Written by · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver — licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Last updated 2026-10-20

When do life insurance premium payments stop?

How long you pay depends on the product. Momentum's Funeral Insurance premiums are fixed each year until the 89th birthday, then stop, and the cover continues for life. Momentum's Quick Life premiums rise each year until 75 and are then fixed for the remaining life of the policy, so they do not stop. Many other New Zealand life policies have no expiry age, so you pay for as long as you keep the cover.

In short

Two ideas that get mixed up: cover ending and premiums ending

Premiums are the regular payments you make to keep a policy in force. A policy's expiry age is the age at which the cover itself stops. They are different dates, and a lot of confusion comes from treating them as one.

It is easy to read "to age 65, 70 or 80" as the age a policy ends. In the documents we read, those ages are mostly the length of a premium review period. Chubb's Life Cover offers review periods of 1 year, 5 years, 5 years with 5% stepping, 10 years, or to age 65, 70, 80 or 100, after which the premium is recalculated on the sum insured, your age and any change to rates or law (Chubb brochure). AIA's "Level for 10 years, to 65 or to 80" options convert to Rate for Age (stepped) when the period ends (AIA Living umbrella wording v8). The cover carries on; the price is re-set.

When premiums stop, product by product

Product When premiums end Source
Momentum Funeral Insurance Fixed each year until the 89th birthday, then none; cover continues for life Funeral wording
Momentum Quick Life Do not end. Stepped (re-set each anniversary) until 75, then fixed for the remaining life of the policy Quick Life wording
NZ Seniors and OneChoice funeral cover None after 85 Insurers' pages
AA Life Funeral Cover Anniversary after the 90th birthday AA Life page
Chubb Life Funeral Cover At claim, at 90, or on entering long-term care Chubb page
Greenwich Funeral Plan As soon as the total paid equals the funeral benefit Greenwich page
Unity funeral cover Not stated on the page we read Unity page
Fidelity life cover No expiry age. Yearly Renewable Term rises each year; Level Term holds the premium for the term Fidelity page
Chubb Assurance Extra Life Cover Cover never expires; premiums follow the chosen review period Chubb brochure
AIA Life Cover No expiry; Rate for Age, or level for a period then Rate for Age AIA wording
AIA Accidental Death Cover expires at 65 AIA page

Scope. Compared: the products above, on when premiums end, as at 20 October 2026, from each insurer's own published documents (links in the references). Not every NZ insurer is included, and Partners Life and Asteron publish no comparable table we could read. This is one adviser team's reading, not a score.

Momentum Funeral Insurance: premiums stop at 89

Momentum's Funeral Insurance accepts New Zealanders aged 40 to 75, with a benefit of $3,000 to $30,000. The premium rate is fixed each year until the 89th birthday, then premiums stop and cover continues for life (Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording, 17 August 2023). "Fixed" is not "for ever". Momentum can change the rate for everyone on the same offer if tax or other law changes, or if claims experience is significantly different from expected, on 30 days' written notice.

Two other facts matter here.

A round-number illustration shows why. This is not a Momentum premium, because Momentum publishes none and we do not quote one. If a policy paid a $10,000 benefit and cost $40 a month ($480 a year), the total paid would reach $10,000 after about 21 years. Someone who started at 65 and stayed to 89 would pay for 24 years, which is $11,520 at that example price. Someone who started at 70 and died at 80 would have paid $4,800. Your result depends on the premium, when you start and how long you live. Our guide to how funeral insurance works and the page on whether funeral insurance is worth it take the same sum through to a decision, and the Momentum Funeral Cover plan page sets out the product.

Momentum Quick Life: fixed from 75, not finished at 75

Quick Life is guaranteed-acceptance life cover for ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000 per life, with no health questions. The policy renews one year at a time, and each anniversary Momentum updates the premium for the life insured's age, gender and smoking status. Premiums generally go up each year until 75; from 75 they are "fixed for the remaining life of your policy" (Momentum Life: Quick Life Policy Wording, November 2025). Momentum can still change premiums for everyone on the offer for tax or claims-experience reasons, with at least 30 days' written notice, applying from the next anniversary.

At 75 the 3% annual benefit increase stops, and $20,000 of the benefit becomes free: the policyholder can elect a free $20,000 funeral benefit or continue Quick Life with the free component. The wording does not say what premium continues under the second option, so read the key features section of the wording or ask Momentum before relying on it. We have not written that premiums stop at 75, because the wording does not say that.

Quick Life also has an early window, which matters when you weigh what the premiums buy. For the first 2 years a death or terminal illness linked to a pre-existing condition, and suicide or intentional self-harm, are not covered; premiums are refunded if a pre-existing-condition death in the first 24 months leaves no claim payable. After that, pre-existing conditions are covered apart from any specific conditions the policy schedule lists as permanently excluded. See the Quick Life plan page.

Stepped and level premiums on other life cover

On a stepped premium, the price is recalculated each year for your age, so it rises. Fidelity describes Yearly Renewable Term this way, and says Level Term starts "a bit higher" and stays the same for the term (Fidelity). Asteron says level premiums "lock your premium payments in, so they don't increase with age", while stepped premiums "start lower... but increase each year" (Asteron brochure).

The catch is what happens when a level period ends. IFSO published a case where a "Level to age 80" policy converted to "Rate for Age" at 80, and the monthly premium went from $49 to $190; the complaint was not upheld (IFSO: Increasing premiums). The FMA says cover that is cheaper at the start can cost more over time, and that most premiums rise annually with age or inflation (FMA: Insurance). Our guide to stepped versus level premiums goes deeper; we do not give a crossover age, because no insurer publishes one.

What happens if you stop paying early

How to decide

Ask three questions. Will you still be paying when cover matters least? If you want a funeral benefit only, a policy with a stop age gives a clear end date. Can you afford the rising premium at the ages when stepped cover is dearest? And is saving the money instead a better fit? Setting money aside is the other way to prepare (Consumer NZ); see funeral insurance versus saving.

Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). This page is general information, not personal advice. QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy through our link; see how we are paid. Momentum Life Limited's A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating is B (Fair), in what Momentum's own table calls the "Vulnerable" range (Momentum: Financial strength). The buttons on this page go to Momentum's plan pages, with the age limits shown. For the full set of options, see the funeral insurance hub.

Frequently asked questions

Do life insurance premiums ever stop?

On some funeral products, yes: Momentum's at the 89th birthday, NZ Seniors and OneChoice's after 85, Chubb's at 90. On most life cover, no. Premiums continue while the cover does, and may rise each year if they are stepped.

Do Quick Life premiums stop at 75?

No. They stop rising: from 75 they are fixed for the remaining life of the policy, although Momentum can still change them for tax or claims-experience reasons with 30 days' notice.

Do I get money back when premiums stop or I cancel?

No. Quick Life has no cash value, and Momentum's Funeral wording describes none; it calls the policy not a savings or investment plan. After the 30-day free look, cancelling loses the premiums paid. The only refunds the wordings describe are in the early windows described above.

What if the total I pay is more than the benefit?

That can happen, and Momentum's wording says so. IFSO published a funeral insurance case in which the policy holder was given no warning that premiums could exceed the sum insured; the insurer refunded all premiums (IFSO case study).

References

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