Statements of Equity - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Total	Common Stock	Additional Paid-In Capital	Retained Earnings/ (Accumulated Deficit)	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income	Total Equity
Beginning Balance at Dec. 31, 2014		$ 2,500	$ 901,422	$ 673,613	$ 84,622	$ 1,662,157
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Contributed capital	$ 0		0			0
Return of capital			0			0
Dividend to parent				(450,000)		(450,000)
Assets purchased/transferred from/to affiliates			0			0
Comprehensive income:
Net income (loss)	173,217			173,217		173,217
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(38,456)				(38,456)	(38,456)
Total comprehensive income (loss)						134,761
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2015		2,500	901,422	396,830	46,166	1,346,918
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Contributed capital	860,573		8,421,955			8,421,955
Return of capital			(1,140,000)			(1,140,000)
Dividend to parent				0		0
Assets purchased/transferred from/to affiliates			(72,179)			(72,179)
Impact of Pruco Re and PALAC merger			(15,762)			(15,762)
Comprehensive income:
Net income (loss)	(1,090,088)			(1,090,088)		(1,090,088)
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(361,114)				(361,114)	(361,114)
Total comprehensive income (loss)						(1,451,202)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2016		2,500	8,095,436	(693,258)	(314,948)	7,089,730
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Contributed capital	0		0			0
Return of capital			(950,000)			(950,000)
Dividend to parent				0		0
Assets purchased/transferred from/to affiliates			0			0
Comprehensive income:
Net income (loss)	(83,504)			(83,504)		(83,504)
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	$ 224,824				224,824	224,824
Total comprehensive income (loss)						141,320
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2017		$ 2,500	$ 7,145,436	$ (776,762)	$ (90,124)	$ 6,281,050