No-medical life insurance options over 50

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.

In your fifties you can take out both Momentum Life products without health questions or a medical: Quick Life, $50,000 to $300,000 for ages 18 to 65, and Funeral Insurance, $3,000 to $30,000 for ages 40 to 75. Acceptance is guaranteed. But a healthy person in their fifties can usually get more cover for less through a licensed adviser, so price both before you decide.

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.

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.

What is open between 50 and 59

Nothing closes in your fifties. Both products are open for the whole decade, which is not true of the sixties. What changes is price, and how long you would be paying.

	Quick Life	Funeral Insurance
Entry ages	18 to 65	40 to 75
Amount	$50,000 to $300,000 to start; 3% a year added to $500,000 per person or 75	$3,000 to $30,000; accidental death pays 3 times
Early period	First 2 years: pre-existing conditions and suicide excluded	First 24 months: accidental death only; other deaths pay nothing and all premiums are refunded
Premiums	Stepped each year to 75, then fixed	Level until the 89th birthday, then none
Terminal illness	Paid early if death is expected within 12 months	No terminal illness benefit

Source: Quick Life Policy Wording, November 2025 and Funeral Insurance Policy Wording. The funeral product has its own over 50 page; this one is about life cover.

A decision path for your fifties

Most "over 50, no medical" searches are really one of four situations. Find yours.

Your situation	What to do first
Healthy, non-smoker, no illness or treatment in the last 2 years	Ask a licensed adviser to price cover that asks health questions. You can usually get more cover for less, and the Quick Life early period would exclude nothing you have
You smoke or vape	Price both routes. Smoking raises cost sharply in this decade (see below), and former smokers can get non-smoker rates after a smoke-free period, 24 consecutive months at Momentum
You have a recent diagnosis, symptoms or treatment	Quick Life will not pay for it in the first 2 years, and this is the situation guaranteed acceptance exists for. Ask an adviser whether another insurer would accept you with a loading or exclusion
You have been declined, or you want cover in place without answering anything	Guaranteed acceptance is the straightforward route. Take the early period seriously

We cannot give a sourced tipping point, an age or a condition at which guaranteed acceptance becomes the better buy, because no New Zealand insurer publishes its loadings by condition. Asteron says that with an existing condition cover can often still be offered by adding a stand-down period, raising the premium, or excluding the condition for a set time (Asteron). Terms are individual. Use the table to decide what to ask, not to predict an answer.

What "no medical" does and does not mean

"No medical exam" is not the same as "no health questions". Chubb and Fidelity publish that for life cover up to $500,000 they need only an application form at every age band, with more evidence from $500,001 at 61 and over, or if you disclose a condition (Chubb underwriting guide, Fidelity underwriting guide). Those are minimums, not promises of acceptance. See life insurance with no medical questions for the middle ground.

How price behaves in your fifties

QuoteHub's Premium Index shows indicative monthly costs from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026, stepped, non-smoker unless stated, occupation class 1, standard rates, rounded outward. The range runs across the insurers that priced $500,000. Quick Life tops out at $300,000 to start, so this is not a like-for-like comparison with it; it shows the shape of the market. Your own premium depends on underwriting.

Age and cover	Man	Woman
50, $500,000, non-smoker	$90 to $120	$80 to $100
50, $500,000, smoker	$200 to $275	$150 to $190
60, $500,000, non-smoker	$300 to $375	$225 to $275

Two points stand out. Cost rises steeply from 50 to 60. And the smoker premium is a large multiple of the non-smoker premium in this decade. The Premium Index puts the smoker multiple at about 2.2 to 2.4 times in the mid-forties to mid-fifties. See the rate pages, the smoker rates and the method.

The early period still applies

If you take Quick Life, the first 2 years exclude pre-existing conditions and suicide. Pre-existing means any illness, condition or symptoms in the 2 years before the start, including treatment or advice and symptoms not yet diagnosed, and the wording names a BMI over 40, cholesterol over 7.0, very high blood pressure and diabetes complications. If someone dies of one in the first 24 months and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded. A few conditions can be excluded permanently in your schedule. Momentum's site adds that Quick Life is not available to someone diagnosed with a terminal illness or in palliative or hospice care. Always excluded are deaths from alcohol or drug effects, war, terrorism, crime and the dangerous jobs and pastimes the wording lists. Funeral Insurance pays only for accidental death for the first 24 months. Asking for more cover (other than Quick Life's automatic 3% increases) starts a new window for the increase, and so does cancelling and rejoining. Read the two-year exclusion page for the detail.

Planning for stepped premiums

Quick Life premiums are re-set each anniversary and generally rise, then become fixed at 75. At 75, $20,000 of the benefit becomes free: you can elect a free $20,000 funeral benefit or continue Quick Life with the free component. Funeral premiums are level, but they run until the 89th birthday, and total premiums can exceed the benefit. This is not a savings or investment plan. The benefit may not cover the cost of a funeral, which the Funeral Directors Association's 2026 report puts at $11,700 for a cremation with 50 guests and $14,300 for a burial (FDANZ). Ask yourself whether you can pay the premium at 65 and 75, not just today. Our stepped versus level guide explains the difference, and the life insurance over 50 article covers the wider market.

Buying for a parent

If you are in your fifties and thinking of cover for a parent, ownership rules differ between the products. See life insurance for parents. To see what changes after 60, read guaranteed acceptance over 60.

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 compare insurers on your details. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). Return to the guaranteed acceptance hub, or see the Quick Life and Funeral Cover pages.