Adjustment relating to recovery of financing receivables.

No definition available.

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

- Definition

Represents the amount of nonperforming loans, foreclosed properties, and restructured loans pursuant to a pooling and servicing agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_FinancingReceivableAmountOfNonperformingForeclosedAndRestructuredLoans
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the number of categories of loans.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_FinancingReceivableLoanCategoriesNumber
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the amount of nonperforming financing receivables not subject to a pooling and servicing agreement that were foreclosed.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_FinancingReceivableNotSubjectToPoolingAndServicingAgreementForeclosedNonperformingAmount
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the amount of financing receivables not subject to a pooling and servicing agreement that are nonperforming or have been restructured under the terms and conditions of the pooling and service agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_FinancingReceivableNotSubjectToPoolingAndServicingAgreementNonperformingOrRestructuredAmount
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Financing Receivable Subject to Pooling and Servicing Agreement, Foreclosed Amount

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_FinancingReceivableSubjecttoPoolingandServicingAgreementForeclosedAmount
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the amount of financing receivables subject to a pooling and servicing agreement that are nonperforming or have been restructured under the terms and conditions of the pooling and service agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_FinancingReceivableSubjecttoPoolingandServicingAgreementNonperformingorRestructuredAmount
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the loan-to-value ratio permitted on commercial mortgage loans in exchange for a participating interest in the cash flows from the underlying property.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_MortgageLoansOnRealEstateLoanToValueRatioParticipatingInterest
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the amount of mortgage loans as of the balance sheet date which has a feature providing the entity a participating interest in the cash flows from the underlying real estate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_MortgageLoansOnRealEstateParticipatingLoans
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the amount of income earned during the period on mortgage loans, which have a feature providing the entity a participating interest in the cash flows from the underlying real estate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	plico_MortgageLoansOnRealEstateParticipatingLoansIncome
Namespace Prefix:	plico_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

A valuation allowance for financing receivables that are expected to be uncollectible.

+ References

+ Details

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

- Definition

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of direct write-downs of financing receivables charged against the allowance.

+ References

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of expense related loan transactions, lease transactions, credit loss from transactions other than loan and lease transactions, and other loss based on assessment of uncollectability from the counterparty to reduce the account to their net realizable value.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 11B
-Subparagraph (c)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=SL6953423-111524

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 225
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-04.11)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879574&loc=d3e536633-122882

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsNotesLoansAndFinancingReceivableByReceivableTypeAxis=plico_CommercialMortgageLoanMember
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:

MORTGAGE LOANS - Additional Information (Details) - Commercial mortgage loans	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) category	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) loan	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Mortgage loans
Mortgage loans having participation feature				$ 613,500,000	$ 595,200,000
Income recognized on participating mortgage loans	$ 6,800,000	$ 6,800,000
Nonperforming mortgage loans, foreclosed properties and restructured loans to invested assets				2,000,000
Number of loan categories \| category	2
Financing receivable not subject to pooling and servicing agreement, non performing or restructured amount				2,000,000
Loans foreclosed not subject to a pooling and servicing agreement				$ 0
Loans subject to a pooling and servicing agreement which are either nonperforming or restructured \| loan				0
Loans foreclosed subject to a pooling and servicing agreement				$ 0
Allowance for mortgage loan credit losses	$ 724,000	0	$ 0	$ 5,087,000	$ 724,000
Change in the allowance for credit losses
Beginning balance	724,000	$ 0	0
Charge offs	0		(4,682,000)
Recoveries	(724,000)		0
Provision	5,087,000		5,406,000
Ending balance	$ 5,087,000		$ 724,000
Maximum
Mortgage loans
Loan-to-value ratio with participating interest (as a percent)				85.00%