Comparing funeral and life cover at age 65

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.

At 65 you can apply for Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance, which accepts new applicants aged 40 to 75, and for Quick Life, which accepts 18 to 65. Funeral Insurance pays $3,000 to $30,000 with level premiums to age 89. Quick Life pays $50,000 to $300,000 with premiums that rise each year until 75, then stay fixed. Quick Life excludes pre-existing conditions and suicide for its first two years.

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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.

Why 65 is a decision point

Age 65 is the last entry age for Quick Life and sits ten years below the last entry age for Funeral Insurance. That makes it the age at which a person can still compare the two products side by side. At 66 only Funeral Insurance, of these two products, is open to a new Momentum applicant. Both are guaranteed acceptance products: there are no health questions or medicals, and the cost of that is a window at the start in which the cover is restricted. They are not alternatives for the same job. Funeral Insurance is designed to put a modest, fixed sum in the hands of whoever arranges a funeral. Quick Life is life cover that could also fund a funeral, a debt or a gift, but its premiums generally rise as you age. The facts below come from the two policy wordings (Funeral Insurance wording, 17 August 2023; Quick Life wording, November 2025).

Side by side at age 65

	Funeral Insurance	Quick Life
Entry age	40 to 75	18 to 65
Amount	$3,000 to $30,000	$50,000 to $300,000, rising 3% a year to 75 or a $500,000 cap per person
Accidental death	Pays 3 times the benefit, from day one	Covered from day one
First window	24 months: accidental death only (within 90 days of the accident); any other death pays nothing and all premiums for that person are refunded	2 years: accidental death and new conditions covered; pre-existing conditions and suicide excluded
After the window	Death from any cause	Death from any cause, including pre-existing conditions, except a few conditions that can be permanently excluded in the policy schedule
Premiums	Level each year until the 89th birthday, then none; can change for everyone on the offer (tax law or claims experience) on 30 days' notice	Stepped: recalculated each year and generally rising, then fixed from 75 for life
Terminal illness	No benefit	Pays if expected to lead to death within 12 months
Always excluded	None listed	Alcohol or drug effects, war, terrorism, criminal activity, listed dangerous jobs or pastimes
At 75	Last entry age; premiums continue to 89	$20,000 of the benefit becomes free: elect a free $20,000 funeral benefit or continue Quick Life with the free component
Free look	30 days from the Acceptance Date	30 days from policy start
Work visa rule	12 months continuously in NZ	6 months or more in NZ

Total premiums can exceed the benefit on both, and Momentum's wording for Funeral Insurance says the benefit "may not cover the cost of a Life Insured's funeral".

How Funeral Insurance works at 65

You choose a benefit of $3,000 to $30,000. For the first 24 months, if the insured dies from anything other than an accident, nothing is paid and every premium for that person is refunded. After that the benefit is paid for death from any cause. Cover continues for life, premiums stop at 89, and for a 65-year-old that is 24 years of payments. There is no terminal illness benefit, and no pre-existing-condition or separate suicide clause: the 24-month window is the only early restriction. Details are on the Momentum Life Funeral Cover page.

How Quick Life works at 65

Quick Life is automatically accepted for ages 18 to 65, and the wording says a policy is void, with premiums refunded, if the life insured's correct age at the cover start date was over 65. Do not apply right on the boundary without checking how Momentum counts age.

The two-year rule is the part to read twice. "Pre-existing" means an illness, condition or symptoms in the two years before the start, including treatment or advice, symptoms even if undiagnosed, and it "also includes ... very high blood pressure, cholesterol over 7.0, a BMI over 40, or complications related to diabetes". If a pre-existing condition causes death in the first two years and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded. After two years pre-existing conditions are covered, apart from a few specific conditions that can be excluded permanently and are listed in the policy schedule. Occupation and pastimes are not asked at application but matter at claim time, because deaths from the listed dangerous jobs or pastimes are excluded. Momentum's Quick Life page also says it is not available to applicants diagnosed with a terminal illness or in palliative or hospice care (Momentum Life: Quick Life).

Premiums are the other difference. They are recalculated each anniversary for age, gender and smoking status. From 65 to 75 they generally rise, then they fix. Momentum publishes no Quick Life or funeral premium table in the wording and we print no exact figure. See the Quick Life page.

What happens after 75 with each product

Funeral Insurance. Nothing changes at 75 except that nobody new can start. Premiums continue to 89, then end, and cover continues.
Quick Life. Premiums stop rising and are fixed. The automatic 3% increases stop. You can elect a free $20,000 funeral benefit or continue Quick Life with the free component; the wording does not say which premium continues, so ask Momentum before relying on it.

Other options at 65

At 65 the choice is not limited to Momentum. These entry ages come from each provider's own pages as at 20 October 2026.

Option	Entry age	Note
NZ Seniors and OneChoice funeral insurance (Pinnacle Life)	18 to 79	First 12 months accident only; OneChoice says no premium refund after cooling-off
AA Life Funeral Cover (Asteron Life)	50 to 79	First 24 months: non-accidental death refunds premiums
Chubb Life Funeral Cover	50 to 80	100% premium refund inside 24 months for another cause
Greenwich Life, The Funeral Plan (Autosure)	30 to 70	Premiums stop when total paid equals the benefit
Underwritten life cover through an adviser	AIA Life Cover 10 to 70; Chubb Assurance Extra 10 to 70; Fidelity Life 16 to 75	Health questions; can offer more cover and often costs less if accepted on standard terms; you may be declined or loaded

Compare them in our funeral insurance comparison: how the options differ, and see guaranteed acceptance life insurance over 65 and life insurance over 65 for the wider picture. If you are 40 to 64 the over 40 page covers the earlier ages; the age limits page covers the whole range.

A short decision path

These are questions to ask, not advice:

Do I want a funeral sum of up to $30,000, or a larger sum for other needs too? That separates the two products.
Can I afford premiums that rise each year until 75? If not, Funeral Insurance's level premium is the difference.
Do I have a health condition I would be asked about elsewhere? Quick Life excludes pre-existing conditions for two years, so a death from one in that time pays nothing (premiums are refunded if no claim is payable).
Am I within weeks of 66? Quick Life will no longer be open.
Can I answer health questions? If yes, an adviser can quote underwritten cover.

Where to get advice

Momentum Life Limited is rated B (Fair) by A.M. Best, a rating Momentum's own table groups in its "Vulnerable" range; read its financial strength page. The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application, one option among those 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. General information, not advice. Financial 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.