No-medical-exam life insurance for smokers

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.

Yes. Smokers can get life insurance without a medical exam in New Zealand through guaranteed acceptance cover, but "no medical exam" does not mean smoking status is ignored. Momentum Life's Quick Life asks your age, gender and smoking status, and its premiums are set from them, so a smoker pays more than a non-smoker.

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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.

Quick Life is Momentum Life's guaranteed acceptance life cover: $50,000 to $300,000 for people aged 18 to 65, with no health questions or medical exams (Momentum Life: Quick Life policy wording, November 2025). The wording says the premium is updated each policy anniversary for any change in the life insured's age, gender or smoking status. For the first two years it does not pay for a pre-existing condition or suicide. Smoking is not a reason to be declined, but it sets the rate you pay, and a wrong answer about it can reduce the benefit later. This page covers the smoker's side of the product; the product itself is explained on the Quick Life page.

What is asked and what is skipped

Skipped	Still asked or used
Medical exam and blood tests	Age and gender
Health questions and GP notes	Smoking status
Occupation and pastime questions at application	The amount of cover you want
	New Zealand residency

The wording does not say how Momentum defines a smoker, so use the definition on the application and answer it truthfully. Most underwritten insurers are more specific. Fidelity and Chubb both require no tobacco and no nicotine replacement, including nicotine vaping, gum, patches and chewing tobacco, for 12 months to count as a non-smoker, and Chubb says marijuana used more than once a week can incur a loading (insurer guides, retrieved 20 October 2026).

How much more smokers pay

Momentum publishes no Quick Life price, and QuoteHub shows no exact premium for any insurer. A useful public gauge of the gap is QuoteHub's Premium Index, which prices underwritten life cover from published rate cards at six insurers (not every insurer priced every row), as at 8 September 2026. These are indicative monthly costs for $500,000 of stepped cover, rounded outward, occupation class 1, standard rates. Quick Life cannot start at $500,000 and Momentum did not price that amount, so this is a guide to the size of the smoker gap, not a Quick Life price. Your own premium depends on underwriting.

Age	Man, non-smoker	Man, smoker	Woman, non-smoker	Woman, smoker
30	$30 to $40	$50 to $80	$20 to $30	$35 to $45
40	$40 to $50	$90 to $110	$35 to $40	$60 to $80
50	$90 to $120	$200 to $275	$80 to $100	$150 to $190
60	$300 to $375	$675 to $800	$225 to $275	$425 to $525
65	$625 to $725	$1,100 to $1,425	$400 to $475	$650 to $850

In that panel the smoker premium is about 1.5 to 1.7 times the lowest non-smoker quote in the twenties and thirties, about 2.2 to 2.4 times from the mid-forties to the mid-fifties, and about 1.6 to 1.8 times by 65. The smoker rate pages and method show the working. Our guide to smoker versus non-smoker life insurance explains the gap.

Getting the answer right matters later

Momentum relies on what you tell it. If a life insured's age or smoking status was not correctly stated and the correct premium is higher, the benefit is reduced to what the premium paid would have bought. If the correct premium is lower, the difference is refunded. Deliberately false information can let Momentum treat the policy as if it never existed (Quick Life policy wording, p13). So the cheap non-smoker rate is not a saving if it was not true; the cost shows up when your family claims.

Quitting, and starting again

If a Quick Life smoker has quit for 24 consecutive months, the owner can apply to change the status to non-smoker with a non-smoking declaration, and the new premium applies from the next payment date. If the person starts smoking again, the policy goes back to smoker rates at the next anniversary, even if you do not tell Momentum. Fidelity and Chubb, for underwritten cover, use 12 months. A smoker who is quitting may want to compare before applying: see quitting smoking and life insurance.

The first two years apply to smokers too

There is no extra exclusion for smokers. The same early period applies to everyone: for two years, Quick Life does not pay for a pre-existing medical condition or for suicide, attempted suicide or intentional self-harm. A pre-existing condition is any illness, condition or symptom in the two years before the policy started, including treatment, advice and symptoms noticed even if undiagnosed. The wording names very high blood pressure, cholesterol over 7.0, a BMI over 40 and complications related to diabetes. Smoking is not on that list, but a smoking-related illness you already have, or have symptoms of, would be a pre-existing condition. If a death from one occurs in the first 24 months and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded.

Quick Life always excludes deaths from alcohol or drug effects, war, terrorism and criminal activity, and listed dangerous jobs and pastimes. Unlike cover with health questions, these job and pastime rules are tested at claim time, not at application.

Funeral Insurance and smoking

Momentum's Funeral Insurance accepts New Zealanders aged 40 to 75 with no health questions, and a benefit of $3,000 to $30,000. Its wording lists no pricing factors, so we cannot say whether smoking status changes its premium; the premium is shown on your policy schedule. In its first 24 months it pays only for accidental death within 90 days of the accident. Any other death in that time pays no benefit, with all premiums for that person refunded. Total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral.

Is it worth comparing before you apply?

Often, if you are healthy apart from smoking. Some insurers ask only for an application form up to $500,000 at every age band, with more evidence if conditions are disclosed (Fidelity and Chubb underwriting guides). That route still asks health questions, so it is not no-questions cover, and the answer depends on your history. A licensed adviser can put several insurers side by side. If you have been declined, or want cover in place now with no questions about your health, guaranteed acceptance is a legitimate option. Compare the trade-offs on guaranteed acceptance versus full medical, and see how much life insurance costs.

Where to get advice

A.M. Best rates Momentum Life B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026; Momentum's own table groups that grade under "Vulnerable"; see its financial strength page. The buttons on this page go to Momentum's online application for Quick Life or Funeral Insurance, where the smoking question is asked. 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.

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

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

A smoker can get Quick Life cover with no medical exam and no health questions, but it is not a way around smoking status: the premium is set by it, and a wrong answer can cut the benefit later. Whether it is a good deal depends on your age and health. A smoker who would be accepted on standard terms elsewhere faces a larger price gap, so ask a licensed adviser what cover with health questions would cost.

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

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Life Insurance for Smokers No Medical Exam NZ. www.quotehub.co.nz/guaranteed-acceptance/life-insurance-for-smokers-no-medical-exam-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

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