Can you get new cover after a terminal 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.

We found no New Zealand insurer that publishes an offer of new cover to pay for an illness you are already dying from. Guaranteed acceptance policies take away the health questions, but their early periods remove this kind of claim. Momentum's Funeral Insurance pays only for accidental death for its first 24 months and refunds all premiums after any other death.

Terminal illness means an illness that, even with treatment, is expected to lead to death within 12 months; that is how Momentum's Quick Life wording defines it, and it must be confirmed by a medical practitioner the insurer approves. Two different questions sit under this search. The first is whether a person can buy new cover after a diagnosis. For an illness that is already present, the answer is almost always no in practice, whatever the product's name promises. The second is what a policy already in force pays when its owner is diagnosed. That answer depends on the wording, and it is where most of the help is. This page deals with both, honestly, and then lists other steps that are worth taking. It is general information, not advice about your situation.

Why new cover will not pay for an illness you already have

Cover with health questions is assessed on your health. An insurer asked to cover someone with a terminal diagnosis can decline, postpone or exclude the condition. Asteron says that for an existing condition it can often still offer cover by adding a stand-down period, raising the premium, or excluding the condition permanently or for a set time (Asteron). We did not find any published terms for a terminal diagnosis, and a policy that excludes the very illness at issue would not pay for it.

Answers must be complete and true. IFSO case notes show insurers avoiding policies or reducing claims for non-disclosure, in one case paying a stroke claim at a reduced amount after applying retrospective loadings (IFSO). A policy bought on incomplete answers may not pay.

Guaranteed acceptance cover has no health questions, so there is nothing to disclose. The protection for the insurer comes from the early period instead. That is why these products do not work as an immediate death benefit.

What the early periods do

	Funeral Insurance (Momentum)	Quick Life (Momentum)
Entry ages	40 to 75	18 to 65
First window	24 months	2 years
What happens if the person dies of the illness in that window	No benefit; all premiums for that person are refunded	No benefit if the death or terminal illness is related to a pre-existing condition; premiums are refunded if there is no claim to be paid
After the window	Pays for death from any cause	Pays for death from any cause, and for terminal illness (death expected within 12 months)
Terminal illness benefit	None	Yes, subject to the rules above

Sources: Momentum's wordings (Funeral Insurance, 17 August 2023; Quick Life, November 2025).

Funeral Insurance. The wording has no health questions and no separate pre-existing condition clause. For the first 24 months it pays only if death is the direct result of an accident and happens within 90 days of it. A person who dies of an illness in that time is not paid; the premiums are returned. A policy can also be owned by a relative, such as an adult child, so the question "can I buy it for someone who is dying" has a literal answer. It is still the same policy with the same rule. Funeral Insurance also has no terminal illness benefit, so a diagnosis alone pays nothing.

Quick Life. Momentum's own Quick Life page says it is not available to applicants diagnosed with a terminal illness, or in palliative or hospice care (Momentum). That rule is on the page, not in the wording, so check the page's current terms. Even without it, the wording excludes any pre-existing condition for the first 2 years, and that applies to a terminal illness diagnosis as well as to a death. Pre-existing includes symptoms noticed in the 2 years before cover started, even if undiagnosed. An illness that is already terminal falls inside that definition.

Neither product works as a way round a short prognosis. Both limit the first two years so that cover with no health questions is not an immediate payout for an illness that already exists.

Assisted dying

The End of Life Choice Act 2019 says a person who dies by assisted dying is, for any contract of life insurance, taken to have died of their terminal illness as if assisted dying had not been provided (section 35, legislation.govt.nz). That means it does not change which early-period rules apply.

If you already have cover

This is the better news. Check each policy you hold, including cover through a bank, a workplace or KiwiSaver provider, before doing anything else, and do not cancel or change one without advice.

Product	What its published terms say about terminal illness
Momentum Quick Life	Pays when death is expected within 12 months, confirmed by an approved practitioner; Momentum can ask for a specialist second opinion at its cost and that opinion is final; paying the benefit ends cover for that person
Momentum Funeral Insurance	No terminal illness benefit
NZ Seniors and OneChoice funeral cover	Lists a terminal illness benefit for 12 months or less to live; the first 12 months pay only for accidental death and accidental serious injury, so check when it starts
AA Life funeral cover	Terminal illness cover starts after 24 months
Greenwich Life QuickCover Life	Terminal illness benefit for 12 months; existing conditions are not covered for the first two years
Kiwibank life cover (nib)	A Funeral Expenses lump sum of $15,000 on death or terminal illness (12 months), at no extra cost

Sources: NZ Seniors, AA Life, Greenwich Life, Kiwibank, retrieved 20 October 2026. Terms differ by policy date, so read your own schedule. Our guide to the terminal illness benefit explains how these benefits work across life cover.

For a Momentum policy, claims go to 0800 108 108 or [email protected], and the Terminal Illness claim form is one of the forms listed on Momentum's claims page. A Momentum benefit is usually paid within 48 hours of approval, and the clock starts at approval, not at diagnosis.

Other steps that help

A will. It must be in writing, signed and witnessed by at least two witnesses present together (Wills Act 2007, s 11; legislation.govt.nz). See making a will.
An enduring power of attorney. It lets someone you choose make decisions if you lose capacity; the donor must be over 18 and competent when signing, and it ends when the donor dies (govt.nz). See power of attorney and advance care planning.
Paying for the funeral. The Work and Income Funeral Grant is up to $2,697.43 (page updated 24 June 2026), counts the assets of the person who has died, adds an income and asset test when that person was your partner or child, and prepaid funeral cover can stop you getting it (Work and Income). A prepaid trust such as Now For Them is not a savings or investment product and pays no interest (FDANZ). See paying for a funeral.
Set-aside savings. A separate account kept for the purpose is also an option, and it has no early period.

Premiums for funeral cover can add up to more than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover a whole funeral. For other conditions, see life insurance with stage 4 cancer, life insurance after a decline and the two-year exclusion explained.

Where to get advice

Momentum has no product that suits a terminal diagnosis, so this page does not point you to one. 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 and our disclosure. Momentum Life's A.M. Best financial strength rating is B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026, which sits in the range Momentum's own table calls "vulnerable" (Momentum); a rating is not a recommendation. A licensed adviser can read your existing policies and tell you what they pay. 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.

Adviser's view

New cover bought after a terminal diagnosis is very unlikely to pay for that illness. Guaranteed acceptance products take away the health questions, not the early-period rules, and those rules are written for exactly this situation. The useful questions are about cover already in place, a will, an enduring power of attorney and how the funeral will be paid.

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

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Life Insurance After a Terminal Diagnosis NZ. www.quotehub.co.nz/guaranteed-acceptance/life-insurance-with-terminal-illness-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

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