Around 9 in 10 death and terminal illness claims in New Zealand are related to cancer, heart disease, or stroke¹, according to insurers' claims data.
The best life insurance is the one that pays when you claim, and pays fast: every death claim we've helped with was paid within 2 to 14 days.
We've reviewed the five insurers that underwrite most adviser-placed life cover in New Zealand. Our advice costs you nothing extra: the premium is the same whether you buy through us or direct.
The right policy comes from matching five things: what you need covered, what you're working towards, the products on offer, the add-ons worth paying for, and the premium.
Our best life insurance shortlist for 2026 is:
We have carefully selected the insurers we recommend, based on financial strength, claims acceptance rate, underwriting and service experience, and additional benefits and options.
Between them, the four insurers that publish a figure paid $545.9 million in death and terminal illness claims in their latest reporting years.
1. AIA NZ
1. AIA NZ
We picked AIA NZ for three of its life covers. Life Cover lets you start on premiums that rise with age and switch to fixed premiums at any time. Family Protection pays your family a tax-free monthly income instead of a lump sum. Cover for Life lets you stop paying premiums at an age you choose and still stay covered for the rest of your life.
- Up to 20% off AIA premiums, plus rewards, with AIA Vitality.
- Relaxed underwriting standards, fully digital and easy to access.
- AIA Vitality costs $13.50 a month; your discount drops if inactive.
- A $7.93 monthly policy fee applies to AIA Living, but not Cover for Life.
Who are AIA NZ?
AIA NZ is New Zealand's largest life insurer, with a 32.7% market share. Part of AIA Group and based in Takapuna, Auckland, it has covered Kiwis since 1981, through financial advisers nationwide. It protects more than 789,000 people and paid $257.73m in death and terminal illness claims in 2025.
AIA offers AIA Vitality, unique in the NZ market. It turns healthy habits into points, status and rewards, including discounts on your AIA life cover.
AIA NZ's policy details
AIA NZ offers four covers that pay out when you die. How each one pays, and how long you pay for it, is the difference.
| Life Cover | Family Protection | Cover for Life | Accidental Death | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pays on | any death | any death | any death | accidental death only, within 90 days, before 65 |
| Pays your family | a lump sum | tax-free monthly payments | a lump sum | a lump sum |
| For how long | once | a set term or to an age you choose | once | once |
| Premiums | stepped or level; switch to level any time | stepped or level | level, to an age you choose | stepped |
| When premiums stop | never, while you're covered | never, while you're covered | cover continues for life | never, while you're covered |
| Terminal illness | pays early, 12 months or less to live | no | no | no |
| Entry ages | 10 to 70 | 10 to 70 | 16 to 70 | 16 to 60 |
| Maximum cover | no set limit | no set limit | no set limit | $500,000 |
Two discounts can lower the premium:
- Multi-Benefit Discount: 10% off when you add trauma, TPD or income protection to at least $100,000 of Life Cover, 12.5% with two, 15% with all three.
- Lifestyle Booster: 7% off Life Cover, Family Protection and Critical Conditions if your BMI is 18.5 to 26.99 and you haven't smoked or vaped for 12 months, locked in for the life of the cover.
What's built into AIA NZ's Life Cover?
AIA NZ's Life Cover includes these at no extra cost:
- Terminal Illness: your full cover paid early if you're given 12 months or less to live.
- Specified Terminal Conditions: 30% of your cover, up to $250,000, paid early for four listed conditions, such as motor neurone disease.
- Bereavement Support: up to $25,000 paid early for funeral and other immediate costs.
- Repatriation: up to $25,000 to bring you home if you die overseas.
- Parents Grieving: $2,000 if your child dies before 10, or $15,000 from 10 to 21, without reducing your cover.
- Counselling: up to $2,500 for you or your family after a claim.
- Financial and Legal Advice: up to $2,500 for advice on using the payment.
- Special Events Increase: raise your cover without health questions after a life event, by half your cover or $250,000 (whichever is lower), up to $750,000 in total, until 55.
- Special Events TPD or Trauma: add up to $100,000 of trauma or TPD cover at a life event, once, until 50.
- Suspension of Cover: pause premiums for up to 12 months after parental leave, redundancy or a drop in income; there's no cover while paused.
- Premium Conversion: switch from stepped to level premiums at any time, with no health questions.
- Enhancement Pass Back: future improvements to AIA's wording apply to your policy, and at claim AIA uses whichever wording is better for you.
- Worldwide cover: you're covered wherever you are.
What optional add-ons does AIA NZ offer with Life Cover?
- Optional Life Future Insurability Benefit: increase your Life Cover every three years without medical questions by 20% or $100,000, whichever is greater, up to twice your original cover or $1 million.
- Specified Accidental Injury Cover: a lump sum of up to $60,000 a year for listed injuries, such as a broken wrist or ankle. No waiting period, and ACC doesn't reduce it.
Accelerated benefits are paid from your Life Cover, so a claim reduces your Life Cover by the same amount.
- Critical Conditions: pays on diagnosis of a listed condition, such as cancer. Life Cover Buyback option.
- Progressive Care: pays 10% to 100% of the cover, by how severe the condition is.
- Severe Trauma: pays only at the most severe stage, such as stage IV cancer. Life Cover Buyback option.
- Total Permanent Disablement: pays if illness or injury stops you working for good, on an own-occupation or any-occupation definition.
What other policies do AIA NZ offer?
- Critical Conditions (standalone): a lump sum on diagnosis of a listed condition, such as cancer. You don't need Life Cover, and a claim doesn't reduce it.
- Mortgage, Income or Rent Cover: a monthly payment, generally tax-free, if illness or injury stops you working, set at 115% of your mortgage or rent, or 45% of your income. ACC doesn't reduce the first $7,500.
- Income Protection: a monthly payment of up to 75% of your income if illness or injury stops you working. ACC payments reduce it. Three ways to set the amount:
- Agreed Value: fixed when you apply, no income check at claim.
- Indemnity: the lower of your cover or 75% of your income.
- Loss of Earnings: the greater of your cover or 75% of your income.
What is AIA NZ's claims acceptance rate?
In 2025, AIA NZ paid out 91% of all claims across all its insurance products, including health insurance, trauma cover, income protection, mortgage and living cover and life insurance.
Rather than publishing a separate acceptance rate for each product, AIA NZ combines them into one number. Here's how we read acceptance rates.
2. Asteron Life
2. Asteron Life
We picked Asteron Life for its flexibility in structuring life cover. Choose premiums that rise with age, or fixed premiums that Asteron guarantees not to raise because of claims costs. On rising premiums, you can freeze your premium; your cover then reduces each year instead. It also includes $50,000 of Kids Cover at no extra premium, subject to underwriting.
- Seven level-premium terms; on level to 100, premiums stop and cover continues.
- A dedicated case manager handles your claim, and accepted claims are usually paid within two days.
- Sold twice in 2025: Suncorp to Resolution Life in February, Nippon Life in October.
Who are Asteron Life?
Asteron Life has protected New Zealanders since 1878 and holds a 10.6% market share. Owned by Japan's Nippon Life since October 2025 (after Suncorp and Resolution Life), it covers more than 200,000 people and paid $46.6m in death and terminal illness claims in FY25.
From 2027 it becomes Acenda Life, subject to regulatory approval; policies, premiums and claims rights stay the same.
Asteron Life's policy details
Asteron Life offers two covers that pay out when you die. How each pays, and how long you pay for it, is the difference.
| Life Cover | Accidental Death Cover | |
|---|---|---|
| Pays on | any death | accidental death only, within 90 days |
| Pays your family | a lump sum | a lump sum |
| For how long | once | once |
| Premiums | stepped, or level to 50–80 or to 100 | stepped |
| When premiums stop | at 100 on level to 100; cover continues | never, while you're covered |
| Cover ends | never | at 80 |
| Terminal illness | pays early, 12 months or less to live | no |
| Entry ages | 11 to 75 | 17 to 70 |
| Maximum cover | no set limit | $1 million |
Two Life Cover options: freeze stepped premiums (your cover reduces instead), and convert up to $30,000 to a funeral benefit once a level term ends or after 10 years from 65.
Holding more than one type of cover lowers the premium:
- Bundling discount: 15% off with two types of cover, 20% with three or more. Life, trauma, TPD and income protection count; Life Cover needs at least $100,000.
What's built into Asteron Life's Life Cover?
- Terminal Illness: your full cover paid early if you're given 12 months or less to live.
- Terminal Specific Condition Advancement: 30% of your cover, up to $250,000, paid early for listed terminal conditions.
- Funeral Advancement: up to $15,000 paid early for funeral costs.
- Repatriation: up to $15,000 to bring you home if you die overseas.
- Grief Support: up to $2,500 of counselling for you or your family.
- Financial Planning and Legal Advice: up to $2,500 when a claim is paid.
- Special Events Increase: raise your cover by up to $300,000 after a life event, no health questions, until 60.
- Special Events Conversion: add up to $50,000 of trauma or TPD cover at a life event.
- Inflation Adjustment: a yearly cover increase with inflation (at least 2%), which you can decline.
- Premium Holiday: pause premiums for up to six months if you lose your job or face hardship.
- Guarantee of Upgrade: at claim, Asteron applies whichever wording is better for you.
- Trauma Conversion: switch accelerated trauma cover to standalone, no health questions.
- Connected Care: expert medical, mental health and wellbeing advice.
- Worldwide cover: you're covered wherever you are.
What optional add-ons does Asteron Life offer with Life Cover?
- Terminal Illness Support: an extra early payment if you're given 24 months or less to live, up to 25% of your Life Cover or $100,000, whichever is lower.
- Funeral Benefit: a separate lump sum on death or terminal illness, on top of your Life Cover.
- Kids Cover: up to $200,000 if your child becomes terminally ill or has a listed medical event.
- We Pay Your Premiums: Asteron pays your premiums while illness or injury stops you working.
- Specific Injury Support: a lump sum for listed accidental injuries, such as a broken wrist or collarbone, paid as a multiple of the amount you choose.
- Needlestick: up to $500,000 for medical and emergency workers who catch HIV or hepatitis B or C at work.
Accelerated benefits are paid from your Life Cover, so a claim reduces your Life Cover by the same amount.
- Trauma Recovery Cover: pays on diagnosis of a listed condition, such as cancer; you can buy back the Life Cover used.
- Cancer Cover: pays on a cancer diagnosis only.
- Total and Permanent Disablement: pays if illness or injury stops you working for good; the Life Cover used is restored.
What other policies do Asteron Life offer?
These covers can be bought on their own, without Life Cover. The lump sums are tax-free:
- Trauma Recovery Cover: a lump sum on diagnosis of a listed condition, such as cancer.
- Cancer Cover: a lump sum on a cancer diagnosis only.
- Total and Permanent Disablement: a lump sum if illness or injury stops you working for good, in your own job or any suitable job.
- Income Protection: a monthly payment of up to 75% of your income while illness or injury stops you working. ACC payments reduce it. Two ways to set the amount:
- Loss of Earnings: the lower of your cover or 75% of your income.
- Loss of Earnings Plus: your cover amount, less ACC, even if your income has dropped.
- Mortgage and Living Cover: a monthly payment set when you apply, up to 115% of your mortgage repayments or 75% of your after-tax income.
- Workability Cover: a lower-cost monthly payment for illness, while ACC looks after injury.
What is Asteron Life's claims acceptance rate?
In FY25, Asteron Life accepted 99.90% of life claims and paid $46.6m in death and terminal illness claims. Across all products it accepted 97.78% and paid $117.9m. Accepted claims are usually paid within two days. Here's how we read acceptance rates.
What recognition has Asteron Life won?
- Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, Life Insurance Company of the Year: won five times, most recently in 2024.⁷
3. Chubb Life Insurance
3. Chubb Life Insurance
We picked Chubb Life Insurance for its choice of premium options to protect your family: stepped, five-year, or level up to age 100. Its Life Lens face scan speeds up health questions, and using it earns up to three months of premiums back. Its Client Benefits add up to $1,000 a year for advice and counselling after a life event.
- Up to $300,000 paid early if you're diagnosed with a listed terminal condition.
- No life-only claims rate published; the 95% covers every claim type.
Who are Chubb Life Insurance?
Chubb Life Insurance, formerly Cigna⁸ and before that OnePath, has paid New Zealand claims for more than a century and holds an 11.4% market share. It says it covers more than 260,000 New Zealanders, and it paid 95% of claims in 2025.
Chubb Life Insurance's policy details
Chubb Life Insurance offers two covers that pay out when you die. How each pays, and how long you pay for it, is the difference.
| Life Cover | Life Income Cover | |
|---|---|---|
| Pays on | any death, or terminal illness | any death, or terminal illness |
| Pays your family | a lump sum | a monthly amount |
| For how long | once | 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years |
| Premiums | stepped, 5 or 10 years fixed, or level to 65, 70, 80 or 100 | stepped, or 5 or 10 years fixed |
| When premiums stop | at 100 on level to 100; cover continues | never, while you're covered |
| Cover ends | never | never |
| Terminal illness | pays early, death likely within 12 months | pays early |
| Entry ages | 10 to 70 | 10 to 70 |
| Maximum cover | no set limit | the monthly equal of Life Cover's |
One discount can lower the premium:
- Lifetime Reward: 15% off for the life of the policy if your BMI is 18.5 to 26.99 and you haven't smoked or vaped for 12 months.
What's built into Chubb Life Insurance's Life Cover?
- Terminal Illness: your full cover paid early if you're given 12 months or less to live.
- Advance Terminal Illness: 30% of your cover, up to $300,000, paid early for listed conditions.
- Bereavement Support: up to $25,000 paid early for funeral costs.
- Funeral Transfer: up to $20,000 to bring you home if you die overseas.
- Children's Bereavement Support: up to $15,000 towards the funeral if your child under 18 dies.
- Grief Counselling: counselling costs for you or your family after a death, terminal illness or disablement claim.
- Financial and Legal Advice: up to $2,500 for advice on using your claim payment.
- Life Events: up to $250,000 more cover after a life event, no health questions, until 60.
- Life Events Additional Cover: up to $100,000 of trauma or disablement cover after a life event, once, until 50.
- Parental Leave Loyalty: free cover when you or your partner have or adopt a baby.
- Suspension of Cover: put your cover on hold once your policy has run three months.
- Policy Enhancement: future improvements to Chubb's cover passed on to you.
- Client Benefits: up to $1,000 a year for counselling, career advice or a will after a life event.
What optional add-ons does Chubb Life Insurance offer with Life Cover?
- Optional Guaranteed Insurability: up to $200,000 more cover every two years, no health questions, until 60.
- Premium Cover: your premiums paid if you're disabled, made redundant or declared bankrupt.
- Children's Trauma: up to $200,000 if your child, aged 3 months to 18, has a listed condition.
- Specific Injury Cover: a lump sum for listed accidental injuries.
Accelerated benefits are paid from your Life Cover, so a claim reduces your Life Cover by the same amount.
- Trauma Cover: a lump sum for one of 47 listed conditions, such as cancer; you can buy back the Life Cover used.
- Moderate Trauma Cover: costs less than Trauma Cover, but some conditions must be more serious before it pays out.
- Complete Disablement Cover: a lump sum if illness or injury leaves you completely disabled; you can buy back the Life Cover used.
What other policies do Chubb Life Insurance offer?
Chubb's Assurance Extra policy holds up to nine covers. The lump sums are tax-free:
- Trauma Cover: a lump sum on diagnosis of one of 47 listed conditions, such as cancer.
- Moderate Trauma Cover: costs less than Trauma Cover, but some conditions must be more serious before it pays out.
- Complete Disablement Cover: a lump sum if illness or injury stops you working for good, in your own job or any suitable job.
- Income Cover: a monthly payment while illness or injury stops you working. ACC payments reduce it. Three ways to set the amount:
- Agreed Value: a fixed amount agreed when you apply; no income proof at claim.
- Indemnity or Loss of Earnings: the lower of your cover or 75% of your income.
- Loss of Earnings Ultra: your cover amount, less ACC, even if your income has dropped.
- Mortgage Repayment Cover: up to $20,000 a month for your mortgage, rent or bills while illness or injury stops you working; ACC doesn't reduce the first $7,500.
- Redundancy Cover: up to $4,000 a month for six months if you're made redundant.
What is Chubb Life Insurance's claims acceptance rate?
Chubb Life Insurance paid 95% of all claims received in 2025. Cancer was the leading cause of life and trauma claims (48% and 63%), and musculoskeletal conditions of income protection and TPD claims (72%).
What recognition has Chubb Life Insurance won?
- Reader's Digest Trusted Brands: Highly Commended for life insurance in 2026, its first time.¹⁰
4. Fidelity Life
4. Fidelity Life
We picked Fidelity Life for choice in how your family is paid. Both covers pay tax-free: Life cover as a lump sum, Survivor's income cover as monthly payments for a term you choose. You can pause up to $500,000 of cover for up to a year if you're made redundant, study or travel overseas. It's also the only insurer here to publish a claims rate for every cover.
- Up to $20,000 to return you to New Zealand or your home country if you die away from it, on top of your cover.
- If Fidelity adds a loading or an exclusion, you can ask for it to be reviewed later.
- Its A- (Excellent) rating from AM Best is the lowest of the five insurers compared here.
- Partners Group Holdings, which owns Partners Life, has agreed to buy Fidelity Life, subject to approval.
Who are Fidelity Life?
Fidelity Life has protected New Zealanders since 1973 and holds a 15.4% market share. Owned by the NZ Super Fund and Ngāi Tahu Holdings, it has taken on the life books of Westpac Life, Tower Life and Farmers Mutual Life. It covers more than 300,000 New Zealanders and paid $147.3m in death and terminal illness claims in the year to June 2025.
Partners Group Holdings, which owns Partners Life, has agreed to buy Fidelity Life, subject to regulatory approval.⁹
Fidelity Life's policy details
Fidelity Life offers two covers that pay out when you die. How each pays, and how long you pay for it, is the difference.
| Life cover | Survivor's income cover | |
|---|---|---|
| Pays on | any death, or terminal illness | any death, or terminal illness |
| Pays your family | a lump sum | tax-free monthly payments |
| For how long | once | for a term you choose |
| Premiums | stepped (rise each year), or level for a term you choose | stepped, or level for a term you choose |
| When premiums stop | never, while you're covered | never, while you're covered |
| Cover ends | never | never |
| Terminal illness | pays early, death likely within 12 months | pays early, death likely within 12 months |
| Entry ages | 16 to 75 | 16 to 75 |
| Maximum cover | no set limit | $50,000 a month |
Two things to know about Fidelity's premiums:
- When a level term ends: your premium stays the same and your cover reduces each year. The Continuation option, which costs extra, lets you start a new level term or switch to stepped premiums instead, with no health questions, until you're 75.
- Premium freeze: on stepped premiums, once your policy has run a year and you're over 30, you can stop the premium rising and let your cover reduce instead.
What's built into Fidelity Life's Life cover?
- Terminal Illness: your full cover paid early if you're likely to die within 12 months.
- Terminal Illness Partial Benefit: 30% of your cover, up to $250,000, paid early if you're diagnosed with one of seven serious conditions, such as motor neurone disease, even before you're terminally ill.
- Bereavement Benefit: $25,000 paid straight away towards the funeral, taken from your cover.
- Repatriation Benefit: up to $20,000 to return you to New Zealand, or to your home country, if you die away from it; paid on top of your cover.
- Child's Funeral Benefit: up to $15,000 towards the funeral if your child dies aged 10 to 20, or $2,000 aged 2 to 9.
- Grief Counselling: up to $2,500 for counselling for you, your partner or your children after a claim is paid.
- Financial Planning and Legal Advice: up to $2,500 for advice on using your claim payment.
- Special Events: up to $250,000 more cover when life changes, such as a new baby or a bigger mortgage, with no health questions, until 55 (at most half your starting cover).
- Special Event Additional Cover: up to $100,000 of trauma or TPD cover added when life changes, with no health questions, once, until 50.
- Business Events: up to $250,000 more cover as your business grows, with no health questions, until 55; you show the business figures (at most a quarter of your starting cover).
- Premium Holiday: pause up to $500,000 of cover and its premiums for up to 12 months if you're made redundant, go bankrupt, study or travel overseas; no claims are paid while it's paused.
- Conversion Option: switch to another Fidelity policy with life cover, keeping the same amount, with no health questions.
- Policy Wording Upgrades: if Fidelity improves its cover later, the better terms apply to your claim.
- Cancer Companion: a free service with coaching, second medical opinions and mental health support after a cancer diagnosis.
Business Events, Premium Holiday and Conversion Option aren't available on level premiums.
What optional add-ons does Fidelity Life offer with Life cover?
- CPI Option: your cover rises each year with inflation, by at least 2%, with no health questions, until 65; your premium rises with it, and you can say no to any year's increase.
- Indexation Option: on level premiums, your cover rises 2% a year and your premium stays the same, until 65.
- Business Future Insurability: up to five times more cover as your business grows, with no health questions, until 60; you show the business figures (up to $5 million in total).
- Terminal Illness Booster: up to 25% of your Life cover or $500,000, whichever is lower, paid on top of your full cover if you're terminally ill and survive 30 days after diagnosis.
- Child's Future Insurability: up to $200,000 of life cover for your child with no health questions, taken once, at 18, 21, 25 or 30, or when they marry or have a baby, until they turn 30.
- Waiver of Premium: Fidelity pays all your premiums while you're totally disabled or on an income protection claim, and refunds what you paid during the waiting period.
- Specific Injury Cover: a lump sum for listed accidental injuries, such as twice your cover for a broken wrist or ankle, up to $60,000 a year; ACC doesn't reduce it; needs at least $100,000 of Life cover alongside.
Accelerated benefits are paid from your Life cover, so a claim reduces your Life cover by the same amount.
- Trauma Cover: a lump sum if you're diagnosed with one of 47 listed conditions, such as cancer, and up to $50,000 if your child has a listed condition; you can buy back the Life cover used.
- Trauma Multi Cover: 20% of your cover for each of up to five unrelated conditions, instead of one full payment.
- Total and Permanent Disability: a lump sum if illness or injury means you can't work again, in your own job or in any job, depending on the definition you pick; you can buy back the Life cover used.
Terminal Illness Booster, CPI Option and Business Future Insurability aren't available on level premiums.
What other policies do Fidelity Life offer?
These covers can be bought on their own, without Life cover. The lump sums are tax-free:
- Trauma Cover: up to $2 million if you're diagnosed with one of 47 listed conditions, such as cancer; cover lasts until 70.
- Trauma Multi Cover: 20% of your cover for each of up to five unrelated conditions, from up to $4 million of cover; cover lasts until 70.
- Total and Permanent Disability: up to $5 million if illness or injury means you can't work again, in your own job or in any job, depending on your occupation; cover lasts until 100.
These pay monthly while illness or injury stops you working:
- Income Protection: up to $30,000 a month. ACC payments reduce it. Two ways to set the amount:
- Agreed Value: a fixed amount agreed when you apply, so a drop in your income before a claim doesn't reduce it.
- Indemnity Value: the lower of your cover or 75% of your income, based on your best 12 months in the three years before; if you proved your income when you applied, your full cover for the first six months.
- Your choices: wait from 2 weeks to 2 years before payments start, then be paid for 2 years, 5 years, or to 65 or 70.
- Monthly Mortgage Repayment Cover: up to 115% of your mortgage or rent payments, or up to 45% of your income, whichever basis you pick when you apply, to $30,000 a month, paid for 2 years, 5 years or to 65; ACC doesn't reduce the first $7,500.
- Retirement Protection: added to income protection; your KiwiSaver contributions, up to 8% of your income, paid into your KiwiSaver while you're on claim, if you were contributing when you stopped work.
What is Fidelity Life's claims acceptance rate?
In the year to June 2025, Fidelity Life accepted 2,279 new claims, 93% of those made, and paid $247.7m across all products. It's the only one of our five insurers to publish a rate for every cover:
- Life cover: 97% accepted, $147.3m paid.
- Income protection: 95% accepted, $47.5m paid.
- Trauma and Trauma Multi: 84% accepted, $50.8m paid.
- Total and permanent disability: 69% accepted, $2.1m paid.
Fidelity says trauma and TPD claims must meet the medical definition in the policy. Here's how we read acceptance rates.
What recognition has Fidelity Life won?
- Financial Services Council, Innovation of the Year: won in 2026 for a claims tool built with reinsurer Gen Re, for people on long-term disability claims.¹¹
- Financial Services Council, Emerging Trailblazer: won in 2026 by Fidelity's head of claims.¹¹
- Information Security Association of New Zealand, Security Team of the Year: won in 2024 for keeping customers' personal and health information safe.¹²
5. Partners Life
5. Partners Life
We picked Partners Life for its range of ways to protect your family. Life Cover pays a lump sum, Life Income Cover pays tax-free monthly payments, and Accidental Death Cover never ends. Its Life Advantage discount takes 10% off for the life of the cover if you don't smoke and your BMI is 18.5 to 26.99.
- 30% of your cover, up to $600,000, paid early if you're likely to die within 24 months.
- Stop paying premiums for up to six months while your cover stays in place, if Partners approves.
- Rated five stars by advisers for service every year from 2011 to 2021.
- No life-only claims rate published; the 95% includes health claims.
- A policy fee is added to every policy's premium.
Who are Partners Life?
Partners Life has protected New Zealanders since 2011 and holds a 16.3% market share. Owned by Japan's Dai-ichi Life since 2022, it covers more than 340,000 New Zealanders and paid $94.3m in death and terminal illness claims in the year to March 2025.
Its holding company, Partners Group Holdings, has agreed to buy Fidelity Life, subject to regulatory approval.⁹
Partners Life's policy details
Partners Life offers three covers that pay out when you die. How each pays, and how long you pay for it, is the difference.
| Life Cover | Life Income Cover | Accidental Death Cover | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pays on | any death, or terminal illness | any death, or terminal illness | accidental death only, with no time limit after the accident |
| Pays your family | a lump sum | tax-free monthly payments | a lump sum |
| For how long | once | 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years | once |
| Premiums | stepped; rising 5% a year, fixed for 10 years; or level to 65, 70 or 80, guaranteed | stepped | stepped |
| When premiums stop | never, while you're covered | never, while you're covered | never, while you're covered |
| Cover ends | never | never | never, at any age |
| Terminal illness | pays early, death likely within 12 months | pays early, death likely within 12 months | no |
| Entry ages | 10 to 70 | 10 to 70 | 10 to 70 |
| Maximum cover | no set limit | no set limit | $1 million |
Two things to know about Partners' premiums:
- When a level term ends: your premiums switch to stepped and your cover stays the same.
- Changing how you pay: you can ask to switch between stepped and level premiums at any time, though you may lose a rate guarantee.
One discount can lower the premium:
- Life Advantage: 10% off Life Cover and Life Income Cover if you're 16 or over, don't smoke and your BMI is 18.5 to 26.99 when you're fully underwritten; it lasts for the life of the cover, stays if you reduce your cover, and combines with Partners' other discounts.
What's built into Partners Life's Life Cover?
- Terminal Illness: your full cover paid early if you're likely to die within 12 months.
- Terminal Illness Advance: 30% of your cover, up to $600,000, paid early if you're likely to die within 24 months, or diagnosed with one of five listed conditions, such as motor neurone disease, even before you're terminally ill.
- Non-Survivable Accident: your full cover paid early if an accident leaves you unlikely to survive three months.
- Return to Home: up to $10,000 for economy flights home to New Zealand for you and a support person if you're diagnosed as terminally ill while living overseas.
- Bereavement Support: $25,000 paid straight away towards the funeral, taken from your cover.
- Repatriation: up to $20,000 to return you to New Zealand, or to your home country, if you die away from it; paid on top of your cover, once Partners approves the costs.
- Dependent Child Funeral Support: up to $15,000 towards the funeral if your child dies aged 10 to 21, or $2,000 if under 10.
- Counselling: up to $2,500 for counselling for you or your family after a claim is paid.
- Financial and Legal Advice: up to $3,000 for advice on using your claim payment.
- Special Events Increase: up to $300,000 more cover when life changes, such as a new baby or a bigger mortgage, and every five years, with no health questions, until 60 (at most doubling your cover in total).
- Special Events Severe Trauma Conversion: up to $100,000 of severe trauma cover instead of more life cover when life changes, with no health questions, once, until 50.
- Premium Holiday: stop paying premiums for up to six months while your cover stays in place, after redundancy, bankruptcy or a death in the family, if Partners approves (six months in total over the policy's life).
- Policy Suspension: pause your cover and premiums for up to 12 months, such as for travel, study or parental leave, if Partners approves; no claims are paid while it's paused.
- Automatic Upgrades: if Partners improves its cover later, the better terms apply to you, and you keep the old wording if it's better for you.
What optional add-ons does Partners Life offer with Life Cover?
- Inflation Adjustment: your cover rises each year with inflation, with no health questions; your premium rises with it, you can say no to any year's increase, and on yearly stepped premiums you can choose at least 5% a year.
- Future Insurability: up to 10% of your original cover added at each of your first 10 policy anniversaries, with no health questions, until 60; you can carry forward up to two you don't use (at most doubling your cover in total).
- Business Future Insurability: more cover when your share of a business, its value to you or your business debts grow, with no health questions, from six months after you start until 60; apply within 24 months of the change and show the business figures (up to five times your cover or $5 million in total).
- Specific Injury Cover: up to $5,000 a month for listed accidental injuries, with no medical or financial questions; needs at least $150,000 of Life, Trauma or TPD cover alongside.
What other policies do Partners Life offer?
Partners' Journey Plan holds these other covers alongside Life Cover.
Pays a lump sum:
- Debt Protection Cover: the amount you choose to cover your debts, paid once if you die or are terminally ill before 75, or if illness or injury stops you doing 75% of your usual work for three months with at least six more expected.
These pay monthly while illness or injury stops you working:
- Income Cover: up to 75% of your income if you can't work more than 10 hours a week in your job, or can't do 75% of your key tasks. ACC payments reduce it; sick leave doesn't. Two ways to set the amount:
- Indemnity Loss of Earnings: the lower of your cover or 75% of your income, based on your best 12 months in the last three years, or the month before your claim if that's higher.
- Agreed Loss of Earnings: if you prove your income when you apply, it's never rechecked at claim, and you get at least your cover amount less ACC, even if your income has dropped.
- Mortgage Repayment Cover: your choice when you apply, either your mortgage repayments or 45% of your income, up to $8,000 a month; ACC and other income don't reduce it.
- Household Expenses Cover: your household bills, such as rent, rates, power and school fees, or 5% of your income, whichever is more at claim; up to $8,000 a month together with Mortgage Repayment Cover.
For health:
- Private Medical Cover: private surgery up to $600,000 a year, other hospital treatment up to $500,000, and scans and tests up to $200,000; medicines Pharmac doesn't fund up to $25,000, or more with an option; no age when cover stops, and an excess you choose from nil to $10,000.
What is Partners Life's claims acceptance rate?
In the year to March 2025, Partners Life paid 95% of the claims it assessed, and more than $325m across all products. What it paid for each cover:
- Life Cover: $94.3m paid; cancer caused 49% of claims.
- Private Medical Cover: 98% of assessed claims paid, $83.4m; kidney, bladder and reproductive conditions were the top cause at 17%.
- Trauma Cover: $78.8m paid; cancer caused 60% of claims.
- Income Cover: $60.7m paid; accidents and injuries caused 42% of claims.
- Total and Permanent Disability: $8.0m paid; hormone conditions caused 23% of claims.
Partners doesn't publish a rate for Life Cover alone, so its 95% includes health claims, which Partners paid at 98%. Here's how we read acceptance rates.
What recognition has Partners Life won?
- Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, Life Insurance Company of the Year: won in 2022 and 2025.¹³
- Lewers Insurance Benchmark Study: five stars every year from 2011 to 2021 for service to financial advisers and their clients.¹⁴
- Financial Services Council, Excellence in Wellbeing & Inclusion: won in 2025 for its staff initiatives, such as parental leave and gender equity.¹⁵
How much does life insurance cost?
Stepped life insurance is the lowest-cost type of life insurance. Quotes increase each year you wait to buy life insurance simply because you're older, but once you buy level-term life insurance, rates are locked in for the duration of the term.
Quoted on 18 September 2026 for $500,000 of life cover on its own, for a non-smoker in good health who works in an office or professional job.
Men age 30
| Company | Stepped, per fortnight | Level to 65, per fortnight |
|---|---|---|
| AIA NZ | $16.59 | $36.94 |
| Asteron Life | $17.97 | $31.70 |
| Chubb Life Insurance | $17.92 | $30.69 |
| Fidelity Life | $15.93 | $32.90 |
| Partners Life | $18.01 | $32.40 |
| nib NZ | $18.51 | Not quoted |
Women age 30
| Company | Stepped, per fortnight | Level to 65, per fortnight |
|---|---|---|
| AIA NZ | $11.80 | $28.12 |
| Asteron Life | $12.12 | $24.84 |
| Chubb Life Insurance | $12.31 | $23.30 |
| Fidelity Life | $10.75 | $26.12 |
| Partners Life | $12.50 | $23.29 |
| nib NZ | $12.17 | Not quoted |
Men age 40
| Company | Stepped, per fortnight | Level to 65, per fortnight |
|---|---|---|
| AIA NZ | $19.35 | $56.23 |
| Asteron Life | $21.20 | $51.69 |
| Chubb Life Insurance | $21.10 | $50.00 |
| Fidelity Life | $19.15 | $53.99 |
| Partners Life | $20.81 | $53.49 |
| nib NZ | $21.15 | Not quoted |
Women age 40
| Company | Stepped, per fortnight | Level to 65, per fortnight |
|---|---|---|
| AIA NZ | $16.75 | $44.09 |
| Asteron Life | $17.57 | $41.19 |
| Chubb Life Insurance | $18.05 | $38.37 |
| Fidelity Life | $17.22 | $43.63 |
| Partners Life | $18.04 | $41.67 |
| nib NZ | $18.13 | Not quoted |
Men age 50
| Company | Stepped, per fortnight | Level to 65, per fortnight |
|---|---|---|
| AIA NZ | $45.38 | $110.11 |
| Asteron Life | $50.08 | $111.46 |
| Chubb Life Insurance | $51.46 | $97.31 |
| Fidelity Life | $45.24 | $103.18 |
| Partners Life | $50.55 | $106.68 |
| nib NZ | $51.01 | Not quoted |
Women age 50
| Company | Stepped, per fortnight | Level to 65, per fortnight |
|---|---|---|
| AIA NZ | $37.61 | $86.97 |
| Asteron Life | $42.00 | $87.03 |
| Chubb Life Insurance | $42.53 | $77.71 |
| Fidelity Life | $38.54 | $81.04 |
| Partners Life | $41.84 | $86.58 |
| nib NZ | $41.98 | Not quoted |
List of NZ life insurance companies
- AIA NZ: largest insurer; absorbed Sovereign (ASB's former life brand) in 2018
- Partners Life
- Fidelity Life: acquired Westpac Life in 2022; being bought by Partners Group Holdings, Partners Life's owner, subject to approval⁹
- Asteron Life: owned by Nippon Life
- Chubb Life Insurance: formerly Cigna NZ, and before that OnePath (ANZ's former life arm)
- nib NZ: health and life; acquired Kiwi Insurance (Kiwibank's former brand) in 2022
- Resolution Life Australasia: owned by Nippon Life; in-force and closed books, joining Asteron Life as Acenda Life from 2027
- Southern Cross: Southern Cross Life Insurance, underwritten by Chubb Life Insurance
- Pinnacle Life: direct/online
- Momentum Life: direct
- Medical Assurance Society (MAS)
- PPS Mutual: mutual, aimed at professionals
- AA Life: AA Life Insurance, jointly owned with AA (New Zealand Automobile Association) and Asteron Life
- Greenwich Life: a brand of DPL Insurance (Turners Automotive Group), which also runs Autosure
Banks selling life insurance (now mostly distributors, not underwriters)
- ANZ: sells life cover; the old OnePath book went to Cigna, now Chubb Life Insurance
- ASB: sells life cover; its former Sovereign business is now part of AIA NZ
- Westpac: still sells life products via its website, but policies are underwritten and issued by Fidelity Life
- Kiwibank: exited underwriting; refers customers to nib under a long-term partnership (after selling Kiwi Insurance to nib)
- BNZ: exited underwriting; directs customers to a specialist life insurer partner rather than managing the relationship itself
- The Co-operative Bank: offers life cover under the Co-op brand
- TSB: distributes life cover through a partner arrangement
How much did the best life insurance companies pay in claims?
Between them, the insurers on this page paid more than $1.4 billion in claims in their latest reporting years, $545.9 million of it on death and terminal illness.
| Insurer | Reporting period | All claims paid | Death and terminal illness claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIA NZ | 2025 calendar year | $790.3m | $257.7m |
| Asteron Life | Financial year 2025 | $117.9m | $46.6m |
| Partners Life | Year to March 2025 | $325m | $94.3m |
| Fidelity Life | Year to June 2025 | $247.7m | $147.3m |
| Chubb Life Insurance | 2025 calendar year | Not published | Not published |
| Four insurers that publish a figure | $1.48bn | $545.9m |
How we rate the best life insurance companies
A life insurance policy is only as good as the company that stands behind it. As advisers who have placed cover with these insurers since 2018, we have done the hard work for you by researching the best life insurance companies on the market. Our methodology is the four factors below, weighted by how much each one decides whether a claim is paid. Every insurer's card on this page reports against the same four.
Financial Strength · 40%
We use AM Best, Fitch and Standard & Poor's to confirm an insurer's financial stability and ability to pay claims far into the future. The top life insurance companies hold a financial strength rating of A- or better: AM Best calls that band Excellent and Superior (A- to A++), Fitch calls it Strong, Very Strong and Exceptionally Strong, and Standard & Poor's Strong, Very Strong and Extremely Strong (both A- to AAA).
Claims Acceptance Rate · 15%
We use insurers' published payout statistics to compare claims acceptance rates. In an ideal world every claim would be paid; a claim is declined when the policy does not cover the event, or when the application left out something the insurer would have priced or excluded. Each insurer publishes its claims figures every year, and we report the acceptance rate and the dollars paid on each insurer's card above, each on its own reporting period and set of claims.
Underwriting and service experience · 25%
We believe thorough medical and financial underwriting at application is the key to a policy that pays out on death or terminal illness without further questions or delays.
Where the sum insured passes the insurer's limits, or the applicant is above a certain age, a nurse or GP examination is needed (blood pressure, blood and urine samples, height and weight and a questionnaire), paid for by the insurer. All five insurers here underwrite fully at application.
The last five death and terminal illness claims we have helped families through were all paid by the insurer within 14 days of receiving all the paperwork.
Additional Benefits & Options · 20%
A policy is more than its sum insured. We look at what is built in as standard and what can be added, so the cover can be shaped to the person holding it. Built in, we expect an early payment on terminal illness, an advance for funeral costs, the right to increase cover after a life event without new medical evidence, support benefits such as counselling and financial advice, and a pass-back clause that applies future wording improvements to the policy already held. On premiums, we expect both stepped and level structures and a guaranteed right to move from stepped to level without new health questions. As options, we look for trauma cover, total and permanent disability, specified accidental injury, waiver of premium, children's trauma cover, and services such as wellbeing support and remote GP access. Each insurer's card shows what it includes and what it offers as an add-on.
The weights show what we give most attention to. The order of the five insurers above is our judgement across all four factors, not a computed score.
FAQs
What is life insurance?
Life insurance pays your family money if you die.
How it pays: your family gets the money in one of two ways.
- Lump sum: one big payment, all at once.
- Survivor's income: a tax-free payment every month, like a pay cheque, for the years you choose.
What it costs: you pay the insurer every month. This is called your premium. It depends on how much cover you choose, how old you are and how healthy you are.
How your premium works:
- Stepped: starts cheaper, goes up a little each year as you get older.
- Level: costs more at the start, stays the same for years.
How fast it pays: every death claim we've helped families with was paid within 2 to 14 days.
How does life insurance work?
Life insurance works in five steps:
- Check first: your adviser can ask the insurer for a pre-assessment. The insurer looks at your health details and says what it would likely offer, before you apply.
- Apply: you answer questions about your health, your job and how you live. The insurer checks your answers and tells you your premium.
- Pay: you pay your premium every month to keep your cover.
- Claim: if you die, your family fills in a claim form and sends the death certificate. If you're very sick and likely to die within 12 months, you can claim early yourself.
- Get paid: the insurer pays your family. Every death claim we've helped with was paid within 2 to 14 days.
Keep paying to stay covered: if you stop paying or cancel, your cover stops and your family can't claim. There are two exceptions:
- AIA NZ's Cover for Life: you stop paying at an age you choose, and you're covered for the rest of your life.
- Level premiums to 100 with Asteron Life or Chubb Life Insurance: your premiums stop at 100, and your cover carries on.
Why do you need life insurance?
Life insurance pays your family money if you die. You need it most if:
- You have children.
- Someone needs your pay, such as a spouse.
- You own a business with a partner: the money lets your partner buy your shares from your family.
- You want to leave a legacy for future generations.
What the money pays for:
- Home: the mortgage or the rent.
- Bills: power, food and everyday costs.
- Funeral: the cost of saying goodbye.
- Debts: loans and credit cards you leave behind.
Who has the best life insurance policy?
No one policy is best for everyone. The best one fits you:
- Your family: it pays enough to look after the people who need you.
- Your health: it's from an insurer that will cover you, at a fair price.
- Your budget: you can keep paying for it, year after year.
An adviser can add extra cover, such as trauma or income protection, so the plan fits you and your family.
What else should I know when buying life insurance?
Tell the truth when you apply. If you leave out a health problem, the insurer can refuse to pay. Answer every question fully.
Check the exclusions. An exclusion is something your policy won't pay for. There are two kinds:
- For everyone: no policy pays for suicide in the first 13 months.
- Just for you: if you already have a health problem, the insurer may add an exclusion for it. It's written in your policy schedule.
Life cover pays for almost any death. Cancer, a heart attack or an accident: if you die, it pays. Trauma cover is different. It pays only for listed illnesses, each with its own definition, so read those closely.
Sources
¹ Te Whatu Ora Mortality web tool, 2022 provisional cause-of-death data (external causes complete to 2021); Stats NZ period life tables 2022–2024; most recent annual claims releases from AIA NZ, Asteron Life, Chubb Life Insurance, Fidelity Life and Partners Life. Insurer reporting periods differ.
² Fitch places Asteron Life on Rating Watch Positive, Asteron Life, 5 August 2026. Fitch affirmed the A+ (Strong) rating in October 2025 before this Rating Watch Positive action; the projected upgrade to AA- depends on the Resolution Life Australasia NZ branch transfer completing.
³ AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Chubb Limited and Its Subsidiaries, 16 January 2026. Confirms Chubb Life Insurance's FSR of A (Excellent) and Long-Term ICR of "a+" (Excellent), stable outlook.
⁴ Fidelity Life reaffirms excellent financial strength rating for 30th year, Fidelity Life media release, 23 March 2026.
⁵ Solvency & financial strength, Partners Life. "Effective 5 February 2026, Partners Life has a financial strength rating of A (Excellent) with Stable Outlook from A.M. Best."
⁶ Fitch Affirms AIA Group Life Insurers at 'AA'; Outlook Stable, Fitch Ratings. See also AIA NZ's own Financial Strength Rating page.
⁷ Asteron Life continues winning Life Insurance Award, Asteron Life.
⁸ Cigna sold to Chubb, Chubb.
⁹ Partners Group Holdings Limited announces plans to acquire Fidelity Life Assurance Company Limited, Partners Life, 3 September 2026.
¹⁰ Insurers recognised in 2026 Reader's Digest trusted brands survey, Insurance Business. Chubb Life was Highly Commended in the life insurance category.
¹¹ Claims technology, community access drive insurer wins at FSC awards, Insurance Business NZ, 10 September 2026.
¹² Fidelity Life wins Security Team of the Year at 2024 iSANZ Awards, Fidelity Life.
¹³ ANZIIF Life Insurance Company of the Year announced, RiskinfoNZ, 1 December 2025.
¹⁴ Partners Life awarded five stars in industry survey for 11th time, RiskinfoNZ, 5 November 2021.
¹⁵ Financial Services Council spotlights industry excellence with nine winners at FSC Awards 2025, Financial Services Council, 12 September 2025.
