OneChoice

A Greenstone-promoted brand underwritten by Pinnacle Life: guaranteed acceptance from 16 to 70, no medical exam, up to $2 million.

Reviewed by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). Updated 17 September 2026.

Who owns and underwrites OneChoice

QuoteHub’s read. OneChoice is a Greenstone-promoted brand issued by Pinnacle Life, and the two share a parent: guaranteed acceptance from 16 to 70 with up to $2 million of life cover that steps down with age, but the guarantee is acceptance, not terms, since a 12-month accident-only period or a $100,000 cap can still be applied.

OneChoice reviewed

Reviewed and updated 17 September 2026 by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699), for the QuoteHub adviser team. The tables above are register records; this section is our read of them.

Verdict (2026)

OneChoice is a legitimate, simply structured product issued by a licensed New Zealand insurer, and it suits people who want straightforward cover arranged over the phone without medical tests. The trade-offs are structural rather than hidden. The insurer holding your risk carries a lower A.M. Best grade than several advised insurers. The sales channel can only discuss OneChoice products. The optional extras accelerate your life cover rather than adding to it. The life product uses stepped premiums that rise as you age. That makes it a specific product, not a bad one.

Pros and cons

Who is actually behind OneChoice

Three companies stand behind a OneChoice policy, doing different jobs. OneChoice is a trading name of Greenstone Financial Services NZ Limited, which distributes and promotes the products. The insurance is issued by Pinnacle Life Limited, a New Zealand insurer licensed by the Reserve Bank. Source: OneChoice Financial Advice Disclosure Statement, prepared 3 June 2024, read 15 August 2026.

The policy document is blunt about the consequence. Your contract is with Pinnacle Life, and "Greenstone is not a party to this contract and does not guarantee the obligations of Pinnacle Life". Source: OneChoice Life Insurance Policy Document, issue date 24 October 2021, read 15 August 2026.

OneChoice's marketing says the product is backed by a global reinsurer. That describes reinsurance, not who insures you. Pinnacle Life's about page names its reinsurer, which is a normal risk-spreading arrangement, and the reinsurer's strength is not your insurer's rating. Source: pinnaclelife.co.nz/about-us, read 15 August 2026.

The rating that applies to your policy is Pinnacle Life's: B+ (Good) from A.M. Best, with a bbb- issuer credit rating on stable outlook, at the 15 April 2026 affirmation, read 15 August 2026, and confirmed on the RBNZ register. On the agency's own scale, B+ is the "Good" band, below the "Excellent" band (A and A-) where Partners Life, Chubb Life and Fidelity Life sit on the same scale. Ratings change, so re-check at purchase.

The same structure sits behind NZ Seniors. Both brands are Pinnacle-issued and Greenstone-distributed, per each brand's own website footer, read 15 August 2026. Our Pinnacle Life review covers the insurer itself.

What the OneChoice life policy actually covers

The life product is open to New Zealand residents aged 16 to 70, with cover from $100,000 up to $2 million depending on age and underwriting outcome. Source: OneChoice life insurance page, read 15 August 2026. The policy document caps the maximum benefit by age when cover starts.

Source: OneChoice Life Insurance Policy Document, issue date 24 October 2021, read 15 August 2026. From the same document:

• Death by any cause is covered, except death from intentional self-inflicted injury in the first 13 months of the policy, or of any increase.
• Terminal illness pays early on diagnosis of a life expectancy of 12 months or less.
• A $10,000 funeral advance can be paid quickly on death. It is an advance of the benefit, not an extra, so the final payout reduces by $10,000.
• Special terms are possible. Depending on your answers, an accident-only period covering the first 12 months, or a "maximum Policy Term" variant capping the benefit at $100,000, can apply. Either appears in your Policy Schedule, so read it.

Two optional extras exist: Serious Illness cover for four defined conditions, being heart attack, cancer, stroke and coronary artery bypass, and Total and Permanent Disability cover. The policy document caps Serious Illness at the lesser of $500,000 or 50% of the life benefit, and TPD at up to $1 million at ages 16 to 44, falling in each older age band. Source: OneChoice life insurance page, read 15 August 2026.

The detail that matters is that both are accelerated benefits, not standalone cover. The policy document states that any Serious Illness or TPD payment reduces the life benefit by the amount paid. Both options end at the policy anniversary after your 65th birthday. The Serious Illness option carries a three-month qualifying period for newly apparent conditions, and a number of cancers are excluded from the cancer definition. Advised policies commonly offer trauma and TPD as standalone cover that pays without reducing your life benefit. Understand that structural difference before comparing anything else.

The underwriting and pricing trade-offs

OneChoice's application is deliberately simple, with no medical exams or blood tests and health and lifestyle questions asked over the phone. Source: OneChoice life insurance page, read 15 August 2026. That is genuinely faster than fully underwritten cover, but it does not remove underwriting. It moves the underwriting into the questions you answer, and those answers determine how a claim is assessed later. Simplified questions are not a reason to give simplified answers.

One structural fact deserves plain statement, because OneChoice's funeral advertising emphasises level pricing. The life product uses stepped premiums, which "will increase each year as risk increases with you aging". Source: OneChoice Life Insurance Policy Document, read 15 August 2026. We publish no premium figures, but the structure itself is something to weigh over decades, not months.

The funeral product is a different design again: guaranteed acceptance at ages 18 to 79, accidental-only cover in the first 12 months, and OneChoice's own footnote that the total paid over a policy's life can exceed the cover amount, read 15 August 2026.

What the sales channel can and cannot tell you

Greenstone's own disclosure statement is unusually clear about the limits of its advice. Its staff "can provide financial advice only on whether the insurance products we offer may be suitable for you", cannot advise on other providers' products, and "will not compare the insurance products we offer with any other insurance products or services in the market". Source: OneChoice Financial Advice Disclosure Statement, prepared 3 June 2024, read 15 August 2026.

The same document discloses the economics. Pinnacle Life pays Greenstone a commission of up to 76.63% of each premium, level for the life of the policy, with staff performance commission capped at 5% of first-year premiums. Greenstone belongs to the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman scheme for disputes.

This is a lawful, disclosed model, and commission disclosure applies equally to advised channels, including the insurers QuoteHub's advisers work with. The narrow point is that a OneChoice call is a distribution conversation about one issuer's products, not a survey of the market. If you have already decided what you need, that may be enough. If not, the comparison work is yours to do before the call.

What the reviews measure

OneChoice displays a high published service score on its own site from a large number of customer reviews, read 15 August 2026. Read what those reviews measure. They are overwhelmingly about the purchase and service experience. That is a real signal about a real thing, but it is not evidence about claims outcomes, which is the moment life insurance exists for.

On claims, the honest position is a gap. No published claims statistics exist for the OneChoice-branded life product. The issuer, Pinnacle Life, publishes that it has paid 94.4% of claims made on its policies as at 25 May 2026, read 15 August 2026. That is an issuer-wide figure with no published denominator, stated here exactly as the insurer publishes it.

Exclusions and things to note

Every point below comes from the OneChoice policy document or a named OneChoice page, with the date we read it. The policy wording governs any claim, not this page.

• Intentional self-inflicted injury is excluded for the first 13 months, both of the policy and of any increase in cover. Source: Policy Document, read 15 August 2026.
• Special terms can change the product materially. Underwriting can apply an accident-only period for the first 12 months, or a variant capping the benefit at $100,000. Either appears in your Policy Schedule. Source: Policy Document, read 15 August 2026.
• Serious Illness and TPD payments reduce your life cover by the amount paid, because both are accelerated benefits rather than standalone cover. Source: Policy Document, read 15 August 2026.
• Both options end at the policy anniversary after your 65th birthday. Source: Policy Document, read 15 August 2026.
• Serious Illness has a three-month qualifying period for newly apparent conditions, and a number of cancers are excluded from the cancer definition. Source: Policy Document, read 15 August 2026.
• The life benefit is capped by your age when cover starts. Anyone aged 60 to 70 is limited to $500,000. Source: Policy Document, read 15 August 2026.
• The life product uses stepped premiums, which the wording says increase each year as risk increases with age. Source: Policy Document, read 15 August 2026.
• The funeral product is accidental-only for the first 12 months, and OneChoice's own footnote states the total paid over a policy's life can exceed the cover amount. Source: OneChoice funeral insurance, read 15 August 2026.

Where Momentum's Quick Life fits beside OneChoice

If the attraction of OneChoice is cover without medicals, the Momentum Life product to set beside it is Quick Life, which asks no health questions at application (ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000 per life at the start). The trade is a two-year restriction: pre-existing conditions and suicide are excluded for the first 2 years. OneChoice covers death by any cause from acceptance, apart from the 13-month self-inflicted injury exclusion and any special terms on your schedule, but you must pass its phone questions first. Momentum Life Limited is rated B (Fair) by A.M. Best, which Momentum's own table places in its "Vulnerable" range (Momentum Life: Financial strength), one band below Pinnacle Life's B+ (Good). QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission, so read this as general information. The side-by-side is in Momentum vs OneChoice, and the Quick Life facts are on our Quick Life page. Whether you have been declined elsewhere is covered in life insurance after a decline.

What we could not verify

We record gaps rather than guessing. As at 15 August 2026: no published claims statistics exist for the OneChoice-branded life product specifically; the OneChoice website reproduces Pinnacle Life's grade without an effective date, and the 15 April 2026 date comes from Pinnacle's own financial-strength page; and Greenstone's ultimate group ownership is not stated in the documents we reviewed. Premium rates are deliberately absent, because pricing is personal to your age, health and cover, and this site does not publish premium figures.

The current policy document on onechoice.co.nz supersedes this page wherever they differ. Neither OneChoice, Greenstone nor Pinnacle Life is on QuoteHub's advice panel, and there is no commercial relationship behind this page. This article is general information, not personalised financial advice. 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).

Disclaimer: This article is general market information only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. QuoteHub has no commercial relationship with OneChoice, Greenstone or Pinnacle Life. 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. Insurance products are subject to underwriting, and terms, conditions, exclusions and stand-down periods apply. Features described were current at the dates above and are subject to change, so always check the current policy documents.

References

• OneChoice, Life Insurance product page, read 15 August 2026 (eligibility ages 16 to 70, cover $100,000 to $2 million, $10,000 funeral advance, terminal illness benefit, optional Serious Illness and TPD cover)
• OneChoice, Life Insurance Policy Document, issue date 24 October 2021, read 15 August 2026 (issuer structure, exclusions, benefit caps by age, accelerated add-ons, stepped premiums, special terms)
• OneChoice, Financial Advice Disclosure Statement, prepared 3 June 2024, read 15 August 2026 (Greenstone trading-name status, advice scope limits, commission of up to 76.63% of each premium, IFSO membership)
• OneChoice, Funeral Insurance product page, read 15 August 2026 (guaranteed acceptance ages 18 to 79, accidental-only first 12 months, level pricing footnote)
• Pinnacle Life, Our financial strength, read 15 August 2026 (B+ (Good) financial strength, bbb- issuer credit rating, stable outlook, at 15 April 2026)
• Pinnacle Life, About us, read 15 August 2026 (reinsurer named, RBNZ and FMA licence statements)
• Pinnacle Life, Life insurance page, read 15 August 2026 (94.4% of claims paid as at 25 May 2026)
• Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Register of licensed insurers, read 15 August 2026 (register of licensed insurers; page returned 403 on 20 Oct 2026)
• NZ Seniors, Funeral insurance, read 15 August 2026 (products issued by Pinnacle Life Limited, distributed and promoted by Greenstone Financial Services NZ Limited)
• Momentum Life, Financial strength, retrieved 20 October 2026 (B (Fair) rating and the "Vulnerable" label on Momentum's own table)
• Momentum Life, Quick Life Insurance Policy Wording (November 2025), retrieved 17 October 2026 (ages, cover range, two-year exclusion)

OneChoice at a glance

What OneChoice writes

Is OneChoice a fit for you?

The reasons to shortlist it, and the catches to check first. Every line below is read from a OneChoice document, linked with the date.

Check these before you choose

• Guaranteed acceptance, but cover shrinks with age. Everyone aged 16 to 70 is accepted for Life Insurance, but the amount of cover available depends on age: up to $2 million under 45, stepping down to $500,000 by age 60 to 70. (source, OneChoice Life Insurance Policy Document (PDF), read 16 September 2026)
• Funeral cover's 12-month wait. OneChoice Funeral Insurance only pays out for death from a cause other than an accident once the policy has been in force for 12 months. (source, OneChoice Funeral Insurance Policy Document (PDF), read 16 September 2026)
• Issuer and distributor share a parent. OneChoice policies are issued by Pinnacle Life Limited and distributed by Greenstone Financial Services NZ Limited; A.M. Best's April 2026 affirmation, on Pinnacle's own site, names Greenstone Holdco Pty Limited as Pinnacle Life's ultimate parent, so the issuer and the brand sit under the same group. (source, A.M. Best affirms credit ratings of Pinnacle Life Limited (media release PDF, 15 April 2026, pinnaclelife.co.nz), read 16 September 2026)

OneChoice could fit

If one or more of these look like your situation.

• Want life cover plus serious illness or disability protection. OneChoice Life Insurance can include optional Serious Illness Insurance or Total and Permanent Disability Insurance for applicants aged 16 to 59. (source, OneChoice Life Insurance Policy Document (PDF), read 16 September 2026)

Compare more carefully

If any of these apply, it is worth a closer look at the rest of the panel.

• Assuming guaranteed acceptance means no underwriting. OneChoice Life Insurance applications can still be accepted on special terms, including a 12-month accident-only period or a reduced $100,000 maximum benefit, depending on the underwriting outcome. (source, OneChoice Life Insurance Policy Document (PDF), read 16 September 2026)
• 13-month exclusion for self-inflicted death. No benefit is paid if death or terminal illness results from an intentional self-inflicted injury within 13 months of the policy starting, a cover increase, or reinstatement. (source, OneChoice Life Insurance Policy Document (PDF), read 16 September 2026)

Waiting periods, limits and ages

The numbers worth checking before you compare, read from OneChoice’s own documents.

Life Insurance: Up to $2,000,000, ages 16 to 70

Guaranteed-acceptance life cover for New Zealand residents aged 16 to 70, with the maximum benefit set by age band.

• New Zealand residents aged 16 to 70 can apply; no medical or blood test to apply.
• Maximum Life Insurance Benefit at the Commencement Date depends on age: $2,000,000 (ages 16-44), $1,500,000 (45-49), $1,000,000 (50-54), $750,000 (55-59), $500,000 (60-70).
• Some applications are accepted subject to special terms, which can include a 12-month Accident-only period and/or a reduced maximum benefit of $100,000 regardless of age.
• A $10,000 funeral benefit is automatically advanced from the Life Insurance Benefit on death.
• Free Interim Accidental Death Insurance applies for up to 30 days while an application is being assessed.
• Optional Serious Illness Insurance (ages 16-59): maximum benefit the lesser of $500,000 or 50% of the Life Insurance Benefit.
• Optional Total and Permanent Disability Insurance (ages 16-59): maximum benefit between $375,000 and $1,000,000 depending on age; cover ends at the policy anniversary after age 65.
• Premiums are stepped and increase each year based on age, benefit amount and other rating factors; premiums stay level once the policyowner turns 100.
• If special terms apply to an application: Some applicants are offered cover subject to special terms rather than standard terms., This can include an Accident-only period for the first 12 months from the Policy Acceptance Date, during which a benefit is only paid if death is a direct result of an accident., It can also include a maximum Benefit Amount of $100,000 regardless of age, and exclusion from the Serious Illness and Total and Permanent Disability options.
• No benefit is paid if death, or a terminal illness diagnosis, results from intentional self-inflicted injury within the first 13 months of the policy, a cover increase, or reinstatement.

Source: OneChoice Life Insurance Policy Document (PDF), issue date 24 October 2021, read 16 September 2026.

Funeral Insurance: Up to $30,000, ages 18 to 79

Guaranteed-acceptance funeral cover for New Zealand residents aged 18 to 79, with a 12-month wait before non-accidental death is covered.

• New Zealand residents aged 18 to 79 can apply, as a single plan or a joint plan with a partner; no medicals or blood tests needed.
• Death from any cause other than an accident, or a terminal illness diagnosis, is only covered from 12 months after the Acceptance Date (or reinstatement).
• Accidental death within 90 days of the accident is covered from day 1, and pays the Funeral Insurance Benefit plus an Accidental Death Benefit of two times that amount (three times the amount in total).
• An Accidental Serious Injury Benefit of three times the Funeral Insurance Benefit (up to $90,000) is payable for specified injuries within 12 months of the accident, up to the policy anniversary after the life insured's 75th birthday.
• Level premiums that stay consistent year on year, unless the cover changes or Pinnacle Life changes rates for all OneChoice Funeral Insurance policyowners.
• From age 85: premiums stop and 25% Bonus Cover is automatically added to the benefit.
• At age 100, the policy automatically pays out the Funeral Insurance Benefit plus Bonus Cover.
• Early Cash Out Option after age 85: pay out 75% of the benefit amount in force and end cover.
• How the funeral benefit builds: Months 0-12: benefit only payable for accidental death (within 90 days of the accident) or a specified accidental serious injury., From month 12: full benefit payable for death from any cause, or a terminal illness diagnosis., From age 85: 25% Bonus Cover added automatically and premiums stop., Age 100: policy automatically pays out the benefit plus Bonus Cover.
• No funeral benefit is payable for death from any cause other than an accident in the first 12 months after the policy starts or is reinstated.

Source: OneChoice Funeral Insurance Policy Document (PDF), read 16 September 2026.

What it costs

QuoteHub does not quote or place cover with OneChoice. Compare the insurers we do quote.

How OneChoice compares on financial strength

Financial strength is the one comparable published fact about an insurer. Every grade below is the insurer's own disclosure for the named licensed entity, linked and dated. A rating belongs to that entity, not to a brand or a product name.

The whole register, every insurer with its legal entity, owner, grade, effective date and source, is a dated dataset you can download: nz-insurer-financial-strength-2026-09-17.csv.

What OneChoice publishes

OneChoice does not publish a policy wording we can link from here. Ask for the wording before you apply: a brochure is not the contract.

Questions about OneChoice

Who is OneChoice?

A Greenstone-promoted brand underwritten by Pinnacle Life: guaranteed acceptance from 16 to 70, no medical exam, up to $2 million. The licensed entity behind the policies is Greenstone Financial Services NZ Limited (distributor/promoter).

Who owns OneChoice?

Greenstone Financial Services (AU group). Ownership matters because it decides who carries the risk behind a claim, not how a claim is assessed.

Is OneChoice financially strong?

Greenstone Financial Services NZ Limited (distributor/promoter) holds a B+ rating from A.M. Best, read from the insurer's own disclosure on 14 Aug 2026. A rating is an independent view of the ability to pay claims. It says nothing about what a policy covers or what it costs.

Can I buy OneChoice cover without an adviser?

Both routes exist. You can go direct, or use a licensed adviser who can put OneChoice next to the other insurers on the same set of details.

What does OneChoice cover?

Life cover, Trauma cover, TPD, Income protection, Funeral cover. What each of those pays, and what it excludes, is set by the policy wording rather than by the marketing page, which is why the documents are listed on this page with the date we read them.

Where can I read OneChoice's policy wording?

OneChoice does not publish a policy wording we can link. Ask for it before you apply: the wording is the contract.

Is OneChoice the cheapest?

No insurer is cheapest for everyone. Price depends on your age, your health and an underwriting decision that has not happened yet, so a comparison that leads with price compares the wrong thing. The published limits and definitions are what can be compared, and they are on this page.

How does OneChoice compare with the other insurers?

The financial strength table on this page puts every insurer we compare side by side, with the agency, the grade and the date. The benefit limits sit on the comparison page, and a licensed adviser can run your own details across the panel.

Does QuoteHub work with OneChoice?

No. OneChoice is not on the QuoteHub panel, so we cannot quote or arrange their cover. This page exists because the company is worth understanding if you hold one of their policies or are considering one, not because we sell it. The insurers we can place are published on the disclosure page.

What should I check before applying to OneChoice?

The stand-down period, the exclusions that apply to your own history, whether the premium is stepped or level, and what happens at renewal. All four are in the wording and none of them is in a price.

Does OneChoice cover pre-existing conditions?

Not automatically. An existing condition is either excluded, loaded or accepted on its own terms, and that decision is made at underwriting on your own history. What matters is what you disclose, because non-disclosure is the most common reason a claim is declined.

Are OneChoice premiums stepped or level?

Both structures exist in the New Zealand market. Stepped rises with your age each year and costs less at the start; level holds a rate to a chosen age and costs more early and less later. Which is cheaper over the life of the policy depends on how long you keep it, not on the insurer.

Can I move to OneChoice from another insurer?

Yes, but moving means new underwriting, so anything that has happened to your health since you took the old policy is assessed again. Never cancel the old cover until the new policy is issued and you have read what it excludes.

Does OneChoice pay claims quickly?

Claims-paid percentages and payment times are published by some New Zealand insurers and not by others, on different bases, which is why we publish the figure only where the insurer publishes it with a period. Where we hold one it appears on the review page for that insurer.

Is OneChoice regulated in New Zealand?

Yes. A licensed insurer is regulated by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and the advice about a policy is regulated separately by the Financial Markets Authority. Those are two different licences and both matter.

What happens to my OneChoice policy if the company is sold?

A policy is a contract with the licensed entity, so it continues on its terms if ownership changes. New Zealand has seen several life books change hands, and the practical effect for existing policyholders is usually the servicing brand rather than the cover.

How much does OneChoice cover cost?

We do not publish a price for an insurer on this page. A premium depends on age, health, smoking status, occupation, the cover amount and an underwriting decision, so a single figure would be wrong for almost everyone reading it.

Where can I get advice about OneChoice?

A licensed financial adviser can compare it against the rest of the panel on your own details and tell you where it suits you and where it does not. QuoteHub is a trading name of a licensed Financial Advice Provider and the review is free.

How do I make a complaint about OneChoice?

Raise it with the insurer first. If it is not resolved you can take it to the insurer's dispute resolution scheme at no cost. QuoteHub's own scheme is the Financial Dispute Resolution Service.

Where to go next

Reviews and comparisons

• The nine life insurers compared, in order
• Guaranteed acceptance life insurance
• Funeral insurance in NZ

Other life insurers

• Partners Life
• AIA New Zealand
• Chubb Life NZ
• Fidelity Life
• Asteron Life
• Momentum Life
• Southern Cross Life
• Pinnacle Life
• AA Life
• Resolution Life NZ
• NZ Seniors
• Booster Life
• Golden Insurance
• MAS

Health insurers

• Southern Cross Health Society
• nib nz
• UniMed
• Partners Life
• All health insurers

Compare and calculate

• Compare NZ insurers side by side
• Life insurance calculator
• Every insurer financial strength rating
• All calculators

Cover explained

• Life insurance in New Zealand
• Trauma cover in New Zealand
• Income protection in New Zealand
• Mortgage protection in New Zealand

What cover costs

• What life insurance costs in NZ
• Stepped versus level premiums
• The life insurers, in the order we would look at them
• Every published insurance number, with its source

Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Compare Insurance NZ.