Can funeral insurance pay for tangihanga costs?

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.

A funeral insurance payout can help whānau with tangihanga costs, but it is a fixed sum paid to a named person after a claim is approved, so it should not be counted on to arrive before the tangihanga or burial. With Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance, a death from illness in the first 24 months pays no benefit. Only an accidental death pays in that window.

Get a quote and apply online today

See your price in about a minute, then apply online with Momentum Life. Guaranteed acceptance, no health questions, no medical exams.

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

Want more cover or have questions? Talk to an adviser

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 tangihanga is, in Te Ara's words, "the enduring Māori ceremony for mourning someone who has died". It often takes three days, on a marae, in a hall or at home, and customs vary by iwi and hapū (Te Ara: Tangihanga). Funeral insurance is a small fixed benefit that costs a regular premium. Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance, issued by Momentum Life Limited, pays $3,000 to $30,000 for death from any cause after the first 24 months, and three times that ($9,000 to $90,000) for accidental death within 90 days of the accident. The money goes to the policy owner, or to the nominated beneficiary if the owner has died. It is paid once Momentum approves the claim, usually within 24 to 48 hours of approval. It does not go to a marae, a funeral director or any other organisation, and total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, which may not cover the whole funeral.

Can a payout be used for tangihanga costs?

Yes. The benefit is a lump sum paid to a person, and that person decides how to use it. Whānau who have the money in hand can put it towards the costs of a tangihanga: the funeral director's services, transfer to the marae, kai, travel, the urupā or cemetery, and the other costs that follow.

Two features of Momentum's policy shape how useful it is in practice.

The beneficiary must be a person. Momentum "can't pay a Benefit directly to a company, charity or other organisation", so a funeral director, a marae committee or an iwi trust cannot be the named recipient (Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording, 17 Aug 2023). Someone in the whānau receives the money and passes it on.
Who is named matters. If the person who dies owns their own policy, the benefit goes to the beneficiary they nominated. If they named nobody, it is paid to the executor of the owner's estate. Keeping the nomination current is a small job that avoids a hard conversation later.

How quickly does funeral cover pay?

The wording says valid claims are paid "usually within 24 - 48 hours of approval". The clock starts at approval, not at the death, and the wording gives no time for approval itself. Before that, the claimant sends proof at their own expense, which may include a form from a medical practitioner, other medical information and "the appropriate certification e.g. death certificate" (Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording). Momentum's claims line is 0800 108 108 (Momentum Life: Claims).

Step	What happens	Timing
Death	Whānau contact the funeral director and, if there is a policy, find the policy details	The tangihanga is arranged, often within days
Claim	The claimant contacts Momentum, completes the claim form and sends proof	The wording sets no deadline for this step
Approval	Momentum approves a valid claim	No timeframe is stated
Payment	The benefit is paid to the policy owner or nominated beneficiary	"Usually within 24 - 48 hours of approval"

An official death certificate from Births, Deaths and Marriages usually takes 1 to 2 weeks (govt.nz: Get a death certificate). The wording asks for "the appropriate certification e.g. death certificate" but does not say how soon Momentum can approve a claim, so a payout should not be assumed to arrive before the tangihanga or the burial. Plan for the first costs to be met from another source, such as savings, a koha collection, the Funeral Grant or help from the marae.

What tangihanga costs can the policy help with?

No national figure for the cost of a tangihanga is published, and we have not found a sourced figure for koha, marae charges or iwi contributions, so none is given here. What can be sourced is the funeral director's side of the bill. The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand (FDANZ) 2026 report puts a full funeral for 50 guests at an average of $11,700 for a cremation and $14,300 for a burial. Its indicative component ranges, as at July 2025 and varying by director, are below (FDANZ: Financial matters).

Cost	FDANZ indicative range
Professional services fee	$3,000 to $6,500
Preparation, such as embalming	$700 to $1,050
Casket	$1,200 to $5,000
Hearse	$200 to $450
Burial plot and interment (council costs)	$1,000 to $8,000
Catering	$15 to $25 a head

FDANZ says that for Māori whānau a viewing is almost always required, with pressure to embalm quickly so the body can go home or to the marae, and that tangihanga are largely organised by the local marae (FDANZ: 2026 New Zealand Funeral Industry Trends Report). One Whakatāne director told FDANZ that most of its funerals are for low-income Māori families who need simple care and transfer to the marae, averaging about $5,000. That is one director's account, not a national figure. Work and Income lists "kai for a tangihanga" among the expenses the Funeral Grant can cover (Work and Income: Funeral Grant). Our guides on tangihanga and koha cover the customs in more detail.

What happens if the death is in the first 24 months?

In the first 24 months of a Momentum Funeral Insurance policy, the benefit is paid only if death is the direct result of an accident and happens within 90 days of it. Any other death in that window pays no benefit, and all premiums paid for that person are refunded. After 24 months, death from any cause is covered. Increasing the cover, or adding a person, starts a new 24-month window for the increase or that person. There is no terminal illness benefit.

Here is the same rule with round numbers. This is an illustration, not a quote or a premium.

Example: a $10,000 policy	What Momentum pays
Death in an accident in month 8	Three times the benefit, $30,000, if death is within 90 days of the accident
Death from illness in month 10	No benefit; premiums paid for that person are refunded
Death from illness in month 30	$10,000

Other insurers set different windows. NZ Seniors and OneChoice, both issued by Pinnacle Life, have a 12-month accident-only window, and OneChoice says you cannot get a refund of premiums after the cooling-off period. AA Life and Chubb Life use 24 months and refund premiums for another cause (AA Life, Chubb). Funeral insurance is not designed for a death that is already expected: for the first 24 months, only an accident would pay.

Can an adult child own a policy on a parent?

Yes, under Momentum's wording. A "Relative" includes a parent, so an adult child can be the policy owner with a parent as the life insured, and the owner must be a natural person. The parent must be aged 40 to 75 and a "New Zealander" as the wording defines it when the policy starts. Up to four people can be insured on a family policy. If the child owns the policy, the benefit is paid to the child as owner. See funeral insurance for parents for the steps and the questions to ask first.

What other ways are there to fund a tangihanga?

Work and Income Funeral Grant. Up to $2,697.43 as at 1 April 2026 (page updated 24 June 2026). It depends on who died and who is applying, income tests apply to a partner or child, and the deceased's assets can count. Work and Income's rules list life insurance proceeds among cash assets and say help such as prepaid funeral cover can stop you getting the grant, so ask before assuming a payout and the grant both apply (Work and Income: Funeral Grant). See our Funeral Grant guide.
ACC. For deaths caused by a covered injury, a funeral grant of up to $8,236.40 for funeral and memorial costs, paid to the director or reimbursed (ACC: Financial support after death).
Iwi, hapū and community help. Community Law lists iwi, Māori land trusts, Te Puni Kōkiri and a marae or Māori church as possible sources (Community Law: Funeral and tangihanga costs).
The deceased's bank account. The bank can release money to pay for the funeral without waiting for probate (govt.nz: What to do when someone dies).
Travel to the tangihanga. Work and Income can help with travel if you cannot afford it, through an Advance Payment of Benefit or a Recoverable Assistance Payment (Work and Income: Bereavement).
Leave from work. Three days of bereavement leave for a parent, child, partner, sibling, grandparent or grandchild, and one day for others where the employer accepts a bereavement, taking into account "any cultural responsibilities". The Holidays Act does not name tangihanga (Holidays Act 2003).
Savings or a prepaid plan. Both are simpler to use than insurance and have no early-death window. See funeral insurance vs a prepaid funeral.

How to decide whether funeral insurance fits your whānau

Funeral insurance may suit people aged 40 to 75 who want a fixed sum set aside, who are comfortable that an illness death in the first 24 months pays nothing, and who accept that total premiums can pass the benefit if they live a long time. It suits them less if a death is already expected, if the family needs money within days, or if savings or a trust-held fund would do the same job. The sums are small compared with a full funeral, and the grant and other help do not always fill the gap. The Funeral Grant maximum is about 23% of FDANZ's $11,700 cremation scenario and 19% of its $14,300 burial scenario (our arithmetic). Compare options on how funeral insurance works and the funeral insurance hub before you decide.

Where to get advice

The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application. Momentum's A.M. Best rating is B (Fair); see its financial strength page. 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 other insurers on your own details. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931).