MORTGAGE LOANS - Impaired Loans (Details) - Commercial mortgage loans - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Commercial mortgage loans:
Maximum number of days accrued interest on impaired loans	90 days
Successor
Recorded Investment
With no related allowance recorded, recorded investment	$ 0	$ 1,694
With an allowance recorded, recorded investment	1,819	0
Unpaid Principal Balance
With no related allowance recorded, unpaid principal balance	0	1,728
With an allowance recorded, unpaid principal balance	1,819	0
Related Allowance
With an allowance recorded, related allowance	724	0
Average Recorded Investment
With no related allowance recorded, average recorded investment	0	847
With an allowance recorded, average recorded investment	1,819	0
Interest Income Recognized
With no related allowance recorded, interest income recognized	0	104
With an allowance recorded, interest income recognized	96	0
Cash Basis Interest Income
With no related allowance recorded, cash basis interest income	0	117
With an allowance recorded, recorded investment	$ 96	$ 0

No definition available.

Name:	plico_ImpairedFinancingReceivableRelatedAllowanceAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The maximum number of days of accrued interest that can be carried on an impaired loan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_MaximumNumberOfDaysAccruedInterestOnImpairedLoans
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

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

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of allowance for credit losses related to recorded investment.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Recorded Investment
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65880944

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=d3e5212-111524

+ Details

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

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of average investment of impaired financing receivables for which there is no related allowance for credit losses.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 17
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=d3e5258-111524

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (c)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=d3e5212-111524

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithNoRelatedAllowanceAverageRecordedInvestment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of interest income, recognized on accrual basis, on financing receivables that are recognized as impaired, for which there is no related allowance for credit losses.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithNoRelatedAllowanceInterestIncomeAccrualMethod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of interest income, recognized on cash basis, on financing receivables, for which there is no related allowance for credit losses and are recognized as impaired.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithNoRelatedAllowanceInterestIncomeCashBasisMethod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of investment in impaired financing receivables for which there is no related allowance for credit losses.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 14A
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=SL6953550-111524

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithNoRelatedAllowanceRecordedInvestment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of unpaid principal balance of impaired financing receivables for which there is no related allowance for credit losses.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithNoRelatedAllowanceUnpaidPrincipalBalance
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of average investment of impaired financing receivables for which there is a related allowance for credit losses.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (c)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=d3e5212-111524

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 17
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=d3e5258-111524

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithRelatedAllowanceAverageRecordedInvestment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of interest income, recognized on accrual basis, on financing receivables, for which there is a related allowance for credit losses and are recognized as impaired.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithRelatedAllowanceInterestIncomeAccrualMethod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of interest income on financing receivables, for which there is a related allowance for credit losses, recognized on a cash-basis method of accounting that the financing receivables were impaired.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithRelatedAllowanceInterestIncomeCashBasisMethod
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of investment in impaired financing receivables for which there is a related allowance for credit losses.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithRelatedAllowanceRecordedInvestment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Unpaid principal balance of impaired financing receivables for which there is a related allowance for credit losses.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairedFinancingReceivableWithRelatedAllowanceUnpaidPrincipalBalance
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsNotesLoansAndFinancingReceivableByReceivableTypeAxis=plico_CommercialMortgageLoanMember
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: