SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Details 6) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015	Jan. 31, 2015
Policyholder liabilities, revenues, and benefits expense
Interest rate credited to policy account balances for universal life, low end of range (as a percent)	1.00%
Interest rate credited to policy account balances for universal life, high end of range (as a percent)	8.75%
Direct impact of net investment income on reinsurance cost	$ 0
Minimum
Policyholder liabilities, revenues, and benefits expense
Interest rate credited to policy account balances for investment products (as a percent)	0.20%
Maximum
Policyholder liabilities, revenues, and benefits expense
Interest rate credited to policy account balances for investment products (as a percent)	9.80%
Successor \| Guaranteed minimum death benefits (GMDB) \| Annuity account
Policyholder liabilities, revenues, and benefits expense
Impact of reinsurance	$ 29,931,000	$ 23,893,000

Represents the amount of direct impact of net investment income on reinsurance cost of the entity.

No definition available.

Name:	plico_DirectImpactOfNetInvestmentIncomeOnReinsuranceCost
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The estimated interest rate applied to investment products policyholder deposits during the stated period to calculate the net amount at risk.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_InvestmentProductsInterestRateAssumptions
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The maximum interest rate applied during the stated period to monetary deposits made by or on behalf of policyholders for contracts that may contractually vary the amount and timing of premium payments without the approval of the insurer and in which premium payments are credited to the policyholder balance, against which amounts are assessed for contract services and to which amounts are credited as income. The policyholder balance provides a base upon which interest accrues to the policyholder and, when compared with the death benefit amount, fixes the insurer's net amount at risk. The insurer can often adjust the schedule of amounts assessed for contract services and the rate at which interest is credited to the policyholder balance.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.13(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InterestSensitiveLifeInterestRateAssumptionsHighEnd
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The minimum interest rate applied to deposits made by or on behalf of policyholders to contracts that may contractually vary the amount and timing of premium payments without the approval of the insurer and in which premium payments are credited to the policyholder balance, against which amounts are assessed for contract services and to which amounts are credited as income. The policyholder balance provides a base upon which interest accrues to the policyholder and, when compared with the death benefit amount, fixes the insurer's net amount at risk. The insurer can often adjust the schedule of amounts assessed for contract services and the rate at which interest is credited to the policyholder balance. during the stated period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InterestSensitiveLifeInterestRateAssumptionsLowEnd
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of expected guaranteed benefits in excess of the projected account balances for minimum guaranteed benefit contracts, as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 15
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6588021&loc=d3e7104-158389

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 80
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6484115&loc=d3e19393-158473

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LiabilitiesForGuaranteesOnLongDurationContractsGuaranteedBenefitLiabilityGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LiabilitiesForGuaranteesOnLongDurationContractsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis=us-gaap_SuccessorMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_GuaranteedInsuranceContractTypeOfBenefitAxis=us-gaap_GuaranteedMinimumDeathBenefitMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProductOrServiceAxis=us-gaap_VariableAnnuityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: