What does guaranteed acceptance life insurance cost?

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.

Guaranteed acceptance life insurance has no single price, because the premium is set from your age, gender, smoking status and the amount you choose. Momentum Life's Quick Life premiums step up every year until 75 and are then fixed; its Funeral Insurance premiums are level until the 89th birthday. For a healthy person, cover accepted on standard terms usually costs less per dollar.

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

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

Want more than $300k or have questions? Talk to an adviser

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.

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.

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.

How the price is made up

Guaranteed acceptance means the insurer does not ask about your health, so it prices the cover for everyone who applies, healthy or not. That is why the cost of "no medical" cover is usually higher for a healthy applicant than the cost of cover that asks health questions and accepts you on standard terms. QuoteHub cannot give you an exact price for any insurer. Here is what the wordings say sets it.

	Quick Life (ages 18 to 65)	Funeral Insurance (ages 40 to 75)
What the wording says sets the premium	Age, gender, smoking status and the benefit amount	The wording lists no pricing factors; the premium is shown on your policy schedule
Shape over time	Stepped: re-set each policy anniversary and generally rising, then fixed from 75	Level: the same each year until the 89th birthday, then no more premiums
Discounts in the wording	$50 a year when a partner joins	$150 a year for each additional person on the policy
How you pay	Fortnightly, monthly or annually	Fortnightly, monthly or annually; card payments carry a processing fee
Can the rate change?	Yes, for tax or claims experience, on 30 days' notice	Yes, for tax or claims experience, on 30 days' notice

Sources: Momentum Life: Quick Life Insurance Policy Wording, November 2025 and Funeral Insurance Policy Wording, 17 August 2023. QuoteHub shows no exact Momentum premium, and this page does not rank insurers on price, because no source supports a ranking.

Stepped and level premiums

A stepped premium is recalculated each year for your age, so it starts lower and rises. A level premium starts higher and then holds for a set period. Fidelity describes its level term as starting "a bit higher" and staying the same for the term, while its yearly renewable term rises each year (Fidelity Life). AIA and Chubb publish similar choices, with periods to 65, 70 or 80 (AIA, Chubb).

The Financial Markets Authority warns that a policy that is cheaper at first can cost more in the long run, and that most premiums rise annually with age or inflation (FMA: Insurance). Level does not mean forever. In one case published by the insurance ombudsman, a policy "level to age 80" converted to a stepped rate at 80 and the monthly premium went from $49 to $190; the complaint was not upheld (IFSO: Increasing premiums). Read the end date of any level period. Our stepped versus level guide covers the mechanics.

How much stepped cost grows with age

QuoteHub's Premium Index prices life cover from published rate cards for six insurers, including Momentum Life, as at 8 September 2026. The table shows the range across those insurers for a non-smoker, occupation class 1, standard rates with no loadings or exclusions, stepped premiums, in dollars a month, rounded outward. It is not a quote, and your own premium depends on underwriting. See the method and the life insurance rate pages.

Age	$250,000 cover, man (monthly cost)	$250,000 cover, woman (monthly cost)
40	$25 to $70	$20 to $60
60	$170 to $325	$130 to $250
65	$350 to $550	$225 to $400

The ranges are wide because the six insurers price differently, and we publish no insurer-by-insurer figures. What the table does show is the direction: the cost of the same cover climbs steeply between 40 and 65. For $500,000, which Quick Life cannot provide (it tops out at $300,000 to start) and which the other five insurers priced, a man's range rose from $30 to $40 at age 30 to $625 to $725 at age 65, in monthly cost. Treat these as a sense of scale, then ask for quotes for your own details.

Can total premiums pass the benefit?

Yes, and Momentum's wordings say so. The Funeral wording says total premiums could exceed the benefit and that the benefit may not cover the whole cost of a funeral. The Quick Life wording says the total premiums you pay might be more than the benefit paid out. This is not a savings or investment plan. Depending on how long you keep your cover, the total premiums you pay could exceed the benefit paid.

A round example shows how quickly it happens. These numbers are made up to show the arithmetic and are not a Momentum price. Say a level policy costs $600 a year for a $10,000 benefit. Paid for 20 years, that is $12,000, which is more than the benefit, and the total passes $10,000 after 17 years. A stepped premium makes the later years heavier than the early ones, so the crossover comes sooner than a flat average suggests. Enter your own figures in the break-even calculator, and read how funeral insurance cost works for the smaller policies.

Quick Life adds a twist. Its benefit rises 3% each policy anniversary until 75 or a $500,000 limit per person, and the premium rises with it. You can opt out of any year's increase and stay eligible for later ones.

Why a healthy person often pays less with underwriting

Underwritten cover is priced on what the insurer learns about you. If you are accepted on standard terms, you pay for your own risk, not for a pool that includes people with serious conditions. A healthy person can usually get more cover for less with fully underwritten cover through a licensed adviser. "No medical exam" is also not the same as "no health questions". Fidelity and Chubb publish that for life cover up to $500,000 they need only an application form at every age band, with extra evidence from $500,001 for ages 61 and over, and more if you disclose conditions (Chubb underwriting guide, Fidelity underwriting guide). Those are minimums, not promises of acceptance. Our guide to life cover with no medical questions sets out the options in the middle.

Guaranteed acceptance still earns its place if you have been declined, are loaded heavily, or want cover in place without answering questions. The trade is the early period: Quick Life excludes pre-existing conditions and suicide for the first 2 years, and Funeral Insurance pays only for accidental death for the first 24 months, with all premiums for that person refunded for any other cause.

Ways to keep the cost down

Take less cover. Quick Life runs from $50,000 to $300,000; Funeral Insurance from $3,000 to $30,000.
Skip an increase. Opt out of Quick Life's yearly 3% rise if the premium is stretching your budget.
Quit smoking. Quick Life lets a former smoker apply for non-smoker rates after 24 consecutive months smoke-free.
Use a partner or family discount. The wordings give $50 and $150 a year respectively.
Avoid cancelling and rejoining. The 2-year period restarts and nothing is refunded.

Where to get advice

The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application. Momentum Life Limited has an A.M. Best financial strength rating of B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026, which Momentum's own table groups in its "Vulnerable" range; see its financial strength page. A rating is not a recommendation. 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 price several insurers for your details. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). Back to the guaranteed acceptance hub, or read the Quick Life and Funeral Cover pages.