Does funeral insurance cover pre-existing conditions in NZ?

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.

Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance asks no health questions, and its wording has no pre-existing condition clause. It uses a time limit instead. In the first 24 months only accidental death is paid; a death from illness, new or old, pays no benefit and the premiums are refunded. After 24 months it pays for death from any cause.

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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.

A pre-existing condition is an illness, injury or symptom you had before cover started. Insurers deal with it in three different ways. Fully underwritten insurers ask about your health and may offer terms, add exclusions, or decline. Momentum's Quick Life, a different product, asks no health questions but excludes pre-existing conditions for the first 2 years. Momentum's Funeral Insurance also asks no health questions, and does not look at conditions at all: it simply pays only for accidents for 24 months, whatever your health, and then pays for any cause. This page lays the three approaches side by side so you can see which one fits your situation. Acceptance is guaranteed for Funeral Insurance (New Zealanders aged 40 to 75), but that is not the same as cover from the first day.

Does Momentum Funeral Insurance exclude pre-existing conditions?

No. The wording sets no list of conditions and does not use the term. What it does have is this (Funeral Insurance Policy Wording, issue date 17 August 2023, page 6):

In the first 24 months the benefit is paid only if the person dies "as a direct result of an Accident" and within 90 days of it.
"After 24 months" the benefit is paid "if a Life Insured dies from any cause".
A death in the first 24 months from any other cause pays no benefit, and all premiums paid for that person since the Cover Start Date are refunded.

So the condition does not need to be pre-existing to fall inside the window. A heart attack in month 10 is treated the same whether the person was diagnosed ten years ago or never diagnosed. And after month 24, a condition diagnosed years before cover began does not stop a claim: the wording has no pre-existing clause and no separate suicide clause. The 24-month window is the only early restriction. There is no terminal illness benefit. If you increase the benefit, or add a person, a new 24-month window applies to the increase or the added person.

One rule stays in force whatever your health: information you or anyone else gives Momentum must be "true, correct and complete". If it is not, Momentum may decline a claim, cancel the policy or reduce the benefit. With no health questions that mostly concerns details such as age and residency, not medical history.

How the three approaches differ

	Momentum Funeral Insurance	Momentum Quick Life	Fully underwritten cover (through an adviser)
Health questions	None	None	Yes; records and tests may be requested
Entry ages	40 to 75	18 to 65	Set by each insurer
How a condition is treated	Not looked at	Excluded for the first 2 years if it counts as pre-existing	Assessed individually
First 24 months, death from illness	No benefit; all premiums refunded	Pre-existing conditions excluded; new conditions covered; premiums refunded if death is from a pre-existing condition in the first 24 months and no claim is payable	Cover as offered, subject to any exclusion or stand-down
Accident in the first 24 months	Pays 3 times the benefit	Covered	Covered as offered
After the early period	Any cause	Pre-existing conditions covered "except some specific conditions" that can be permanently excluded in the policy schedule	As offered
Terminal illness benefit	None	Yes, expected death within 12 months	Depends on the policy

Sources: Momentum's two wordings, and Asteron Life for the underwritten column. Asteron says that with an existing condition it can usually still offer cover by adding a stand-down, raising the premium, or excluding the condition permanently or for a set time, based on a personalised assessment (Asteron). That describes one insurer's approach; it is not a promise of what any insurer will offer you.

Quick Life: where the condition does matter

If you are comparing the two Momentum products, note that Quick Life (ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000) asks no health questions either, but it excludes pre-existing conditions, and suicide, attempted suicide or intentional self-harm, for the first 2 years. Its wording defines a pre-existing condition as an illness, condition or symptom in the 2 years before the policy starts, including treatment or advice and symptoms "even if undiagnosed". It "also includes" very high blood pressure, cholesterol over 7.0, a BMI over 40, or complications related to diabetes. After 2 years pre-existing conditions are covered, except some specific conditions that can be permanently excluded in the policy schedule. The 2 years start again if cover is reinstated or increased (for the increase only, unless the increase is automatic). Momentum's own Quick Life page says it is not available to people diagnosed with a terminal illness or in palliative or hospice care at application (Momentum: Quick Life). That rule is on the page, not in the wording. See guaranteed acceptance life insurance and how it works.

The same condition, three timelines

These cases use the wordings only. They show who is paid, not what any individual claim would receive.

Case	Funeral Insurance	Quick Life
Heart disease diagnosed before cover; death from it in month 10	No benefit; premiums refunded	Excluded as pre-existing; premiums refunded
A condition first diagnosed after cover starts; death from it in month 10	No benefit; premiums refunded	Covered as a new condition, unless symptoms existed in the 2 years before cover
Car accident in month 10; death within 90 days	Pays 3 times the benefit	Covered as an accidental death
The same pre-existing condition; death in month 30	Pays the benefit	Covered, unless a permanent exclusion applies

The difference is plain. Funeral Insurance does not care when you got the illness; it cares when you died. Quick Life cares about both.

Who this suits, and who it does not

Funeral Insurance suits someone who has a health condition that would complicate other cover and wants a fixed sum later in life, accepting they will wait 24 months for illness to be covered. It does not suit someone who expects to need the money within two years, since the policy then returns premiums and nothing else. Cover with health questions, through a licensed adviser, can offer more for people who are accepted, but insurers can add exclusions or decline, and nobody can promise acceptance. Answer every question fully: IFSO has published a case in which an insurer avoided a policy after a claim because of non-disclosure, and the complaint was not upheld (IFSO). For a specific illness, see funeral insurance with cancer.

Funeral policy premiums can add up to more than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. For comparing windows across insurers see waiting periods; other insurers use windows of 12 or 24 months and treat premiums differently.

What to check before you apply

Do you expect to need the money in the next two years? If so, read the 24-month rule as "no illness payout".
Is the person aged 40 to 75, and living in New Zealand?
Do you understand what is refunded? See the 24-month refund.
Have you checked the free look: 30 days from the Acceptance Date for a full refund if no claim is made?
Would an adviser's comparison be worth the time?

Where to get advice

The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application: Funeral Insurance first, then Quick Life. The plan details are on Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance page. Momentum Life Limited's A.M. Best rating is B (Fair), affirmed 11 February 2026, which Momentum's own table places in its "Vulnerable" range (Momentum: Financial strength). 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, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). This is general information, not advice, and we review it quarterly. Back to the funeral insurance hub.