Fidelity Life funeral cover and bereavement benefits
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.
Fidelity Life does not sell a standalone funeral insurance policy that we could find. Its adviser-sold life cover includes an early payout of up to $25,000 "to cover funeral costs", with the rest paid later as a lump sum. You get that feature only by being accepted for life cover, which means answering health questions and passing the insurer's assessment.
What Fidelity Life sells, and what it does not
Fidelity Life Assurance Company Limited is a New Zealand life insurer, established in 1973, and A.M. Best has rated it A- (Excellent) since December 1996 (Fidelity Life: Financial strength). It writes life cover and other personal risk cover through advisers. Neither its home page nor its life cover page lists a funeral insurance or guaranteed-acceptance product, which we checked on 20 October 2026. Our Fidelity Life review and the Fidelity Life page cover the company in full.
One change is pending. On 3 September 2026 Partners Group Holdings signed to buy 100% of Fidelity Life, with completion scheduled for March to July 2027 and subject to regulatory approval (Daiichi Life Group notice). Brand and product plans after completion have not been announced.
The funeral benefit, in plain terms
Fidelity's life cover page says: "We pay an early pay-out of up to $25,000 to cover funeral costs – and the rest is paid out as a lump sum" (Fidelity Life: Life cover). Entry age is 16 to 75 with no expiry age, and premiums are either "age-rated payments fixed for one year at a time" or level payments "fixed for the life of the policy".
The exact terms sit in each product's wording. The Fidelity LifeProtect Life Cover wording, effective from 22 September 2026, is a good example of how the feature is built. Its Bereavement Benefit says that if the insured person dies, you may apply for an immediate advance payment of $25,000. If the sum insured is $25,000 or less, Fidelity pays it in full. The sum insured then reduces by the amount advanced (Fidelity Life: LifeProtect Life Cover wording).
So it is an advance, not extra money. As an illustration of the arithmetic only: on a $200,000 sum insured, a $25,000 advance leaves $175,000 to pay later. Other Fidelity products and older policies may differ, so check the wording for the one you hold.
Other funeral-related benefits in the same wording
The same LifeProtect wording lists several smaller benefits near a death. These are separate from the advance, and each has its own conditions:
| Benefit | What the wording says |
|---|---|
| Child's Funeral Assistance | Reimburses direct funeral costs if a child aged 2 to 20 dies, up to $15,000 for a child aged 10 to 20, with a lower cap for a younger child; not deducted from the parent's sum insured |
| Repatriation | Reimburses the direct cost of returning a body to New Zealand or a home country, up to the lesser of the cost, 10% of the sum insured or $20,000; it does not cover the funeral, cremation or burial itself |
| Grief Counselling | Up to $2,500 towards counselling from an accredited counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist, when a lump sum is paid |
| Financial planning and legal advice | Up to $2,500 towards a documented financial plan or legal advice, claimed within 12 months |
These are features of one wording, not promises about every Fidelity policy.
How a claim starts
The wording asks you to notify Fidelity "immediately or as soon as practically possible" and says Fidelity will advise what it needs to assess the claim. You may need to complete claim forms and supply medical evidence. The wording does not state a payment time or list required documents for the advance, so we cannot give a turnaround. Fidelity's claims page lists 0800 88 22 88 (Fidelity Life: Claims). Ask the adviser who arranged the policy, or Fidelity, what it will need before you are in that position.
Who can use it
Only someone who has been accepted for Fidelity life cover. The insurer assesses the application, may ask for medical evidence, and can add special terms or decline. Fidelity's life cover page mentions "health and financial checks" for increases up to age 75. A person with a serious health history may be loaded, excluded or declined, and the advance then does not exist. No funeral feature of an underwritten policy is guaranteed for you before the insurer has decided.
A word on older Fidelity funeral policies
In 2020, RNZ reported on an 85-year-old woman who had paid $18,900 over 17 years for two $5,000 Fidelity policies, about $9,000 more than the insurer would pay. Fidelity told Consumer NZ that the policy was working as it should, and told RNZ it was "an old product" that pools risk across customers; Consumer NZ called funeral insurance poor value (RNZ, 23 July 2020). The article does not say whether that product is closed to new buyers, and we found no funeral product on Fidelity's current pages. If you hold an older policy, read its schedule and ask what it costs to keep.
Using life cover for funeral costs: the trade-offs
| Underwritten life cover with an advance | Guaranteed-acceptance funeral insurance | |
|---|---|---|
| Health questions | Yes; may be loaded or declined | None |
| Amount | Often much larger than a funeral | Fixed small amounts, such as Momentum's $3,000 to $30,000 |
| Early funeral money | A fast advance of up to $25,000 in Fidelity's case | The benefit itself, once a claim is approved |
| Early-years limits | Normal exclusions and non-disclosure rules | Momentum: first 24 months pay only for accidental death |
| Premiums | Stepped or level, set by age, health and amount | Level in Momentum's case, to the 89th birthday |
Underwritten cover suits people who are healthy and want cover for a family's wider needs, such as debts and income, with funeral money as one part. Premiums buy that wider cover, so it can cost more than a small funeral policy. If you only want to fund a funeral, compare it with funeral insurance versus life insurance and with saving or a prepaid plan (funeral insurance versus prepaid funerals).
If health questions are the barrier
The trade with guaranteed-acceptance funeral insurance is a waiting period in place of health questions. With Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance (issued by Momentum Life Limited), a New Zealander aged 40 to 75 can choose $3,000 to $30,000 without answering health questions, but for the first 24 months only an accidental death pays and any other death returns that person's premiums. It has no terminal illness benefit. The premiums can add up to more than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover a whole funeral. A.M. Best rates Momentum B (Fair); Momentum's financial strength page shows its own table, which puts B in the "Vulnerable" band. The plan is described on the Momentum Life Funeral Cover page, and the wider market is on the guaranteed acceptance hub. Over 75, Momentum does not accept new applicants.
Where to get advice
The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application, which is one option, not the only one. A licensed adviser can look at Fidelity's underwritten cover and guaranteed-acceptance funeral cover side by side on your own health and budget. 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.
Adviser's view
Fidelity Life's funeral help is a feature of its underwritten life cover, not a funeral policy. It can release up to $25,000 early, but you must be accepted for life cover first, the advance comes out of your sum insured, and the premiums buy far more cover than funeral money alone. If health questions are a barrier, a guaranteed-acceptance funeral policy is a different tool with its own limits.
Talk to a licensed adviser about funeral cover · free, no obligation.
Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Fidelity Life Funeral Cover NZ: Benefits Explained. www.quotehub.co.nz/funeral-insurance/fidelity-life-funeral-insurance-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.
References
- Fidelity Life: Life cover
- Fidelity Life: LifeProtect Life Cover wording, effective 22 September 2026 (PDF)
- Fidelity Life: Claims
- Fidelity Life: Financial strength
- Daiichi Life Group: notice of the Fidelity Life acquisition, 3 September 2026 (PDF)
- RNZ: Consumer NZ slams funeral insurance firms over prices, 23 July 2020
- Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording (PDF, issue date 17 August 2023)
- Momentum Life: Financial strength
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