Guaranteed acceptance versus fully underwritten life cover

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 issues life cover without health questions, but restricts what it pays in the early years and caps the amount. Fully underwritten cover assesses your health first, so an insurer can load, exclude, postpone or decline, and healthy people usually pay less for a larger sum. Neither is better in itself: the right one depends on your health, your age and the amount you need.

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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.

"Full medical" is a loose phrase. Fully underwritten life cover means the insurer asks about your health and decides the terms before it issues the policy. It rarely means a physical exam. Fidelity Life's underwriting guide lists an application form alone as the minimum evidence up to $500,000 at every age band, and Chubb's guide lists a personal statement; blood tests and a GP report come at higher amounts (both list a GP medical or similar from $500,001 at age 61 and over) or when you disclose a condition. Guaranteed acceptance means the opposite approach: Momentum Life's Quick Life, for example, asks no health questions, accepts applicants aged 18 to 65 who meet its age and residency rules, and instead limits what it pays for the first 2 years. A middle route, simplified issue, asks a few questions; see simplified issue life insurance.

Side by side

	Guaranteed acceptance	Fully underwritten
Health questions	None	Yes, set by the insurer; a form or personal statement is the minimum evidence at lower amounts
Medical exam or tests	No	Not by default; more evidence above $500,000 at 61 and over, or for disclosed conditions
Outcome	No health assessment; Quick Life's age and residency rules apply	Standard terms, a loaded premium, an exclusion, a postponement or a decline
Early restriction	Quick Life: pre-existing conditions and suicide excluded for 2 years. Funeral Insurance: accidental death only for 24 months	Fidelity and Chubb: suicide excluded for 13 months; other insurers' terms not confirmed. Other terms are set on your disclosed history
Amount	Quick Life: $50,000 to $300,000, rising 3% a year to $500,000. Funeral Insurance: $3,000 to $30,000	AIA Life Cover: unlimited. Chubb: no maximum sum from age 16
Entry ages	Quick Life 18 to 65; Funeral Insurance 40 to 75	AIA Life Cover and Chubb 10 to 70; Fidelity 16 to 75
Premiums	Quick Life: stepped to 75, then fixed	Stepped or level options
Main risk	A condition you have now may not be covered at first	A decline, loading or exclusion; cover affected by anything material left out

Entry ages and amounts are from the insurers' own wordings and brochures, read on 20 October 2026. The comparison uses Momentum for guaranteed acceptance because it is the product QuoteHub's buttons open; other guaranteed-acceptance products exist and differ.

The first two years

This is where the two routes differ most. With Quick Life, anything connected to a pre-existing condition is outside cover for 2 years, and the wording defines it broadly: illness, symptoms or treatment in the 2 years before the start, symptoms even if undiagnosed, and examples such as a BMI over 40 or cholesterol over 7.0. If death is caused by one in that period and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded. A permanent exclusion for specific conditions can also be listed in the policy schedule. Accidents and new conditions are covered from the start. With Funeral Insurance, the first 24 months pay only for accidental death. See the two-year exclusion explained.

Underwritten cover works differently: the insurer sets terms from your disclosed history. 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. The outcome is the insurer's decision on your facts; no condition has a guaranteed result.

Price

QuoteHub's Premium Index shows monthly cost ranges from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026, for non-smokers at standard rates, occupation class 1, stepped:

Monthly cost, non-smoker	Man	Woman
$500,000 at age 50, five underwritten insurers	$90 to $120	$80 to $100
$500,000 at age 60, five underwritten insurers	$300 to $375	$225 to $275
$250,000 at age 60, six insurers including Momentum's Quick Life	$170 to $325	$130 to $250

Quick Life was not priced at $500,000, because its starting maximum is $300,000, so there is no like-for-like row at that amount. These are ranges at standard rates: underwriting can raise your own premium, and a smoker pays more. Read the Premium Index methodology. The usual pattern is that healthy applicants get more cover for less through underwriting, while applicants who would be loaded heavily or declined may find guaranteed acceptance the practical option.

What can go wrong

Underwritten. The duty is to disclose material information. In an IFSO case, an insurer sought to avoid cover over a childhood colonoscopy and a 2013 anaemia diagnosis; the anaemia was material and the case settled at half the life benefit, $95,664. From 15 November 2027 (not yet in force), the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024 replaces broad disclosure with a duty to take reasonable care and brings proportionate remedies. Until then, answer fully.

Guaranteed acceptance. Nothing to disclose about health, but the age must be true: a Quick Life policy where the true age at the start was over 65 is void, with premiums refunded. Occupation and pastime are not asked, but a dangerous job or pastime listed in the wording can stop a claim.

Which fits which situation

Healthy, wanting a larger sum: usually underwritten, through an adviser.
A condition you are unsure about: ask an adviser what an underwriter would want before applying anywhere. The new insurer sees your full history (IFSO).
Declined elsewhere, or a condition that makes questions hard: guaranteed acceptance may fit, with the 2-year limit understood. See life insurance after a decline.
Over 65: Quick Life is closed; Funeral Insurance (ages 40 to 75) is a small funeral benefit, not family protection.
Replacing a policy: keep the old one until the new one is in force, and watch for new waiting periods and exclusions (FMA).

For the wider question, read is guaranteed life insurance worth it and the non-guaranteed-acceptance guide. The plan pages are Quick Life and Funeral Cover.

Where to get advice

The buttons on this page open Momentum's online application, one option among several. A.M. Best rates Momentum Life Limited B (Fair), which sits in the "Vulnerable" band on Momentum's own table (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). 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.