Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver — licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Last updated 2026-09-08

Funeral Insurance NZ: Compare Cover, Cost and Providers

Funeral insurance in New Zealand is a small life policy of $5,000 to $30,000 that pays a fixed cash sum on death, usually with no health questions. Fewer insurers stand behind it than the brand names suggest: Pinnacle Life Limited underwrites both NZ Seniors and OneChoice, Asteron Life Limited underwrites AA Life, and each product covers accidental death only for its first 12 or 24 months.

In short

• Pinnacle Life Limited underwrites both NZ Seniors and OneChoice, so two of the most heavily advertised brands in the market are one insurer (Pinnacle Life, retrieved 19 August 2026).
• A year of $10,000 of cover for a 65-year-old male non-smoker was published at $909.10 with Chubb Life and $860.70 with AA Life (MoneyHub NZ, updated 19 April 2026).
• Consumer NZ priced $10,000 of cover for a 64-year-old and found you could pay 10 to 100 per cent more than the policy was worth by age 84 (Consumer NZ, published 22 May 2024).

Funeral insurance is a small life insurance policy, usually $5,000 to $30,000, that pays a fixed cash sum when you die. Most versions ask no health questions. In exchange they pay only for accidental death during the first 12 or 24 months, and they cost more per dollar of cover than any other form of life cover in New Zealand.

This guide sets out who underwrites each brand you see advertised, what the published prices add up to over a lifetime, what a funeral really costs, and the four alternatives worth pricing first. Product terms come from each provider's own documents on the dates shown.

What Funeral Insurance Is, and Who Sells It in New Zealand

Most funeral insurance advertised in New Zealand comes from fewer insurers than the brand names suggest. Momentum Life and Chubb Life underwrite their own policies. NZ Seniors and OneChoice are both issued by Pinnacle Life Limited and distributed by Greenstone Financial Services NZ Limited. AA Life is underwritten by Asteron Life Limited. The brand on the advertisement is not always the insurer that assesses and pays the claim, and the financial strength rating that matters is always the underwriter's.

Every one of these products also limits what it pays in the early years, because the insurer has not asked about your health. What differs is how long that window runs, whether your family gets the payments back if you die inside it, and the age at which payments stop.

Terms from each provider's own product page, and for Chubb Life its Funeral Cover policy document, all retrieved 19 August 2026; Chubb Life entry ages captured 14 August 2026. Underwriters from each brand's own legal disclosure and ratings re-checked against the RBNZ Register of licensed insurers, 15 August 2026. Ratings move: check the current one in our financial-strength explorer.

Read the refund line twice. The two Pinnacle brands run the shortest accidental-death-only window at 12 months, and they are the only ones that return nothing if you die of an illness inside it. Everyone else takes two years and hands the money back. For a healthy applicant the earlier full cover is probably worth more; for anyone carrying a health concern, the refund is what stops a total loss.

Three further points in that table deserve plain words.

One insurer sits behind two of the loudest brands. Pinnacle Life underwrites both NZ Seniors and OneChoice, so anyone comparing the two is comparing two distribution arms of one insurer. Pinnacle withdrew its own-brand funeral policy from sale in May 2021 and now points new customers to those brands (Pinnacle Life, retrieved 19 August 2026). The verified NZ Seniors terms sit in our seniors funeral insurance guide.

"Backed by Hannover Re" is not the same as insured by Hannover Re. Hannover Re is a reinsurer standing behind Pinnacle Life. Your policy is with Pinnacle Life Limited, and Pinnacle's B+ rating is the one that applies (onechoice.co.nz, retrieved 15 August 2026).

Momentum's rating carries recent history. A.M. Best cut Momentum Life from B++ to B (Fair) on 13 February 2025, citing a weakened capital position, then affirmed B (Fair) with a stable outlook on 11 February 2026 after a change of ownership and better solvency (A.M. Best, 11 February 2026, retrieved 8 September 2026).

Three other terms matter. Momentum Life, OneChoice and NZ Seniors pay triple the cover amount for accidental death inside the window, and AA Life pays double where death follows within 90 days of the accident. Chubb Life discounts 20 per cent for a joint application. And none of these products has a surrender or cash value: cancel outside the 30-day cooling-off period and you get nothing back (Chubb Life NZ policy document, Momentum Life, AA Life and NZ Seniors, all retrieved 19 August 2026).

The adviser channel sells it differently

Five more insurers reach New Zealanders through advisers rather than television. Partners Life, Fidelity Life, AIA and Asteron Life sell no standalone funeral policy at all: they build funeral money into a standard life policy as an advance on the sum insured. nib sells a standalone funeral product from $5,000 to $30,000 with guaranteed acceptance, a 12-month stand-down for illness, level premiums and payment within five business days. Chubb Life sells both directly and through advisers.

What Funeral Insurance Costs in New Zealand

Only two New Zealand funeral insurers publish an indicative price. AA Life publishes $14.28 a week for $10,000 of cover, based on a 66-year-old female AA Member who is a non-smoker (AA Life Insurance, *Funeral Cover*, retrieved 19 August 2026). Momentum Life publishes $11.41 a week for the same cover, based on a female non-smoker aged 50 (Momentum Life, *Funeral Insurance*, retrieved 19 August 2026). Neither is a quote for you; both are the seller's own worked example for the profile it chose to advertise. Chubb Life, NZ Seniors and OneChoice publish nothing, which is why the market looks so hard to compare.

MoneyHub fills that gap, publishing the cost of a year of cover on a $10,000 benefit at three ages with the provider named against each figure. At 50 a female non-smoker is shown at $436.40 with Chubb Life and $412.00 with AA Life, and at 70 the same profile is shown at $996.40 and $957.00 (MoneyHub NZ, *Funeral Insurance NZ*, updated 19 April 2026, retrieved 19 August 2026).

Cost for one year of cover on a $10,000 benefit, as published by MoneyHub NZ, Funeral Insurance NZ, updated 19 April 2026 and retrieved 19 August 2026. Smoker rates in the same table run roughly half again higher at every age. A published third-party illustration, not a quote: your own price is fixed only once an insurer issues the policy.

Three things fall out of that table. The price roughly doubles between 50 and 70 for the same cover, smoking adds around half again at every age, and the two providers sit within about 6 per cent of each other. That last point matters most: shopping between guaranteed-acceptance products saves far less than deciding whether to buy one at all.

What the price adds up to over a lifetime

The arithmetic that decides whether funeral cover is worth buying is simple: multiply the published price by the years you will pay it, and compare that with the fixed sum the policy pays. Both insurers that publish a price also publish the age at which payments stop, so the sum can be done from public information.

QuoteHub arithmetic on the published figures linked in the first column, all retrieved 19 August 2026. Cost for one year is the published weekly price times 52. Break-even is $10,000 divided by that yearly cost. The stop age is each provider's own. Not a quote, and not a prediction of what you would pay. Momentum Life returns 10 per cent of the first year's payments after 12 months of continuous cover, which moves its crossover by about a month.

Independent research agrees. Consumer NZ priced $10,000 of cover for a 64-year-old and concluded you "could pay anything from 10% to 100% more than the policy was worth by age 84", adding that if you cannot keep up the payments or want to cancel, "there's generally no refund" (Consumer NZ, *5 ways to pay for your funeral*, published 22 May 2024, retrieved 19 August 2026).

The sellers say it too. Chubb Life's wording states that "the total premiums you pay may exceed the benefit we pay under this policy" and NZ Seniors says total premiums "have the potential to exceed the cover amount". AA Life goes furthest, telling readers that "over your lifetime, it's possible to pay more in premiums than your total cover amount" and naming saving or investing as alternatives (Chubb Life NZ policy document, NZ Seniors and AA Life, all retrieved 19 August 2026).

Life expectancy turns that possibility into the base case. Stats NZ puts life expectancy at birth at 80.1 years for males and 83.5 for females in 2022 to 2024, and someone who has already reached 65 has longer still (Stats NZ period life tables, retrieved 19 August 2026).

What Are the Disadvantages of Funeral Insurance?

Funeral insurance costs more per dollar of cover than any other form of life cover, caps out at $30,000, and applies a stand-down of 12 to 24 months during which death from illness pays a refund of premiums rather than the benefit. Hold it long enough and total payments can exceed the payout. The benefit is fixed while funeral costs keep rising, and most of these products are sold without personalised advice.

• You can pay in more than the policy pays out. The biggest drawback, and it is measurable rather than theoretical: the lifetime totals above are the evidence.
• Stand-downs delay full cover. Death from illness in the first 12 or 24 months pays a refund at best, and nothing at all on the two Pinnacle brands.
• Cover is capped. Most people buy $10,000 to $20,000, which may cover a funeral but not a funeral plus debts and lost household income.
• Inflation erodes the benefit. These policies rarely offer CPI indexation, so a $15,000 benefit today will not buy a $15,000 funeral in 20 years.
• A lapse buys nothing. Miss enough payments and the policy ends with no refund after the cooling-off period.
• It is often sold without advice. NZ Seniors and OneChoice both state that no advice on buying or disposing of insurance is given, and Momentum Life's advice is limited to its own products (each site's disclosure, retrieved 15 August 2026).

None of that makes funeral insurance a bad product. It makes it a specific one, built for people who cannot obtain medically underwritten cover.

What Is the Best Funeral Insurance in NZ? It Depends on One Question

There is no single best funeral insurance in New Zealand, and any page that names one is guessing on your behalf. The choice turns almost entirely on whether you can pass health underwriting.

If you cannot pass health questions, the products differ most on the first-year terms rather than the headline, and the table above is the comparison that matters. nib is the one guaranteed-acceptance option not in it: entry to 79, a 12-month stand-down for illness, and payment within five business days.

If you can pass health questions, buy the funeral benefit inside a life policy instead. Fidelity Life's Platinum Plus Life cover carries a Bereavement benefit you may apply for as an immediate advance of $25,000, or the sum insured if lower (Fidelity Life wordings, retrieved 18 August 2026). AIA pays a Funeral Benefit of the lower of the sum insured, $15,000 where the life assured is the sole policy owner, or $25,000 where a policy owner survives them, immediately on written notification of death (AIA wording PC-LC-10/2023, retrieved 18 August 2026). How that works is covered in does life insurance cover funeral costs.

If you are over 65 and already hold life cover, check whether it can be converted first. Asteron Life publishes a Funeral conversion benefit letting you convert up to $30,000 of Life Cover to a level-premium Funeral benefit once you have held the cover more than ten years and are 65 or older (Asteron Life, retrieved 18 August 2026). That route uses underwriting you already passed, so there is no new health assessment and no stand-down.

If you are under 50, standalone funeral insurance is almost never right. A small life policy gives you the funeral money plus a far larger sum insured, and the funeral benefit inside it costs nothing extra.

The Cheapest Funeral Insurance in NZ, on Published Prices

On the published figures, AA Life is the cheaper of the two guaranteed-acceptance products MoneyHub prices, at every age and profile in its table: $412.00 against Chubb Life's $436.40 at 50 for a female non-smoker, and $860.70 against $909.10 at 65 for a male non-smoker (MoneyHub NZ, updated 19 April 2026). The gap is about 5 per cent, small next to the structural choice.

The cheapest yearly price is not the cheapest policy. Greenwich Life's The Funeral Plan carries a premium cessation clause no other New Zealand provider publishes: "Once your total premium paid equals the funeral benefit amount further premium payments will cease. Your policy will remain in force until your funeral benefit amount becomes payable" (Greenwich Life, *The Funeral Plan* policy wording, page 6, retrieved 19 August 2026). On a $10,000 benefit that caps what you hand over at $10,000, against $21,518 for AA Life and $22,728 for Chubb Life on the same profile held to 90.

Caveats sit on that. Greenwich Life accepts applicants only from 30 to 70, so it is closed to the people who search for this product most, its maximum cover is $20,000, and it pays no accidental-death multiple. The Greenwich Life brand site we checked on 19 August 2026 listed only its QuickCover life product for ages 21 to 60 (greenwichlife.co.nz), so confirm the funeral plan is still open before you plan around it.

One label is worth reading carefully. Chubb Life's policy document is titled Capped Premium Funeral Cover, but the payment clause in the same document shows the cap is on the rate, not the total: payments run to the 90th birthday and may exceed the benefit (Chubb Life NZ, retrieved 19 August 2026). Both facts are disclosed, but a reader who stops at the cover page draws the wrong conclusion.

For most people the genuinely cheaper route is a small medically underwritten life policy, priced on your actual health rather than on the uncertainty of guaranteed acceptance.

What a Funeral Actually Costs in New Zealand

The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand publishes indicative ranges for each element of a funeral rather than a single national average, because the total depends on what you choose and where you live. The professional services fee alone runs $3,000 to $6,500, and a burial plot with interment runs $1,000 to $8,000 depending on the council.

Source: Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand, "Funeral costs and financial support", funeraldirectors.co.nz/arranging-a-funeral/financial-matters (accessed 14 August 2026). Council burial and cremation figures are quoted by FDANZ as at 2024. FDANZ does not publish a national average funeral cost. Chapel, hearse, flowers, notices and live-streaming are grouped here from the individual ranges FDANZ publishes for each.

Add those ranges up and a simple cremation with a short service sits at the lower end, while a burial with a quality casket, venue hire and catering reaches well into five figures. The plot alone varies eightfold between councils. FDANZ president Rachel Benns told Consumer NZ that "averages mask the significant regional differences in some costs, particularly council costs", which is why the components are published and the total left to your own choices (Consumer NZ, *Funerals: the cost of dying*, published 22 September 2023, retrieved 19 August 2026).

The hardest part of a funeral bill is not the amount, it is the timing. Funeral directors typically require payment within 30 days, while the deceased person's bank accounts are usually frozen until probate is granted, so someone has to find the money upfront. Every funding option below is really a way of solving that timing problem, and plot fees keep rising, so a funeral 20 years away will cost more than today's figures.

Funeral Insurance vs Life Insurance: What Actually Differs

Funeral insurance is a type of life insurance with a small fixed benefit, easy acceptance and a high cost per dollar of cover. A standard life policy carries a larger sum insured, no stand-down and a funeral advance released ahead of the claim decision, but you have to pass underwriting. The table compares features, not prices.

The split is decided by your health, not by the arithmetic. For most people under 60 in reasonable health, a small life policy with a built-in funeral advance is the better structure. For someone over 65 with health conditions, standalone cover may be the only route left.

Alternatives to Funeral Insurance

Four alternatives cover the same bill without a funeral policy: a pre-paid funeral plan, a dedicated savings account or funeral trust, a small life policy, and the government funeral grants. Consumer NZ recommends the savings route: "rather than take out an insurance plan for your funeral, open a savings account and put some money aside every week, or when you can" (Consumer NZ, *5 ways to pay for your funeral*, published 22 May 2024, retrieved 19 August 2026).

Pre-paid funeral plans

A pre-paid funeral plan is not an insurance product. You specify the service with a funeral director down to the casket, venue and catering, the provider quotes it at today's prices, and you pay as a lump sum or by instalments. The funds are held in trust separately from the funeral director's business, and the funeral is carried out as arranged at no further cost to your family. It is the only option that fixes the price of the funeral itself.

The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand oversees the Pre-Paid Funerals Trust, the most widely used trust vehicle, and most member funeral homes offer plans through it (FDANZ, accessed 14 August 2026). Plans in that network can generally be transferred if you move, and cancelling usually refunds the amount held in trust less fees. Pre-paid plans are not regulated by the Financial Markets Authority the way insurance is, so check which trust your provider uses. Consumer NZ notes that pre-paid funerals up to $10,000 are excluded from asset testing for the residential care subsidy where held in a recognised plan (Consumer NZ, published 22 May 2024).

A funeral savings account or trust

Setting aside $15,000 to $20,000 in a dedicated savings account or term deposit covers a mid-range funeral with a buffer. There are no premiums and no risk of paying more than the benefit, and the money stays yours if you never need it.

The arithmetic is closer than it looks. A 65-year-old male non-smoker paying AA Life's published $860.70 a year would reach $10,000 in an account after about 9.9 years, at age 75, at the 3.5 per cent six-month term deposit rates the major banks advertised on 19 August 2026 (MoneyHub NZ, 19 April 2026, and interest.co.nz). Before 75 the policy is worth more; after 75 the account is, and it keeps growing. The interest rate barely moves that crossover, because it is the same money either way.

Three things make it work: keep the money in a separate, clearly labelled account, tell your family it exists, and consider holding it jointly with a spouse or adult child so they can reach it without waiting for probate. The limitation is obvious: saving only works if you have time to build the fund.

A small life policy

If you can pass health questions, a small underwritten life policy of $25,000 to $50,000 covers funeral costs and more, at a lower cost per dollar than a dedicated funeral product, and it releases a funeral advance ahead of the claim decision. If you already hold life cover, check the advance in it before buying a second product for the same job.

The Work and Income and ACC funeral grants

Two government grants reduce a New Zealand funeral bill, and neither is automatic. Work and Income pays a Funeral Grant of up to $2,697.43, ACC pays up to $8,236.40 where the death resulted from an injury it covers, and an ACC survivor's grant of $8,830.47 for a partner sits on top of that. Both agencies publish their own amounts, retrieved 19 August 2026.

Amounts published by Work and Income and ACC, both retrieved 19 August 2026. ACC states its funeral grant changes every year and is set by the date of death, not the date of application.

The Work and Income grant is tested on both sides. Where the person who died is not your partner or child, their assets are deducted from reasonable funeral expenses first, so a pensioner with a house and savings usually produces no grant at all. Work and Income also says you may not be able to get it where costs are covered by ACC, Veterans' Affairs or pre-paid funeral cover. The ACC grant is larger but far narrower, because most deaths in New Zealand are not accidental, and families frequently do not claim it when it does apply.

How to Choose Funeral Cover

Start with the question that decides everything else: can you pass health underwriting? If yes, price a small life policy with its funeral advance before you look at anything standalone. If no, the deciding terms are the length of the stand-down, whether payments are refunded inside it, and the age at which payments stop.

1. Check what you already hold. An existing life policy very likely includes a funeral advance, and some policies convert to funeral cover without new health questions.
2. Work out the total, not the weekly figure. Multiply the yearly cost by the years to the stop age and set that beside the benefit. That number is what you are agreeing to.
3. Read the refund line before the price line. Two products that both call themselves guaranteed acceptance can differ completely on whether your family gets anything back in year one.
4. Check the underwriter, not the brand. The rating that governs a claim decades from now belongs to the insurer, not the name on the advertisement.
5. Ask whether you can sustain it. There is no surrender value, so a lapse at 78 loses everything paid. Only AA Life publishes a hardship relief valve, a premium holiday of up to six months, and it is closed to policyholders aged 65 and over (AA Life, retrieved 19 August 2026).
6. Tell your family it exists. A claim does not wait for probate, but it does wait for someone to make the call. Keep the insurer, policy number and benefit written down with your will.

A claim is made by contacting the insurer with notification of the death, a certified death certificate and a claim form, and most will pay the funeral director directly if you ask. For the full walkthrough see how to claim life insurance in NZ.

QuoteHub advisers price both structures for your own age and health at no cost. Start a free comparison. Clients also get a will drafted by New Zealand lawyers at no extra cost while they hold cover arranged through us. See free will with your cover.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the disadvantages of funeral insurance?

Funeral insurance costs more per dollar of cover than any other form of life cover, caps out at $30,000, and applies a stand-down of 12 to 24 months during which death from illness pays a refund of premiums rather than the benefit, or nothing at all on the NZ Seniors and OneChoice products. Hold the policy long enough and total payments can exceed the payout. The benefit is fixed while funeral costs keep rising, and there is no refund if you cancel after the cooling-off period.

How much does a funeral cost in NZ?

The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand publishes ranges for each element rather than a national average, because the total depends on what you choose and where you live. The professional services fee runs $3,000 to $6,500, a casket $1,200 to $5,000, cremation $600 to $1,100, and a burial plot with interment $1,000 to $8,000 on 2024 council figures.

Is Cigna funeral insurance still available in New Zealand?

Yes, but not under that name. Cigna Life Insurance New Zealand Limited became Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand Limited after Chubb bought Cigna's Asia-Pacific life business on 1 July 2022, and the product is sold today as Chubb Life Funeral Cover for residents aged 50 to 80, up to $30,000, with all causes covered after 24 months (Chubb Life NZ, captured 14 August 2026). Existing Cigna-branded policies were not changed by the rebrand.

Disclaimer: this article is general information, not personalised financial advice. Product features change over time. Every price here is a figure the provider or a named researcher published, reproduced with its source and date; none is a quote. Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name. Henry Smith is a Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). Greenwich Life, NZ Seniors, OneChoice, Momentum Life and Pinnacle Life are not on QuoteHub's advice panel, which is listed on our disclosure page.

References

• AA Life Insurance, Funeral Cover and Momentum Life, Funeral Insurance (both retrieved 19 August 2026)
• MoneyHub NZ, Funeral Insurance NZ, the annual price table for a $10,000 benefit at ages 50, 65 and 70 (updated 19 April 2026, retrieved 19 August 2026)
• Chubb Life NZ, Funeral Cover (captured 14 August 2026) and its Funeral Cover policy document (cig0421 v1)
• Greenwich Life, The Funeral Plan policy wording page 6, its product page and greenwichlife.co.nz (retrieved 19 August 2026)
• NZ Seniors, Funeral Insurance and OneChoice, Funeral Insurance (retrieved 19 August 2026)
• Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand, "Funeral costs and financial support", funeraldirectors.co.nz/arranging-a-funeral/financial-matters (accessed 14 August 2026)
• Consumer NZ, 5 ways to pay for your funeral (22 May 2024) and Funerals: the cost of dying (22 September 2023)
• Stats NZ period life tables 2022–2024, Work and Income Funeral Grant, ACC financial support after a fatal injury and interest.co.nz term deposit rates (all retrieved 19 August 2026)
• AIA Life Cover wording (PC-LC-10/2023), Fidelity Life Platinum Plus wordings and Asteron Life, Life Insurance (all retrieved 18 August 2026)
• Pinnacle Life, funeral and mortgage policy holders, the RBNZ Register of licensed insurers and the A.M. Best release on Momentum Life, 11 February 2026

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