can look up your records in minutes even if your out of state! Come on Pacific Life get your S#*! together! read more

Excellent customer service provided to my mother and to me. All of my mother's questions were answered thoroughly and in a timely manner. There was unlimited time and attention provided. It was easy to contact them and they were fast to reply and address questions/needs. Great job. Great support staff. Great company. read more

i will never choose to do business with this company. Their failure to communicate basic important info is phenomenal and outrageous. As a beneficiary ,i wasn't even notified of a benefit until almost a year after the account owner's death, which voided out any chance of using some of the choices of how to allocate the funds. I found the written communication of the company to the clients to be so poor, shoddy and neglectful that it could cause real problems if you aren't that astute. Since they are dealing with beneficiaries who have NOT been there to hear their whole explanation at the beginning when the accounts were bought, they should NEVER assume that the beneficiaries for some odd reason know all about this stuff. OR, that we are able to afford a "financial counselor" to decrypt and sort it all out. That is an unreasonable assumption and shows their lack of professionalism in dealing with the public. They use terminology that NO layperson knows the meanings of, in claim forms etc. With NO explanations given. They let benefit payouts expire without any notice beforehand, they only notify you at the time of expiry, so they have to re-issue them. In that letter, they tell you that you can't cash the check or it will bounce. Because they never tell you in any way , that the checks will expire at some point after issue if you don't deposit them right away. This is basic stuff. If a check will expire, it should say WHEN on the check , the stub, or in paperwork. That is just negligence and unprofessionalism on thier part. Other companies do give this info up front. read more

Fraudulent company! Their investment in a Nevada Golf course that they just sold abruptly for $5.6M left current members and golf course workers in shock and without refunds for their memberships. I am reporting fraud to my bank on this as I just paid $5000 for membership in May. They handled the whole thing poorly, selling an amazing well kept and running golf course to real estate developers without notifying the City or employees or members first. SHAME! You'll regret dealing with this company based on how they handled this situation. read more

Many years ago my mother bought a policy from Pacific Life. When she died Pacific Life refused to pay the death benifit 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. read more

Tried to do an external transfer of my own money out of this company to another...and they dragged their feet, excuse after excuse, failure after failure and they couldn't seem to have the urgency or professionalism to send the check. Still waiting. Avoid this company. There are plenty of competitors that treat their customers better than this and have better options available. read more

I work here. It's a great place an even greater company. It makes you do cartwheels all over the place, which makes for an interesting lunch line! read more