Life insurance for people living with a disability
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.
Life insurance with a disability in New Zealand is a question about death cover, not about disability cover. Life insurance pays a lump sum when the person insured dies. Insurers assess each application on its facts, and the Human Rights Act allows different terms only on reasoned data. Momentum Life's Quick Life (ages 18 to 65) and Funeral Insurance (ages 40 to 75) ask no health questions.
People often search for "life insurance for disabled people" and get pages about two different things. This page is about life cover. Life cover pays your family, or whoever you name, if you die. Disability and income cover pay you while you are alive and cannot work. They are separate products with separate rules, and a policy that is easy to get in one is not necessarily available in the other. The sections below set out the difference, what the law lets insurers do, and what Momentum's wordings say.
Four covers that are often confused
Fidelity Life's underwriting guide defines the main covers in plain terms (Fidelity Life: underwriting guide).
| Cover | Pays when | Pays to |
|---|---|---|
| Life cover | The person insured dies | The owner, or the person named as beneficiary |
| Trauma cover | The person suffers a defined serious illness or condition | The person insured |
| Total and permanent disability (TPD) | The person is totally and permanently disabled and unlikely to ever work again | The person insured |
| Income protection | The person cannot work, as a monthly payment towards replacement income | The person insured |
IFSO, the insurance disputes scheme, notes that trauma cover covers only specified conditions, and that claims declined because of exclusions are a common complaint (IFSO: Life insurance). If you are looking for money to live on because of an impairment, life cover is the wrong product. Our disability insurance guide covers that side, and the disability allowance page covers a government payment for extra costs. The rest of this page is about death cover.
What the law lets insurers do
New Zealand's Human Rights Act 1993 lists disability as a prohibited ground of discrimination. It defines disability to include physical disability or impairment, physical illness, psychiatric illness, intellectual or psychological disability or impairment, and reliance on a disability assist dog, wheelchair or other remedial means (section 21(1)(h)). But section 48 says it is not a breach to offer life insurance policies on different terms for people with a disability if the different treatment is based on actuarial or statistical data on life expectancy, accidents or sickness that it is reasonable to rely on. Where no such data exists for people with a disability, the insurer may rely on reputable medical or actuarial advice, and the treatment must be reasonable in the circumstances (Human Rights Act 1993, ss 21 and 48).
In practice this means an underwriter may charge more, exclude something or decline, but is meant to have a reasoned basis for it. It does not mean that a disability leads to a decline. A disability and a higher risk of dying are not the same thing, and s 48(1)(b) requires the treatment to be reasonable having regard to the particular circumstances. We have not found any NZ insurer that publishes how it treats a particular disability, so we do not state outcomes here.
How Momentum's two products treat a disability
Neither product asks about disability, because neither asks any health questions (Momentum Life: Quick Life policy wording, November 2025; Funeral Insurance policy wording, 17 August 2023).
Quick Life is life cover from $50,000 to $300,000 to start, for ages 18 to 65, with stepped premiums that rise each year until 75. For the first 2 years it does not pay for a death, or a terminal illness diagnosis, that is "directly or indirectly related" to suicide or intentional self-harm or to a pre-existing medical 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. If death from a pre-existing condition happens in that time and no claim is payable, the premiums are refunded. After 2 years pre-existing conditions are covered, except for a few specific conditions that can be listed as permanent exclusions in the policy schedule.
What that means for a disability depends on the cause of the death. An accident in year one is covered. A death from an unrelated illness that arises after the policy starts is covered. A death linked to the condition behind the disability may not be, within the first 2 years. The wording does not list disabilities, and whether a particular impairment is "an illness, condition or symptoms" is for Momentum to decide at claim time. If that matters to you, ask Momentum or an adviser before you apply, and ask whether a permanent exclusion would be written into your schedule.
Funeral Insurance pays a fixed benefit of $3,000 to $30,000 towards costs, for ages 40 to 75, with premiums fixed each year until the 89th birthday. It has no pre-existing-condition clause. Its early restriction is different: for the first 24 months it pays only if death results from an accident and happens within 90 days of it. Any other death in that time pays no benefit and all premiums for that person are refunded. After 24 months it pays for death from any cause. Total premiums can exceed the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral, so it is not a savings plan.
Who can own a policy for another adult
Some searches come from a parent or a sibling looking at cover for an adult they support. The two wordings handle ownership differently.
| Quick Life | Funeral Insurance | |
|---|---|---|
| Who may own a policy on someone else | Immediate family, limited to parents or siblings | The insured must be a "Partner/Relative" of the owner: the owner's Partner, or a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or child of the owner or the owner's Partner (each a New Zealander) |
| An adult child owning a policy on a parent | Not listed | Allowed |
| A parent owning a policy on an adult child | Allowed, with the insured's consent | Allowed |
| Insured person's consent | Required when a family member owns the policy | The wording does not require it |
| Residency | NZ or Australian citizen, permanent resident visa, or a work visa with 6 months or more in NZ | NZ or Australian citizen, permanent resident visa, or 12 continuous months in NZ on a valid temporary work visa |
Neither wording says how consent works if the insured person cannot give it, or deals with legal arrangements such as an enduring power of attorney. Do not assume. Ask Momentum, or ask an adviser, before you pay anything. Also talk to the person being insured. A policy in the name of someone who does not know about it is a poor basis for cover.
Alternatives to guaranteed acceptance
If you can answer health questions and want a larger amount, a licensed adviser can approach insurers that ask them. Cover with health questions can be offered on standard terms, with a loading, with an exclusion, postponed or declined. Asteron Life describes the options for an existing condition as adding a stand-down period, raising the premium, or excluding the condition permanently or for a set time (Asteron Life). Answer every question completely: IFSO publishes cases where a policy was avoided or a claim reduced for non-disclosure (IFSO). Our page on guaranteed acceptance versus full medical cover sets the routes side by side, and the two-year exclusion page explains the early period in detail.
Another option is to save, which suits a person who wants a small amount for final costs and no restriction in the first years.
About Momentum Life
Before you decide on Momentum, note that A.M. Best rates Momentum Life Limited B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026, and Momentum's own scale places B in its "Vulnerable" range. A rating is an opinion, not a recommendation; Momentum's financial strength page has the detail. QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner, and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy through our link (how we are paid).
The buttons on this page open Momentum's online application for Quick Life or Funeral Insurance. If the funeral policy is for a parent, see funeral insurance for parents. Back to the guaranteed acceptance hub. This is general information, not advice for your circumstances.
Adviser's view
We found no NZ insurer that publishes how it treats any particular disability, so nobody can promise terms. Momentum's Quick Life and Funeral Insurance ask no health questions, and both restrict what they pay in the first two years. If you want a larger amount or want it underwritten on your own facts, ask a licensed adviser to approach insurers for you.
Compare life cover with a licensed NZ adviser · free, no obligation.
Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Life Insurance With a Disability NZ. www.quotehub.co.nz/guaranteed-acceptance/life-insurance-with-disability-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.
References
- Momentum Life: Quick Life Insurance Policy Wording (November 2025)
- Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording (17 August 2023)
- Momentum Life: Financial strength
- Human Rights Act 1993, sections 21 and 48 (legislation.govt.nz)
- Fidelity Life: Underwriting guide (October 2025)
- IFSO: Life insurance
- IFSO: Non-disclosure policy criteria not met (10 July 2025)
- Asteron Life: Insurance options for pre-existing conditions
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Calculators.