Life insurance options with lupus in NZ

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.

Life insurance with lupus in New Zealand turns on how lupus affects you, and we found no insurer here that publishes its terms. On cover with health questions, expect questions about which organs are involved and how active it is. Momentum's Quick Life, for ages 18 to 65, asks no health questions but for 2 years does not pay a death related to a pre-existing condition.

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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.

Lupus, also called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune condition. Healthify NZ describes it as chronic and complex, affecting different people in different ways, with times when it is well controlled and times of flare-ups. About 1 in 900 people in Aotearoa New Zealand are diagnosed with it, it is more common in women, and it is usually diagnosed between ages 15 and 45. It is more common in Pacific Peoples, Māori and Asian people. It may affect the joints and skin, and it can also affect blood vessels and internal organs such as the kidneys, brain, heart and lungs (Healthify: Lupus). That variability is the reason insurers ask for detail, and the reason this page cannot give a single answer.

Why the question is "which organs", not just "lupus"

When two people both have a lupus diagnosis, one may have a rash and sore joints, and the other may have kidney involvement. An underwriter weighing a life application sees those as different risks. We found no NZ insurer that publishes how it rates any form of lupus, so we do not draw a line between a type that is accepted and a type that is declined, and anyone who offers one is guessing. What we can describe is the information you should expect to be asked for:

the date of diagnosis, and who made it (rheumatologist, GP or other specialist);
which parts of the body have been affected, and when;
current medication and any recent changes to it;
the frequency and severity of flares, and any hospital admissions;
kidney function results, if the kidneys have ever been involved;
other conditions, such as high blood pressure.

Insurers' underwriting guides list kidney function tests among their checks at higher evidence levels (Fidelity Life: underwriting guide). Our pages on kidney disease and rheumatoid arthritis, another autoimmune joint condition, cover related questions. Asteron Life says that with an existing condition an insurer can add a stand-down period, raise the premium, or exclude the condition permanently or for a set time (Asteron Life). Which of those applies to lupus, if any, is for the insurer.

Smoking, flares and price

Healthify NZ lists smoking among the triggers for lupus flares, with UV exposure, infections, certain medicines, stress and hormones. Smoking also sets your price. Fidelity Life and Chubb Life both require 12 months free of tobacco and nicotine replacement to be rated as a non-smoker, and under Quick Life a policyholder who started as a smoker can apply to change to non-smoker rates after quitting for 24 consecutive months (Chubb Life: underwriting guide, May 2025; Momentum Life: Quick Life policy wording, November 2025). If you smoke and have lupus, stopping may help your health and your premium, but speak to your doctor first.

What Quick Life does with lupus

Quick Life is for ages 18 to 65 and starts at $50,000 to $300,000 of cover; stepped premiums rise each year until 75. There are no health questions and no medical exam. For the first 2 years it does not pay for a death, or a terminal illness diagnosis, "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.

Anyone with lupus who had symptoms, treatment or advice in the 2 years before the policy is inside that definition. "Indirectly related" is the phrase to read carefully. Lupus can affect more than one organ, and a death from, say, a kidney or heart event in someone with lupus could be treated as related. The wording does not say where Momentum draws the line, and the decision is made at claim time.

A decision path may help, with each step based on the wording:

Is an accident the risk you want covered from day one? Accidental death is paid from the start, in both Momentum products.
Are you 65 or under, and is $50,000 to $300,000 enough? If not, Quick Life is not the fit, and cover with health questions through an adviser is the route to price.
Can you wait 2 years for related deaths to be covered? If a related death happens in the first 24 months and no claim is payable, 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. The wording does not list them, so ask what your schedule would say.
Would you ever cancel and rejoin? The 2 years restart on reinstatement after a lapse, and a new policy taken out after cancelling starts its own 2 years. After the first 30 days, premiums already paid are not refunded on cancellation, so a gap in cover puts you back at the start of the wait.

Momentum's own page also says Quick Life is not available to applicants diagnosed with a terminal illness or in palliative or hospice care (Momentum Life: Quick Life).

It can, after the first 24 months. Funeral Insurance, for ages 40 to 75, pays a fixed benefit of $3,000 to $30,000 towards costs. It asks no health questions and has no pre-existing-condition clause. For the first 24 months it pays only for accidental death within 90 days of the accident, and any other death pays nothing and refunds all premiums for that person. After 24 months it pays for death from any cause, including lupus-related. Premiums are fixed each year until the 89th birthday. Total premiums can exceed the benefit, and it may not cover the whole funeral (Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording, 17 August 2023).

Putting it together

	Cover with health questions	Quick Life	Funeral Insurance
Lupus asked about	Yes, in detail	No	No
Ages	Set by each insurer	18 to 65	40 to 75
Amount	Higher amounts possible	$50,000 to $300,000 to start	$3,000 to $30,000
Related death in year one	Per the terms offered	No benefit; premiums refunded	No benefit; premiums refunded
Accidental death in year one	Per the terms offered	Paid	Paid, at 3 times the benefit if within 90 days

On a cover with health questions, answer every question completely. IFSO publishes cases where a policy was avoided or a claim reduced for non-disclosure (IFSO). See guaranteed acceptance versus full medical cover for the comparison.

About Momentum Life

Momentum Life Limited's A.M. Best financial strength rating is B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026, in the "Vulnerable" range of Momentum's own scale. The rating is not a recommendation; see Momentum's financial strength page. 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. Read more on the two-year exclusion, the pre-existing conditions guide and the guaranteed acceptance hub. This is general information, not advice.

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

No NZ insurer publishes how it rates lupus, so we do not predict outcomes or draw a line at which cover is declined. Which organs are affected is the question to expect. Quick Life asks no health questions but does not pay a death related to a pre-existing condition in the first 2 years, refunding premiums instead. Compare it with an adviser's approach to insurers before deciding.

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

Compare life cover with a licensed NZ adviser · free, no obligation.

Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Life Insurance With Lupus NZ. www.quotehub.co.nz/guaranteed-acceptance/life-insurance-with-lupus-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

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