Life insurance after a brain tumour diagnosis

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.

Whether you can get life insurance after a brain tumour diagnosis depends on an individual assessment, and no NZ insurer publishes its terms. Momentum Life's Quick Life ($50,000 to $300,000, ages 18 to 65) asks no health questions, but pays nothing for a death related to the tumour in its first two years, and refunds premiums instead.

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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.

A brain tumour is a diagnosis that insurers will want to understand in detail: what it was, how it was treated, and where things stand now. We found no NZ insurer that publishes terms for brain tumours, and no sourced description of how long an insurer asks a person to wait. The nearest published guidance is about cancer in general, and we flag where we use it. Any page that gives you a waiting period for a benign or malignant tumour without naming an insurer document is guessing, and so we do not. What is certain is the rules of cover with no health questions, because they are written in the policy wording. This page sets those out by situation, since the right answer for someone still in treatment is different from the right answer for someone under monitoring.

What underwritten insurers ask

With a fully underwritten application, the insurer decides on your records. Asteron Life says that when someone has 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 (Asteron Life: insurance options for pre-existing conditions).

For cancer, Asteron Life also says terms depend on the date of diagnosis, type, stage, size and location, spread and treatment. It says people in remission under a year are more likely to face a stand-down, and that a wait could be anywhere from a year to ten years depending on the cancer (Asteron Life: cancer and life insurance). That article is about cancer. We do not know how any insurer classes a particular brain tumour, so it shows the kind of information an insurer weighs, not the answer for you.

So gather your diagnosis date, the pathology report, a treatment summary and your latest specialist letter before you speak to an adviser. A licensed adviser can approach several insurers; see what to do after a decline and life insurance with cancer for the wider picture.

Honest answers matter

IFSO says insureds must disclose all material information, and its published cases include insurers settling or avoiding after an omission. In one, an insurer sought to avoid cover over a childhood procedure and a past diagnosis, and the claim settled at half the life benefit (IFSO case study). From 15 November 2027 (not yet in force) the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024 sets a duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation (Contracts of Insurance Act 2024, s 13).

What Quick Life does with a brain tumour

Quick Life, from Momentum Life Limited, accepts people aged 18 to 65 automatically, with no health questions or medical exam (Quick Life policy wording, November 2025). The rules that matter:

The first 2 years. Momentum will not pay for a death or a terminal illness "directly or indirectly related" to a pre-existing condition. A pre-existing condition is any illness, condition or symptoms in the 2 years before the policy started, including anything you had treatment or advice for, and symptoms you noticed "even if undiagnosed".
If the tumour recurs within 2 years, a related death is likely to be treated as connected to a condition you already had, in which case no benefit is paid. If no claim is payable, premiums are refunded.
After 2 years, pre-existing conditions are covered, except specific conditions that can be permanently excluded and are listed in the policy schedule. Check the schedule for an exclusion linked to your tumour.
Terminal illness. Momentum's own Quick Life page excludes applicants diagnosed with a terminal illness or in palliative or hospice care (Momentum: Quick Life); that rule is on the page, not in the wording. The wording defines terminal illness as an illness expected, even with treatment, to lead to death within 12 months, confirmed by a practitioner Momentum approves.
Premiums are stepped and rise each year until 75, and total premiums can exceed the benefit.

What each situation looks like

Your situation	Quick Life	Funeral Insurance
Currently diagnosed or in treatment	Tumour-related death in the first 2 years is excluded; not available if terminally ill or in palliative care	No health questions; first 24 months pay only for accidental death; other deaths refund premiums
Treatment finished, on monitoring	A related death in the first 2 years is likely to be excluded, as follow-up treatment and monitoring are likely to count as pre-existing	Same 24-month window; after it, any cause pays
Waiting on scans or results	Symptoms you have already noticed count as pre-existing, even undiagnosed	Same 24-month window
Tumour first diagnosed after you took cover	Not caught by the pre-existing-condition rule as a new condition; the terminal illness benefit can apply if death is expected within 12 months	Not paid in the first 24 months unless the death is accidental

These are readings of the wording, not predictions of a claim decision; Momentum decides each claim on the facts.

Funeral Insurance: ages 40 to 75

Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance, for New Zealanders aged 40 to 75, asks no health questions and pays $3,000 to $30,000 (Funeral Insurance policy wording, 17 August 2023). It has no pre-existing-condition clause, but for the first 24 months only an accidental death (death within 90 days of the accident) pays, and any other death refunds all premiums for that person. After that window, death from any cause pays. Total premiums can exceed the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral, so weigh it against saving the money, or a plan with a funeral director. See what funeral insurance is and the Funeral Insurance page.

What an adviser can and cannot do

An adviser cannot change what an insurer decides, and cannot say in advance whether a particular insurer will accept your history. An adviser can put the full record to several insurers, explain any offer, and tell you where a no-health-question product is a sensible fallback. Advisers are generally paid commission by the insurer, which they must disclose (FMA: insurance advice). If you or someone close to you has a terminal diagnosis, see life insurance with terminal illness.

Momentum Life Limited is rated B (Fair) by A.M. Best, in the agency's "Vulnerable" range on Momentum's own table (Momentum: financial strength). The buttons on this page go to Momentum's online quote, which is one option; QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner (how we are paid).

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 brain tumour makes fully underwritten cover a matter for an individual assessment that no NZ insurer publishes in advance. No-health-question cover can be taken out, but a death related to the tumour inside the first two years pays nothing and returns premiums, and Quick Life is not available to someone with a terminal illness. Read the early-period rules before you pay anything.

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

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Life Insurance With a Brain Tumour NZ. www.quotehub.co.nz/guaranteed-acceptance/life-insurance-with-brain-tumour-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, For Brokers.