Buying life insurance for elderly parents
You can arrange insurance that relates to an elderly parent in New Zealand, but who owns it and who consents depends on the product. With Momentum Life, an adult child can own Funeral Insurance on a parent aged 40 to 75, because a parent counts as a "Relative" in the wording. Quick Life (parent aged 18 to 65) is owned by the parent, or by the insured's own parent or sibling with consent. Momentum takes no new applicants over 75.
In short
- Funeral Insurance (parent aged 40 to 75): the owner can be a child of the insured. The wording does not say whether the parent must consent, so involve them.
- Quick Life (parent aged 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000): the insured is usually the owner. Where an owner other than the insured is allowed, the wording lists parents or siblings and requires each insured's consent. An adult child owner is not listed.
- Funeral Insurance pays the policy owner; a nominated beneficiary is paid only if the owner has died, and if none is nominated the owner's executor is. Quick Life pays the nominated beneficiary if there is one, otherwise the owner or the estate.
- Both products restrict the first two years, and neither accepts a new applicant over 75.
This page is about the structure of buying cover on a parent: ownership, consent, who is paid and what is open by the parent's age. It treats life cover as the larger question and funeral cover as a separate, smaller benefit. For the funeral-cover detail, see funeral insurance for parents; for the general question of insuring a parent at any age, see life insurance for parents; and for grandparents see life insurance for grandparents. This page also deals with a plain fact that is easy to lose: the cover is on your parent's life, so it is their decision as well as yours.
Ownership options at a glance
| Option | Product | How it works | Who is paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent owns and applies | Funeral Insurance or Quick Life | The parent applies as owner and life insured; the adult child is nominated as beneficiary | The nominated beneficiary |
| Child owns, parent insured | Funeral Insurance | The wording's "Relative" includes the parent of the owner. The owner must be a natural person and a New Zealander | The owner (a nominated beneficiary only if the owner has died) |
| Child owns, parent insured | Quick Life | Not listed. The wording names an "immediate family" owner "limited to parents or siblings" | Ask Momentum before relying on it |
| Sibling or parent owns | Quick Life | Allowed (the insured's own parent or sibling), and the consent of each life insured is required before the policy can be established | The nominated beneficiary if one is listed, otherwise the owner or the estate |
Other insurers set their own ownership rules, and we have not read them for this page. Ask any insurer who may own a policy on someone else and what consent it needs.
Consent, signatures and the law
Quick Life's wording is explicit: where a policy is owned by an immediate family member but covers a life insured other than the owner, "the consent of each Life Insured is required before the policy can be established".
The Funeral Insurance wording is silent on consent. It says the policy can cover "You or a Partner/Relative", and defines a Relative as a person who is a New Zealander and the parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or child of the owner or the owner's partner. We have not found a rule in the wording that requires the insured's signature, and Momentum has not said, so do not assume. In practice the application needs your parent's details to be true, correct and complete, because the wording says information provided "must be true, correct and complete" and a policy can be cancelled or a claim declined if it is not. That is hard to do without your parent.
On the law: the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024 says that, from 15 November 2027 (not yet in force), a life policy is not void because the policyholder has no interest in the life insured (sections 75 and 76, legislation.govt.nz). We have no sourced statement of the position before that date, and we are not giving legal advice. The safe course, whatever the law says, is simple: do it openly, with your parent's agreement, and keep them informed.
What is open by your parent's age
| Parent's age | Momentum Life | Other published options |
|---|---|---|
| 18 to 65 | Quick Life: $50,000 to $300,000, no health questions. Funeral Insurance from 40 | Underwritten life cover through an adviser: for example Fidelity Life 16 to 75, AIA Living Life Cover 10 to 70, Chubb Life 10 to 70 |
| 66 to 75 | Funeral Insurance only: $3,000 to $30,000, no health questions | NZ Seniors Life 45 to 79 (eight health questions), Golden Insurance 40 to 80; NZ Seniors, OneChoice and AA Life funeral cover to 79 |
| Over 75 | Nothing open to new applicants | Chubb Life funeral cover to 80; see life insurance over 75 |
Quick Life is described on its plan page, and Funeral Insurance on its plan page. A true age over 65 at the start voids a Quick Life policy and refunds the premiums. Momentum's own Quick Life page says it is not available to applicants diagnosed with a terminal illness or in palliative or hospice care; that rule is on the page, not in the wording.
Momentum Life's A.M. Best rating is B (Fair), in what Momentum's own table calls its "Vulnerable" range, and its solvency ratio was 107% at 30 June 2026; see its financial strength page.
The first two years and the exclusions
- Funeral Insurance. For 24 months it pays only for accidental death (within 90 days of the accident), at three times the benefit. Any other death in that window pays nothing and all premiums for that person are refunded. After 24 months, any cause. No terminal illness benefit.
- Quick Life. For the first 2 years, pre-existing conditions and suicide are excluded. Pre-existing includes, as named markers, BMI over 40, cholesterol over 7.0, very high blood pressure and diabetes complications. If a person dies of a pre-existing condition in that period, premiums are refunded when no claim is payable. It also always excludes deaths from alcohol or drug effects, war, terrorism, criminal activity and listed dangerous jobs and pastimes.
Total premiums on Funeral Insurance can exceed the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. For a parent who is unwell, the early windows matter more than the sum insured. See funeral cover for a parent with dementia for that case.
Who pays the premiums and who receives the payout
- Funeral Insurance. Benefits are paid to the Policy Owner, or on the owner's death to the beneficiary the owner nominated, or if none to the executor of the owner's estate. The beneficiary must be a natural person; Momentum cannot pay a company, charity or other organisation, so you cannot name the funeral director.
- Quick Life. If the life insured dies, the benefit goes to the nominated beneficiary; if none is listed it goes to the owner or the estate. Only the owner can nominate or change a beneficiary. If the owner dies, ownership passes to the surviving joint owner, then the beneficiary, then the owner's estate.
If you own a policy on your parent and you die first, ownership follows the paths above, which may not be what you intend. Nominate a beneficiary and tell the executor where the policy is. If premiums go unpaid for more than a month, Momentum can cancel, and reinstatement is by application and not guaranteed. Cancelling loses the premiums paid.
Practical steps
- Talk to your parent first. Decide together whether they want cover, and what for.
- Check their age against the table, and their residency: Funeral Insurance needs a New Zealander (living in NZ and an NZ or Australian citizen, a permanent resident visa holder, or in NZ continuously for at least 12 months on a valid temporary work visa).
- Decide who owns the policy and who is the beneficiary, and write both down.
- Read the early-window rules with your parent.
- Ask a licensed adviser about underwritten options if your parent is under 66 or in reasonable health.
- Tell the executor where the policy is.
Work and Income's Funeral Grant has a maximum of $2,697.43 and is tested on the circumstances. Where the person who died is not your partner or child, their assets are deducted from the expenses, and Work and Income counts life insurance proceeds and prepaid funeral accounts as cash assets (Work and Income). See funeral grant NZ.
Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner, and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy through our link; see how we are paid. The buttons on this page go to Momentum's own application. For a larger overview of this age group, read seniors funeral insurance.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take out life insurance on my parent without telling them?
Do not. Quick Life's wording requires each insured's consent where the owner is someone else, and a policy depends on true, complete information about your parent. Funeral Insurance does not state a consent rule, but the application needs your parent's details and a policy can be cancelled or a claim declined if they are wrong.
Can an adult child own a Momentum policy on a parent?
On Funeral Insurance, yes: a parent counts as a Relative. On Quick Life, the wording lists parents or siblings as non-insured owners, and an adult child is not listed, so ask Momentum.
What if my parent is over 75?
Momentum takes no new applicants. Other insurers publish funeral cover to 79 or 80. See life insurance over 75.
References
- Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording (17 August 2023), retrieved 20 October 2026
- Momentum Life: Quick Life Insurance Policy Wording (November 2025), retrieved 20 October 2026
- Momentum Life: Quick Life, retrieved 20 October 2026
- Momentum Life: Financial strength, retrieved 20 October 2026
- Contracts of Insurance Act 2024, retrieved 20 October 2026
- Work and Income: Funeral Grant, retrieved 20 October 2026
- NZ Seniors: Life insurance, retrieved 17 October 2026
- NZ Seniors: Funeral insurance, retrieved 20 October 2026
- Fidelity Life: Life cover, retrieved 20 October 2026
- Chubb: Funeral cover, retrieved 20 October 2026
- AA Life: Funeral cover, retrieved 20 October 2026
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