Best Funeral Insurance in NZ: How the Options Compare

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.

There is no single best funeral insurance in New Zealand. Here is how the options differ on entry age, benefit range, early-death window, premium structure and published rating, as at 20 October 2026. Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance accepts ages 40 to 75 with benefits from $3,000 to $30,000; other providers suit other ages and priorities.

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

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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.

The criteria that matter

Five points separate these policies more than the name on them.

Entry age. Each insurer sets its own band, and a policy that fits at 60 may not exist at 80.
Benefit range. The amount you can choose, and whether the maximum is enough for the funeral you expect.
The early-death window. How long only an accident pays, and whether premiums come back if you die of something else inside it.
Premium structure. When premiums stop, whether they can change, and whether the total can pass the benefit.
Rating. The financial strength grade of the company that pays claims, named with its agency, because the same letter means different things at different agencies.

None of these is a score, and we do not add them up.

How the products compare

Details are from each provider's own pages and documents, retrieved 17 to 20 October 2026. Check the current terms before you apply.

	Momentum Life	NZ Seniors	OneChoice	AA Life	Chubb Life	Greenwich Life	Unity
Underwriter	Momentum Life Limited	Pinnacle Life	Pinnacle Life	Asteron Life	Chubb Life NZ	Autosure	Pinnacle Life
Entry age	40 to 75	18 to 79	18 to 79	50 to 79	50 to 80	30 to 70	18 to 75
Benefit	$3,000 to $30,000	$3,000 to $30,000	$3,000 to $30,000	$5,000 to $30,000	Up to $30,000	$5,000 to $20,000 (web)	$5,000 to $15,000 by cover type
Accident-only window	24 months	12 months	12 months	24 months	24 months	24 months	Applies, length not stated
Premiums refunded on other death in window	Yes, all	No	No	Yes, 100%	Yes, 100%	Yes, 100%	Not stated
Accidental death pays	Triple	Triple	Triple	Double	Sum insured	Not found	Not stated
Premiums stop	89th birthday	85	85	Anniversary after 90th birthday	At claim, at 90, or entering long-term care	When total paid equals the benefit	Not stated
Terminal illness	None	Yes (12 months or less to live)	Yes	After 24 months	None found	None found	Not stated
Rating	A.M. Best B (Fair)	A.M. Best B+ (Good), via Pinnacle	Same	Fitch A+ (Strong), as AA prints it	A.M. Best A (Excellent)	A.M. Best B++ (Good), Autosure	A.M. Best B+ (Good), via Pinnacle
Published price	None	None	None	From $14.28 a week for $10,000, one stated profile	None	None	None

Ratings are the underwriter's. Pinnacle's B+ (Good) was affirmed on 15 April 2026 and Autosure's B++ (Good) on 10 September 2026; Autosure's funeral page does not print a rating. Momentum's B (Fair) was affirmed on 11 February 2026, and its own table groups it in the "Vulnerable" range; see its financial strength page. Fitch and A.M. Best use different scales, and we found no source that converts one to the other, so we do not compare across them. A rating is an opinion of an insurer's ability to pay claims, not a recommendation.

Each option on the facts

Momentum Life Funeral Insurance. Ages 40 to 75, $3,000 to $30,000, triple payout for accidental death. The first 24 months pay only for accidental death within 90 days of the accident; any other death returns all premiums for that person. Premiums are fixed each year to the 89th birthday, then stop, but can change for everyone on the plan on 30 days' notice. No terminal illness benefit. Details are on the Momentum Life Funeral Cover page.

NZ Seniors and OneChoice. Two brands of one insurer, Pinnacle Life, for ages 18 to 79. The accident-only window is 12 months, shorter than Momentum's, but OneChoice says you cannot get a refund of premiums after the cooling-off period. Both pay a terminal illness benefit. The sellers are paid commission: Pinnacle pays Greenstone Financial Services up to 62% of each premium on NZ Seniors and up to 76.63% on OneChoice, according to their disclosures. See NZ Seniors funeral insurance.

AA Life Funeral Cover. Ages 50 to 79, underwritten by Asteron Life, with a published price example and a 5% AA Member discount. Accident pays double, and terminal illness is covered after 24 months. See AA funeral insurance.

Chubb Life Funeral Cover. Ages 50 to 80, the highest entry age on this list. Accidental death is covered immediately, and 100% of premiums are refunded for another cause in the first 24 months. We found no terminal illness benefit. See Chubb funeral insurance.

Greenwich Life, The Funeral Plan. Ages 30 to 70, $5,000 to $20,000. Premiums stop once the total paid equals the benefit, which is the only plan here where total premiums cannot pass the benefit. The trade-off is the lower maximum and the 70-year entry limit.

Unity. Ages 18 to 75, four benefit levels. Its page does not state the waiting period length, price or stop age, and we have not read the policy document, so we cannot compare it fully.

Which options exist at your age

Your age	Providers above that accept you
18 to 29	NZ Seniors, OneChoice, Unity
30 to 39	The above, plus Greenwich Life
40 to 49	The above, plus Momentum Life
50 to 70	All seven
71 to 75	All except Greenwich Life
76 to 79	NZ Seniors, OneChoice, AA Life, Chubb Life
80	Chubb Life
Over 80	None on this list

Momentum's Funeral Insurance does not accept new applicants over 75. See funeral insurance age limits for more.

What the table cannot tell you

Price. Only AA publishes one, and for a single profile. A fair comparison needs quotes from each insurer for the same age, amount and payment method. QuoteHub does not publish an exact premium for any insurer. Our cost guide and cheapest funeral insurance page explain why.
Claims experience. Momentum publishes no claims statistics, and insurers define payout percentages differently, so we do not rank on them.
Reviews. Review scores on provider pages are self-published, and we do not repeat them.
Total cost against benefit. For every product here, premiums over a long life can add up to more than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover a whole funeral. FDANZ's 2026 report puts a full funeral with 50 guests at $11,700 for a cremation and $14,300 for a burial (FDANZ, 2026 New Zealand Funeral Industry Trends Report).

If funeral insurance may not be the right tool

If you can answer health questions, fully underwritten life cover through a licensed adviser can offer more cover, and it usually costs less if you are accepted on standard terms. Savings, a prepaid plan and the Work and Income Funeral Grant of up to $2,697.43 are other routes, and the grant can be affected by prepaid funeral cover (Work and Income: Funeral Grant). The wider comparison is in our funeral insurance comparison.

Where to get advice

The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application, one option of the seven above. 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. A licensed adviser can compare these options on your own details. 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.