The suicide clause in New Zealand life insurance

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.

A suicide clause is a term in a life insurance policy that stops the insurer paying a benefit if the person dies by suicide or intentional self-harm within an early period after cover starts. In the New Zealand wordings we read, underwritten life cover uses 13 months, and Momentum's Quick Life uses 2 years. After the period, the cover pays as it would for any other cause.

If you are struggling, or worried about someone, help is available now. Call or text 1737 for free, any time (1737 Need to Talk). Lifeline is 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357, and the Suicide Crisis Helpline is 0508 828 865 (Lifeline Aotearoa). In immediate danger, call 111.

What a suicide clause does

An insurer writes a suicide clause into a life policy to deal with a specific risk: someone taking out cover with the intention of harming themselves soon after. The clause applies for a fixed period from the date cover starts. If a death in that period is caused by suicide or intentional self-harm, the insurer declines the claim. Outside the period, the clause no longer applies and the death is treated like any other cause.

Three points shape how it works in practice. The period runs from the start of cover, and in most wordings it runs again from a reinstatement or from an increase, for the increased part. Many wordings use the words "intentional self-harm" or "intentional self-inflicted act" rather than "suicide", which is a wider test. And the clause is a term of the contract, not a rule of New Zealand law, which is why products differ. This page explains how wordings read. It is not legal advice, and the only document that governs a policy is the one issued with it.

How long the early period is

The table shows the early period for the products we checked, from each insurer's own wording or page, with the date we read it.

Product	Early period	What is excluded	Premiums in that case
Fidelity Life, Platinum Plus Life (wording LCW-24B, November 2024)	13 months from start, reinstatement or increase	Death by "their own hand", sane or insane	Wording says the insurer will cancel the cover and "retain any premiums paid"
Chubb Life, Assurance Extra Life Cover (CIG0181 V5)	13 months from start, increase or reinstatement	Death or terminal illness from intentional self-harm, which "includes suicide and attempted suicide"	Not stated in the sources we read
AIA, AIA Living Life Cover (version 5, October 2023)	13 months from risk commencement	An intentional self-inflicted act, "whether sane or insane"	Not stated in the sources we read
NZ Seniors Life (Pinnacle Life)	First 13 months	Suicide	Check the policy document
Momentum Quick Life (wording November 2025)	2 years from start, reinstatement or increase	Suicide, attempted suicide or intentional self-harm, "regardless of your mental state"	A refund is stated only for a pre-existing condition death; none is stated for suicide
Momentum Funeral Insurance (wording 17 August 2023)	No suicide clause; accident-only for the first 24 months	Any non-accidental death in the first 24 months	All premiums refunded

Sources are linked under References: the Momentum wordings were read on 17 October 2026, the NZ Seniors page on 20 October 2026 and the underwritten wordings on 19 August 2026. Our fuller comparison of ten underwritten wordings, which found 13 months in every one, is in does life insurance cover suicide in NZ. Wordings are revised, so read the one issued with your own policy.

What happens to the premiums

A common claim online is that the insurer refunds your premiums if the suicide clause applies. The wordings do not support that as a general rule. Fidelity's says the opposite, that it retains premiums. For most of the others the clause is silent on premiums, and we could not verify a refund provision at any New Zealand life insurer, so we do not publish one.

Momentum is different in two ways, and they are easy to mix up. Quick Life refunds premiums if death is from a pre-existing condition in the first 24 months and no claim is payable. The wording does not say the same for suicide. Funeral Insurance has no suicide clause, but it pays only for accidental death in the first 24 months and defines an accident as an injury that is "not self-inflicted". Any other death in that period, including a death by suicide, pays no benefit and all premiums for that person are refunded (Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording). After 24 months, Funeral Insurance pays for death from any cause. It has no separate suicide clause.

Does the clock restart?

Often it does, and for a reason people overlook: the trigger is any new cover, not only the first policy.

Increases. In Quick Life, an increase you apply for is treated as new cover with its own start date, so the 2-year rule applies again to the increase portion only. The 3% automatic yearly increases do not restart it. Underwritten wordings we read, including Chubb's, Fidelity's and Asteron's, restart the 13 months on the increased portion.
Reinstatement. If a policy was cancelled for unpaid premiums and is reinstated, Quick Life's 2 years run again from the reinstatement. Several underwritten wordings do the same.
Cancel and rejoin. Quick Life's wording says that if you cancel and later reapply, "your two year standdown period will recommence" and premiums already paid are not refunded.
Replacing a policy. Chubb, Fidelity and Asteron publish a replacement exception: where the new policy replaces life cover that had been in force with another insurer for 13 months or more (Asteron's wording says "longer than 13 months"), and you can prove it, the exclusion is not applied beyond the replaced amount. The Financial Markets Authority advises keeping the old policy in force until the new one has started, and watching for new waiting periods and exclusions (FMA: Insurance).

How Momentum's Quick Life handles the first two years

Quick Life is guaranteed acceptance: ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000 per person, and no health questions at application. In the first 2 years it does not pay for suicide or intentional self-harm, or for a pre-existing medical condition. It does pay for accidental death and for conditions that first start after cover begins. After 2 years the suicide exclusion ends, and pre-existing conditions are covered except for a few that can be permanently excluded in the policy schedule. Some things are never covered, such as the effects of alcohol or drugs, war, terrorism and criminal activity, but suicide is not on that list. See the Quick Life page and our explainer on the two-year exclusion.

Because Quick Life asks no health questions, there is nothing to disclose about mental health when applying. The exclusion is about the cause of death in the first 2 years, "whether or not the person is mentally well", not about a person's history. Underwritten cover works the other way: the insurer asks, and answers must be complete. IFSO has published cases where insurers avoided or reduced cover over history that was not disclosed, including depression and stress (IFSO). No New Zealand insurer we found publishes terms for mental health conditions, so we state none. Our guides to insurance and mental health and life insurance with depression go further.

Assisted dying is treated differently

A person who dies by assisted dying under the End of Life Choice Act 2019 is, for the purposes of any life insurance contract, taken to have died of their terminal illness as if no assistance had been provided (section 35, legislation.govt.nz). An exclusion for suicide or self-harm therefore does not apply to it.

What to do if you are checking a policy

Find the start date on the schedule, and any later dates for increases or reinstatement.
Read the exclusion in your own wording: its length, what it calls the excluded event, and what it says about premiums.
Before you cancel and rejoin or replace a policy, ask a licensed adviser what restarts. A new policy can bring a new early period.
If a family member has died and you are a beneficiary, see how to claim life insurance. Where a death is being looked into by a coroner, the final death certificate can take a long time, and the Coroners Court says a case manager can issue an interim certificate to help with insurers (Coroners Court: When someone dies suddenly). Momentum's claims line is 0800 108 108 (Momentum Life: Claims).

If you are comparing guaranteed acceptance with underwritten cover, the early-period rules are one of the main differences; see non-guaranteed acceptance for how fully underwritten cover works, and the guaranteed acceptance hub. Funeral cover works differently again: see funeral insurance, where total premiums can exceed the benefit and the benefit may not cover a whole funeral.

How we are paid, and who we are

General information, not advice. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner, and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy through our link; see how we are paid and our disclosure. Momentum Life Limited's A.M. Best financial strength rating is B (Fair), affirmed 11 February 2026, and Momentum's own table puts B in its "Vulnerable" range; see its financial strength page. A rating is an opinion, not a recommendation. The buttons on this page open Momentum's own online application; nothing here asks you to apply. Written by the QuoteHub Editorial Team and reviewed by the QuoteHub Adviser Team. Last reviewed 20 October 2026.

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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.

Adviser's view

Most underwritten New Zealand life policies we read use a 13-month early period; Momentum's Quick Life uses 2 years and Funeral Insurance has no suicide clause at all. The detail that matters most is not the length but what restarts it: an increase, a reinstatement, or cancelling and rejoining. Do not assume premiums come back, because the wordings we read mostly say nothing about it. If you are worried about your own safety, help comes before paperwork.

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

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Life Insurance Suicide Clause NZ: How It Works. www.quotehub.co.nz/guaranteed-acceptance/life-insurance-suicide-clause-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.