How much does funeral insurance cost in NZ?
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.
Funeral insurance in New Zealand is paid as a small regular premium, set by the age you start, the benefit you choose and the insurer. No insurer publishes a price table. Only AA Life publishes a price, for one profile, and Momentum Life's policy wording gives none. So the honest answer is a method: get a quote for your age and amount, then total it to the age premiums stop.
Funeral insurance cost is a function of four things: your age when cover starts, the benefit amount, how many people are covered and how long premiums run. A weekly figure looks small, but premiums on Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance are fixed each year until the 89th birthday, so a person who starts at 50 pays for about 39 years. Across that time the total can pass the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. Momentum's wording says both. Because QuoteHub does not publish an exact premium for any insurer, this page shows the drivers, the one published price and a lifetime-total grid built from round example figures, so you can test a real quote against it.
What prices has anyone actually published?
Very few. Here is everything we found, as at 20 October 2026.
| Source | What it says | Status |
|---|---|---|
| AA Life | From $14.28 a week for $10,000 of cover, for a 66-year-old female AA Member non-smoker (AA Life: Funeral cover) | One stated profile; the price can change |
| Momentum Life | No premium in the policy wording. QuoteHub does not publish an exact premium for any insurer | None to quote |
| NZ Seniors, OneChoice, Chubb Life, Greenwich Life, Unity | No price printed; OneChoice says funeral insurance "doesn't come with a set price tag" (OneChoice) | None to quote |
| Moneyhub | Independent comparison tables show prices roughly doubling between ages 50 and 70 (Moneyhub) | Third-party, direction only |
| Consumer NZ, 2020 | An 85-year-old had paid $18,900 for $10,000 of cover over 17 years (Consumer NZ, 23 July 2020, archived copy) | Old policy, one case; shows what long premium runs can add up to |
QuoteHub's Premium Index covers life, trauma and total and permanent disability cover. It has no funeral insurance rows, and we do not invent them. That is why this page gives no table of "typical premiums by age": we would have to guess, and a guessed price on a page about money for funerals is worse than none.
What affects the premium?
| Factor | How it works | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Age at start | Older starting ages cost more each week; independent sites show roughly double between 50 and 70 | Moneyhub, retrieved 17 October 2026 |
| Benefit amount | Momentum lets you choose $3,000 to $30,000; a larger benefit costs more | Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording |
| Who is covered | AA's published example states sex, AA Member status and smoking status. Momentum's wording does not list its rating factors | AA Life; Momentum wording |
| Number of people | Momentum takes $150 a year off for each additional life insured on a policy | Momentum wording |
| How long premiums run | Momentum's stop at the 89th birthday; NZ Seniors and OneChoice at 85; AA Life on the anniversary after the 90th birthday | Insurers' own pages, retrieved 17 to 20 October 2026 |
| Whether the rate can change | Momentum can change rates for everyone on the same offer, on 30 days' written notice, only for a change in tax or other law or claims experience that differs significantly from expected | Momentum wording |
| Payment method | Momentum says an additional processing fee applies to card payments; the wording gives no percentage | Momentum wording |
The early window does not change the price, but it changes what the first premiums buy. On Momentum's Funeral Insurance, the first 24 months pay only for accidental death. Any other death in that time pays no benefit, and all premiums for that person are refunded.
What do the lifetime totals look like?
Take a weekly amount that stays level to the 89th birthday, as Momentum's does unless the whole offer is repriced. The grid below multiplies four round weekly figures by 52 weeks a year and by the years from three starting ages to age 89. These are examples to test a real quote against, not prices from any insurer.
| Example weekly amount | Start at 50 (39 years) | Start at 60 (29 years) | Start at 70 (19 years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | $10,140 | $7,540 | $4,940 |
| $10 | $20,280 | $15,080 | $9,880 |
| $15 | $30,420 | $22,620 | $14,820 |
| $20 | $40,560 | $30,160 | $19,760 |
Read it against the benefit. A $10,000 benefit is passed by the $5 row in about 38 and a half years, by the $10 row in about 19 years and by the $15 row in about 13 years. A $20,000 benefit takes twice as long. The grid ignores any card fee, rate changes and the 52.18 weeks in a real year, so treat it as a guide. If you die in the first 24 months of other causes, the premiums come back; if you live to 89, you pay the lot and the cover continues for life with no more premiums. Our break-even calculator runs the sum on your own quote, and the funeral insurance price comparison page works the same arithmetic from the other side, as the weekly price at which total premiums equal the benefit.
Can total premiums exceed the benefit?
Yes. Momentum's wording says depending on how long you keep your cover, the total premiums you pay could exceed the benefit, and that the benefit amount you choose may not cover the cost of a funeral. The Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO) said in December 2025 that insurers should warn of this in the policy, on the website and in advertising (IFSO). A funeral policy is not a savings account: if you stop paying, Momentum can cancel the policy after a month of unpaid premiums, and cancelling after the 30-day free look from the acceptance date refunds nothing.
What does the benefit have to cover?
FDANZ's 2026 report puts an attended cremation funeral for 50 guests at an average of $11,700, an attended burial at $14,300 and an unattended cremation at $4,700 (FDANZ, 2026 New Zealand Funeral Industry Trends Report). Momentum's maximum is $30,000 across all its funeral policies on one life, so the choice of amount is the main thing you control. Our funeral cover amount calculator and the guide on how much funeral cover you need set the amount against the cost of the funeral you expect.
How can you pay less, or not pay at all?
- Choose a smaller benefit. Cost rises with the amount, and a benefit below the funeral you expect still helps.
- Add people to one policy. Momentum takes $150 a year off for each additional life insured.
- Compare quotes for the same age and amount. Insurers set their own prices, stop ages and early windows, so total each one.
- Save instead. A savings account has no early window and no premiums to lose. Consumer NZ has called a savings account the simplest option (Consumer NZ, 2020, archived copy).
- Know what help exists. The Work and Income Funeral Grant is up to $2,697.43, with income and asset tests, and prepaid funeral cover can affect eligibility (Work and Income: Funeral Grant). Our funeral costs section covers prepaid plans and the grant.
Where to get a real price
The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application, where you can see a figure for your own age and amount. Momentum Life Limited is rated B (Fair) by A.M. Best; read its financial strength page before you decide. 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 request quotes from other insurers for your details. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). More on the policy is on the Momentum Life Funeral Cover page and the funeral insurance hub.
Adviser's view
A weekly funeral insurance premium looks small, but premiums can run for decades and the total can pass the benefit. Only AA Life publishes a price, for one profile, and Momentum's policy wording gives none, so any list of typical prices would be guesswork. Ask for a quote for your age and amount, then multiply it out to the age premiums stop and compare the total with the benefit.
Talk to a licensed adviser about funeral cover · free, no obligation.
Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Funeral Insurance Cost NZ: What Drives the Price. www.quotehub.co.nz/funeral-insurance/funeral-insurance-cost-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.
References
- Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording (PDF, issue date 17 August 2023)
- Momentum Life: Financial Strength
- AA Life: Funeral cover
- OneChoice: Funeral insurance
- Moneyhub: Funeral insurance
- Consumer NZ: Funeral insurance overpriced and overhyped (23 July 2020, archived copy)
- IFSO: Funeral insurance, what consumers need to know (11 December 2025)
- FDANZ: 2026 New Zealand Funeral Industry Trends Report (PDF)
- Work and Income: Funeral Grant
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, For Brokers.