Life insurance for self-employed Kiwis: sole traders and contractors
Self-employed New Zealanders can get life insurance. For personal life cover, income proof is usually not the hurdle: Chubb Life and Fidelity Life publish no financial requirements for life cover up to $2.5 million, and Momentum's Quick Life wording has no income or employment test. Proof of income matters for income protection and for business covers such as key person, shareholder and debt cover, where insurers ask for two to three years of accounts and tax returns.
In short
- Life cover pays a lump sum on death, so it is sized to debts and dependants, not to this year's invoices. Insurers ask for financial evidence mainly on large sums and on income-based and business covers.
- Self-employed applicants for income protection are asked for accounts and tax returns: Chubb Life asks for 2 years (3 where income fluctuates) and Fidelity Life asks for 3 years.
- Momentum's Quick Life (ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000) asks no health questions, but pre-existing conditions are excluded for 2 years and some dangerous jobs and pastimes are excluded at claim time.
- Keep personal needs (mortgage, family) separate from business needs (loans, shareholders, overheads). They are different covers with different owners and different evidence.
- This is general information, not tax advice or personal advice.
What changes when you are self-employed?
The question is rarely "can I get life cover?" and more often "which cover will ask for my accounts?" Both Chubb Life and Fidelity Life publish adviser underwriting guides, and the pattern in them is the same.
| Cover | What it is for | Financial evidence for a self-employed applicant |
|---|---|---|
| Personal life cover | A lump sum on death | None up to $2.5 million at Chubb Life; Fidelity Life asks for a statement of advice or financial questionnaire above $2.5 million |
| Income protection | A monthly benefit when you cannot work | Yes. Chubb Life: 2 years of full accounts and personal and business tax returns, 3 years where income fluctuates. Fidelity Life: 3 years of personal tax returns, business tax returns and financial statements |
| Business covers (key person, shareholder, debt, business expenses) | A lump sum or benefit tied to the business | More. Chubb Life asks for the business valuation, shareholders' agreement or loan details, depending on the need; Fidelity Life asks for 3 years of tax returns and financial statements for business expenses and key person cover, and other details for buy/sell and debt cover |
Sources: the Chubb Life Essential Underwriting Guide and the Fidelity Life underwriting guide, both read on 20 October 2026. These are adviser guides, so use them to understand the process, not as an offer. Health is assessed separately, and a disclosed condition can trigger more evidence.
Fidelity Life defines "self-employed" for these rules as someone holding 20% or more of the shares in their business; Chubb Life counts anyone with a direct or indirect shareholding, including through a trust, and lists contractors as self-employed. Check which side of the line you are on.
Where does Momentum's Quick Life fit?
Quick Life is Momentum Life's guaranteed-acceptance life cover, issued by Momentum Life Limited. It accepts people aged 18 to 65, with cover from $50,000 to $300,000 per person, and the benefit rises 3% each policy anniversary to a $500,000 cap per life unless you opt out of an increase. There are no health questions or medical exams, and the policy wording sets no income or employment test. That removes the income hurdle for someone whose earnings swing from month to month, though not the other limits below.
Read the limits before you rely on it:
- The first 2 years. Death from a pre-existing condition, or from suicide or intentional self-harm, is not paid in the first 2 years. Accidental death and new conditions are covered. If a pre-existing-condition death happens in the first 24 months and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded.
- Dangerous jobs and pastimes. Occupation is not asked at application, but the wording excludes death while in a "dangerous occupation or pastime" at any time. Its examples include handling explosives or weapons, working 40 metres underwater, driving or riding faster than 130 km/h, professional sport and active armed-forces duty. A contractor in a high-risk trade should read that list in full (Quick Life wording).
- Stepped premiums. Quick Life premiums are recalculated every year for age, gender and smoking status and generally rise, until they are fixed from 75.
- Who owns it. The life insured usually owns the policy; the wording allows a parent or sibling as owner with consent. The wording does not list a company or trust as an owner, so ask Momentum before assuming a business can own it.
- Amount. $300,000 is the starting maximum, so it will not match a large mortgage plus business debt on its own.
A healthy person can usually get more cover for less with fully underwritten cover through a licensed adviser. Guaranteed acceptance suits people who would be declined or heavily loaded elsewhere, or who want cover in place quickly without questions. Our guaranteed acceptance hub compares the two routes, and Quick Life has the plan facts.
A worked example: separating personal and business needs
The figures below are round, invented numbers for a sole trader, to show the method. They are not a quote or a recommendation.
| Need | Illustrative figure | Cover that fits | Evidence an insurer may ask for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home loan, shared with a partner | $450,000 | Personal life cover, owned personally | Application form; health |
| Partner's living costs while the family adjusts | 3 years of $60,000 | Personal life cover | Application form; income evidence only on very large sums |
| Business loan you have guaranteed personally | $80,000 | Debt protection cover | Loan details: lender, amount, term and purpose |
| Business partner's share if you die | Set by valuation | Buy/sell (shareholder) cover | Business valuation, ownership share, shareholders' agreement |
| Fixed overheads while you are unwell | Monthly figure | Business expenses or income protection | 2 to 3 years of accounts and tax returns |
The point of the table is that a single "life insurance for my business" number hides four different jobs. A partner living on your income and a bank holding your personal guarantee are different claimants, and each can be matched to a different cover. For how the business-side products work, see our guides to key person insurance and shareholder protection.
Who owns the policy and who pays the premium change the tax treatment, and we do not give tax advice. Inland Revenue's published guidance on employer-owned term life policies is QB 18/03, which deals with a company insuring an employee. Whether any of it applies to a sole trader or a shareholder arrangement is a question for your accountant. See also business life insurance and tax.
How do irregular earnings affect underwriting?
For personal life cover under the thresholds above, they mostly do not: the insurer is assessing your health, not your cash flow. Both insurers' guides ask only for an application form or personal statement at every age band up to $500,000, and health evidence such as a doctor's report or blood tests is triggered by what you disclose and, at higher amounts, by age.
Irregular earnings matter in two other places:
- Income protection. The insurer insures a share of average income, so a lean year may lower the benefit you are offered. Chubb Life's agreed-value table, for example, sets the share of gross income that can be insured at 62.5% for income up to $70,000, 60% for $70,001 to $100,000 and 55% for $100,001 to $320,000.
- Paying the premium. Stepped premiums rise every year, so a policy that is easy to pay in a good year can strain a quiet one. Missed payments can end the policy.
What does it cost?
QuoteHub's Premium Index shows indicative monthly cost from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026, for stepped, non-smoker, occupation class 1 cover at standard rates. The ranges are across the insurers that priced each row and do not include loadings or exclusions.
| Cover | Man aged 40 | Woman aged 40 |
|---|---|---|
| $500,000 life | $40 to $50 | $35 to $40 |
| $1,000,000 life | $70 to $80 | $50 to $70 |
Your own premium depends on underwriting, and a contractor in a higher-risk trade may be rated differently. Chubb Life says it will usually rate a person with two occupations on the more hazardous one. See the Premium Index methodology and the life insurance rate pages for the method.
How much life cover does a contractor need?
Work from the claimants, not from a rule of thumb:
- Add the debts that would fall on someone else: home loan, personal guarantees and credit cards.
- Add the living costs your dependants would need while they adjust, for the number of years you choose.
- Add final costs. FDANZ's 2026 report gives an average of $11,700 for a full funeral with cremation for 50 guests (use the funeral cost calculator for your own estimate).
- Subtract savings, other cover and assets you would sell.
- Treat business debts and shareholder obligations as a separate total, with their own cover.
Our life insurance needs guide walks through the same method.
How do income protection and trauma cover fit alongside life cover?
They pay for different events. Fidelity Life describes trauma cover as a lump sum if the life insured suffers a defined serious illness or condition, total and permanent disability (TPD) as a lump sum if you are totally and permanently disabled and unlikely to ever work again, and income protection as a monthly benefit towards replacement income when you cannot work. Life cover pays on death; Quick Life and Chubb Life's Assurance Extra also pay on a terminal illness expected to cause death within 12 months. For the income side, read income protection for the self-employed and the self-employed insurance checklist. ACC levies are a separate cost; see ACC levies for the self-employed.
Who we are and how we are paid
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 a Momentum policy through our link; see how we are paid and our disclosure. Momentum Life Limited has an A.M. Best financial strength rating of B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026. Momentum's own table places B in its "Vulnerable" range, and the rating is not a recommendation; see Momentum's financial strength page. The buttons on this page open Momentum's online application, one option among many. A licensed adviser can compare insurers on your own details.
Compared: Chubb Life, Fidelity Life and Momentum Life's Quick Life, on how each treats self-employed applicants, as at 20 October 2026, from each insurer's own documents. Not every New Zealand insurer is included. This is one adviser team's reading, not a score. Written by the QuoteHub Editorial Team and reviewed by the QuoteHub Adviser Team; last reviewed 20 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need tax returns to get life insurance as a sole trader?
Not for personal life cover under $2.5 million at Chubb Life or Fidelity Life, according to their published guides. Tax returns and accounts are asked for on income protection and on business covers.
Can I get Quick Life if my income is irregular?
The Quick Life wording has no income or employment test. It does restrict the first 2 years for pre-existing conditions and suicide, and it excludes dangerous jobs and pastimes.
Can my company own my life policy?
The Quick Life wording names the life insured and, with consent, a parent or sibling as possible owners, not a company or trust. Other insurers' ownership rules differ, so ask an adviser before setting up cover through a business.
Are the premiums tax deductible?
We do not give tax advice. Inland Revenue lists the cost of income protection as a claimable expense where the payout would be taxable, and lists no life or funeral premium; ask your accountant about your structure.
References
- Chubb Life: Essential Underwriting Guide (May 2025), retrieved 20 October 2026
- Fidelity Life: Underwriting guide (October 2025), retrieved 20 October 2026
- Momentum Life: Quick Life Insurance Policy Wording (November 2025), retrieved 17 October 2026
- Momentum Life: Financial strength, retrieved 20 October 2026
- Inland Revenue: QB 18/03 employer-owned term life policies, retrieved 20 October 2026
- Inland Revenue: Non-business expenses, retrieved 20 October 2026
- FDANZ: 2026 New Zealand Funeral Industry Trends Report (PDF), retrieved 20 October 2026
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Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Free Will.