Asteron Life funeral cover and related policy benefits

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed quarterly, when the underlying data is restated.

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.

Asteron Life does list a Funeral Insurance product, for people aged 50 to 79, and its Life Cover includes a funeral advancement of "$15,000 or $25,000", paid from your life cover once a claim is accepted. They are separate things. Asteron also underwrites AA Life Funeral Cover, which AA sells. This is based on Asteron's pages and brochure, read 20 October 2026.

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Funeral cover: Only accidental death is covered for the first 2 years. Total premiums can add up to more than the cover, and it may not meet the whole cost of a funeral.

Life cover: Conditions you already have aren't covered for the first 2 years (premiums refunded instead). Suicide isn't covered for the first 2 years, and a few conditions can be excluded permanently.

Insurer: Momentum Life Limited. Financial strength rating B (Fair) from AM Best, affirmed 11 February 2026; B ratings sit in AM Best's 'vulnerable' range. The rating scale is available for inspection at every Momentum Life office in New Zealand. What this means

Already have cover? Keep it. New cover won't pay for a condition you already have in its first 2 years.

Opens Momentum Life's online application; its guidance only covers eligibility. QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy. General information, not advice.

That makes "Asteron funeral cover" a search with three answers. The first is a stand-alone funeral policy. The second is a funeral advance built into life insurance, which is an early part-payment of a bigger sum. The third is the policy AA sells under its own name, with Asteron as the insurer. Reading them as one product is the usual mistake. A funeral advance does not add to a death benefit, and it does not exist without life cover. Funeral Insurance exists on its own, and what it pays is set when you take it out. Below is what each one does, and where Asteron's own pages stop giving detail.

The three Asteron funeral things

	Funeral Insurance	Life Cover funeral advancement	AA Life Funeral Cover
What it is	A separate policy	A clause in life cover	A funeral policy sold by AA
Who it is for	A person aged 50 to 79 (yours or someone else's)	Anyone who holds Asteron life cover	A person aged 50 to 79
Health information	"Detailed medical information" not needed, per Asteron	Life cover is underwritten	"Guaranteed acceptance with no medical questions", per AA
What it pays	The sum insured you chose	$15,000 or $25,000, paid early from the life cover	$5,000 to $30,000
Adds to the total paid	Yes, it is the benefit	No, it is an advance	Yes, it is the benefit

Sources: Asteron: Funeral insurance, Asteron Life Cover brochure (RP321, 09/24) and AA Life: Funeral cover. For the AA product see our AA funeral insurance page.

Asteron's Funeral Insurance, as its page describes it

Asteron's own page says that funeral insurance helps with the costs when the insured person dies or, if eligible, is diagnosed with a terminal illness. It adds that:

You can take cover for yourself or another person aged 50 to 79 who meets the eligibility criteria. The page does not define the criteria.
"You don't need to provide us with detailed medical information." The page does not use the words "guaranteed acceptance" for this product, and we do not either.
Premiums are level, so they stay the same as you age unless you change the sum insured.
If you stop paying or cancel, "there will be no refund of premiums already paid" and you cannot claim.
It is "not an investment or savings product", and a long life may mean paying more in premiums than the sum insured.
Some policies stop needing premiums after a certain age or duration, and Asteron will tell you when.
In hardship you may be able to pause premiums for up to six months, depending on the policy.

The page does not say how much you can insure for, how long the stand-down period is, or what is excluded. It points to the policy wording for those. An Asteron funeral policy wording dated 15 November 2024, which we read in connection with AA Life Funeral Cover on 17 October 2026, sets $30,000 as the most Asteron will pay on one person across all its funeral policies, and says the policy runs on a one-year renewable term. We have not confirmed that it is the wording for Asteron's own Funeral Insurance. If you are weighing Asteron against another insurer, get that wording first. You can reach Asteron on 0800 737 101.

The funeral advance inside Life Cover

Asteron's Life Cover brochure (reference RP321, September 2024) lists two funeral-related benefits.

Funeral advancement. "We will make an advance payment of $15,000 or $25,000 from your Life Cover when a life insurance claim is accepted." The brochure says this pays for immediate expenses such as a funeral. The brochure does not say what decides $15,000 versus $25,000.
Funeral conversion. You can choose to convert up to $30,000 of your Life Cover to a level-premium Funeral benefit, at any time if you have held the cover for more than 10 years and are 65 or older.

Asteron's life insurance page repeats both: it will make an advance payment from your Life Cover once a claim is accepted, and it offers a funeral conversion benefit (Asteron: Life insurance). The point to take from the wording is "from your Life Cover". The advance is part of the sum insured, so the remaining death benefit is lower by that amount. That is the check to make before cancelling life cover on the idea that a funeral benefit will make up for it.

How the early-payment clauses differ

Early payments are common in life cover, and the details differ by insurer. All three below are from the insurers' own documents.

Insurer	Amount	When it is paid	Effect on the death benefit
Asteron Life	$15,000 or $25,000	When a claim is accepted	Advance from Life Cover
AIA New Zealand	Lower of cover, $15,000 (sole owner) or $25,000 (surviving owner)	On written notice of death	Life cover reduced by the amount paid
Partners Life	Lesser of $25,000 or the sum insured	Immediately on notification of death	An advance of "some or all" of the sum insured

AIA is covered on our AIA page; Partners Life's figure is from its Life Cover overview (document marked PLJP_OVERVIEW_LIFE COVER_V03_1025).

Who is behind Asteron

Asteron Life Limited's Fitch Australia rating is A+ (Strong), as Asteron prints it, with no date on the page (Asteron: Financial strength). Suncorp completed the sale of its New Zealand business to Resolution Life Australasia on 3 February 2025 (Suncorp NZ). Asteron's site says that from 2027, subject to regulatory approval, Asteron Life and Resolution Life New Zealand will become Acenda Life (Asteron: Acenda Life). Nothing on that page says what happens to AA Life, so we do not guess.

What to check before you decide

Which product you have. The schedule names it. A funeral advance and a funeral policy are not interchangeable.
The advance rule. Ask what decides $15,000 versus $25,000, and whether the advance is deducted from the cover.
The stand-down. For Funeral Insurance, find the wording on early death and what happens to premiums in that period.
Premiums against the benefit. Over a long life they can add up to more than the benefit.
Whether you need it. If you can answer health questions, other life cover may do more for the money. Our page on funeral insurance versus life insurance sets this out.

Where Momentum Life's funeral insurance fits

Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance (Momentum Life Limited, FSP472286) sits next to Asteron's on age and structure. Momentum accepts New Zealanders aged 40 to 75 without health questions, with a benefit of $3,000 to $30,000. For the first 24 months only an accidental death within 90 days of the accident is paid (three times the benefit); any other death in that window pays nothing and all premiums for that person are refunded, and after 24 months any cause is paid. Premiums are level until the 89th birthday and can change for everyone on the plan with 30 days' notice. It has no terminal illness benefit, whereas Asteron's page mentions one where eligible. Total premiums can exceed the benefit, and the benefit may not cover a whole funeral. Momentum does not take new applicants over 75, so it does not accept anyone aged 76 to 79, whom Asteron's product would accept. For the guaranteed-acceptance field see our guaranteed acceptance hub.

Momentum Life's A.M. Best rating is B (Fair), which Momentum's own table places in its "Vulnerable" range; see its financial strength page. The full terms are on the Momentum Life Funeral Cover page.

Where to get advice

The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application, one option among several. A licensed adviser can compare Asteron's funeral products with others on your details. QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy a Momentum policy; see how we are paid. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). Back to the funeral insurance hub, or compare the options.

Get a quote and apply online today

See your price in about a minute, then apply online with Momentum Life. Guaranteed acceptance, no health questions, no medical exams.

Funeral cover See your price Ages 40–75 · $3k–$30k Life cover See your price Ages 18–65 · $50k–$300k

Want more cover or have questions? Talk to an adviser

Funeral cover: Only accidental death is covered for the first 2 years. Total premiums can add up to more than the cover, and it may not meet the whole cost of a funeral.

Already have cover? Keep it. New cover won't pay for a condition you already have in its first 2 years.

Adviser's view

Asteron Life does list Funeral Insurance, for ages 50 to 79, and its Life Cover has a funeral advance of $15,000 or $25,000 that comes out of the sum insured. They are different products with different rules. Asteron's page leaves out the sum insured and the stand-down period for Funeral Insurance, so read the policy wording before you rely on it.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Asteron Funeral Cover NZ: Policy Benefit Checks. www.quotehub.co.nz/funeral-insurance/asteron-funeral-insurance-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

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