Tower funeral insurance: tracing an old policy

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.

Tower Insurance sells general insurance such as house, car and contents cover, and its website lists no life or funeral product. An old Tower-branded life or funeral policy leads back to Tower Life (N.Z.) Limited, which Foundation Life bought in 2014. Foundation has since closed through a court-approved scheme. Start by finding the company named on your schedule.

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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.

What Tower sells today

Tower's own site describes cover for "houses, cars, contents, businesses and more". Its list of products runs through car, house, contents, boat, business, travel, pet, renters, landlord and caravan insurance, and nowhere mentions life or funeral cover (Tower: About us). We found no source showing that a Tower funeral plan was ever sold, so this page does not describe one. It covers what to do if your paperwork says Tower and the policy pays a sum on death.

The ownership trail

Foundation Life says Foundation Life (NZ) Holdings Limited "purchased Tower Life (N.Z.) Limited from Tower Insurance Limited in 2014", and that the company was renamed and rebranded as Foundation Life on 29 January 2015 (Foundation Life: History). Foundation's own scheme page says the Foundation Life office has closed, a Scheme of Arrangement has run, and all cash payments under it are complete (Foundation Life: Scheme of Arrangement).

Question	What the sources say
Who sold the Tower life company?	Tower Insurance Limited, in 2014, to Foundation Life (NZ) Holdings Limited
Who holds the policies now?	Policyholders who chose, or were defaulted to, a replacement life policy under the scheme are told to contact Chubb Life
What if no documents were returned?	Where the required documents were not received by 30 June 2026, the scheme page says the cash payment went to Inland Revenue as unclaimed money
Does Tower still deal with life claims?	Tower's site shows general insurance only, so a general claims line is not the place to start

The scheme page does not say how many policyholders took a replacement policy or a payment, or what either was worth. Our longer guide, Tower life insurance: tracing a legacy policy, goes through the same trail for life cover in general.

How to tell whether you hold a funeral-type policy

Funeral-type cover pays a fixed sum on death, usually small, towards funeral costs (see what funeral insurance is). Your schedule is the document that settles it. Look for:

The insurer's name and policy number. The company named, not the brand on the cover page, is the one that owes the benefit.
The sum insured. A funeral-size amount, or a larger life amount.
The start date and any waiting period. Some funeral policies pay only for accidents for an early period. The length is in your own wording, and we do not state one for Tower policies because we found none published.
The premium basis. Whether premiums are level, stepped, or paid up.
Scheme letters. Any letters from Foundation Life or Chubb Life about a replacement policy.

If you cannot find the schedule, an adviser who sold the policy may hold a copy, and an executor will be notifying insurers as part of settling an estate, and can ask them to look for cover (see who to notify). Inland Revenue's unclaimed money service is the place to check for a payment that never arrived.

Level premiums and stepped premiums in older policies

Older policies often differ from modern funeral cover in how the premium behaves. Fidelity describes yearly renewable term premiums as rising each year with age, and level term as starting "a bit higher" and staying the same for the term (Fidelity Life: Life cover). Asteron says the same of its stepped and level options (Asteron Life: life brochure). A level premium can also convert. In one case published by the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO), a "Level to age 80" policy switched to "Rate for Age" at 80 and the monthly premium rose from $49 to $190; the complaint was not upheld (IFSO: Increasing premiums). Read the premium section of your wording before you decide anything.

Can you claim on an old Tower policy?

You claim with the insurer that holds the policy now, under the wording on your schedule, not with Tower. For a replacement policy from Foundation's scheme, that is Chubb Life (Foundation Life: Scheme of Arrangement). Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand Limited is the former Cigna Life, and Chubb completed its purchase of Cigna's New Zealand life business on 1 July 2022 (Chubb press release); see the Chubb Life page. If you are unhappy with an insurer's decision, complain to the insurer first, then you can take it to IFSO, which is free.

How old terms compare with modern funeral cover

Modern guaranteed-acceptance funeral policies share a pattern, shown here from Momentum Life's wording and the other insurers' own pages as at 20 October 2026:

	Momentum Life Funeral Insurance	NZ Seniors and OneChoice	AA Life	Chubb Life
Entry age	40 to 75	18 to 79	50 to 79	50 to 80
Benefit	$3,000 to $30,000	$3,000 to $30,000	$5,000 to $30,000	Up to $30,000
Early window	24 months, accident only	12 months, accident only	24 months	24 months
Other death in the window	All premiums refunded	No refund after cooling-off, per OneChoice	100% of premiums refunded	100% of premiums refunded
Premiums stop	89th birthday	85	Anniversary after 90th birthday	At claim, at 90, or entering long-term care

Compared: Momentum Life, NZ Seniors, OneChoice, AA Life and Chubb Life, on entry age, benefit, early window, refund and premium stop age, as at 20 October 2026, from each insurer's published documents. Not every New Zealand insurer is included, and this is one adviser's reading, not a score. Our funeral insurance comparison has the full set.

Keep, claim, or replace

Do not cancel an old policy until you know who holds it, what it pays and whether it is still in force. New funeral cover starts a fresh early-death window: with Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance, the first 24 months pay only for accidental death, and any other death in that time returns the premiums for that person and pays no benefit. Total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover a whole funeral, so saving the money is a real alternative.

Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance accepts New Zealanders aged 40 to 75, with no health questions, and does not accept new applicants over 75. Momentum Life Limited has an A.M. Best financial strength rating of B (Fair), which Momentum's own table places in its "Vulnerable" range; see its financial strength page. The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application. If you are over 75, they do not apply to you, and the comparison table above shows which insurers accept older applicants. Complaints about a Momentum policy go to Momentum first, then to IFSO (0800 888 202).

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). For how a policy works day to day, see how funeral insurance works, and back to the funeral insurance hub.

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.

Already have cover? Keep it. New cover won't pay for a condition you already have in its first 2 years.

Adviser's view

Tower today sells house, car and other general insurance, and we found no funeral product on its website. If you hold an old Tower-branded life or funeral policy, the paper trail leads through Tower Life (N.Z.) Limited, sold in 2014 to Foundation Life, which has since closed. Do not cancel an old policy until you know who holds it and what it pays, because new funeral cover restarts the early-death window.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

Talk to a licensed adviser about funeral cover · free, no obligation.

Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Tower Funeral Insurance NZ: Legacy Policy Checks. www.quotehub.co.nz/funeral-insurance/tower-funeral-insurance-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

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