Life insurance with ulcerative colitis 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.

Yes, you can apply for life insurance with ulcerative colitis in New Zealand, and the insurer decides the terms after reading your history. No insurer we read publishes a loading, waiting period or decline rate for the condition, so nobody can honestly promise an outcome. Momentum's Quick Life asks no health questions, but it excludes pre-existing conditions for its first 2 years.

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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.

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes swelling and ulcers in the lining of the large intestine (colon); treatment aims to reduce inflammation, prevent flare-ups and keep the condition in remission, and surgery to remove the colon or part of the bowel is an option for severe cases (Healthify). For insurance, the useful point is that it is a long-term condition with a history: a diagnosis date, treatment, flares, possibly hospital stays or surgery. Insurers that ask health questions price and accept on that history. Insurers that ask none cannot, so they limit the early years of cover instead. This page explains both routes and what is not known. It is general information, not advice.

What no insurer publishes

In the insurer guidance and wordings we read for this page, none lists terms for ulcerative colitis: no percentage loading, no standard waiting period, no age or year-count after which cover is offered on standard terms. The same is true for a stoma or a pouch operation after bowel surgery. Some websites claim that surgery, such as removing the whole colon, improves the underwriting outcome because it removes active disease. We found no insurer source for that, so we do not repeat it. Surgery could help, hurt or change nothing in a given case, and your adviser should ask the insurer.

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are separate diagnoses, so do not assume terms for one apply to the other. Tell the adviser exactly what you were diagnosed with.

What is published is the general way terms work. Asteron says that where someone has 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). The outcomes in the table are the ones available to an underwriter. Which one you receive is an individual decision.

Outcome	What it means
Standard terms	Offered at the normal price for your age, smoking status and amount
Loading	Premium raised for the extra risk
Exclusion	The condition (or related causes) not covered, permanently or for a set time
Postponement	The insurer asks you to apply again later
Decline	No cover offered

What you will be asked

No insurer lists its colitis questions, but insurers' own guidance for other conditions shows the pattern. Chubb's article for advisers on diabetes says underwriters want the age at diagnosis, how long ago, how well the condition is controlled and any complications (Chubb). Expect similar questions here: when you were diagnosed, your current and past treatment, any flares and hospital stays, any bowel surgery, and your specialist's name. The insurer may ask for GP or specialist records.

Published minimums for evidence are only a floor. Fidelity and Chubb both state that cover up to $500,000 needs only an application form or personal statement at every age band, but a disclosed condition can trigger more (Fidelity guide, Chubb guide).

Disclose everything asked, including symptoms and tests that did not lead to a diagnosis. IFSO's published colon-cancer case shows how this can go wrong: the insurer tried to avoid the cover over a childhood colonoscopy and a 2013 anaemia diagnosis, the anaemia was found to be material, and the claim settled at half the life benefit, $95,664 (IFSO). That case was not about ulcerative colitis, but the lesson applies to any bowel history. See non-disclosure in New Zealand and how insurers access medical records.

From 15 November 2027 (not yet in force) the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024 replaces the duty to disclose everything with a duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation (Act). Until then, answer as fully as you can.

How guaranteed acceptance treats ulcerative colitis

Guaranteed acceptance means no health questions, so your bowel history is not part of the acceptance decision. Price is set from age, gender, smoking status and the amount, not from your bowel history. The cost is in the early period.

Quick Life (ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000 per life). For the first 2 years it does not pay a benefit for death, or a terminal illness diagnosis, related to a pre-existing condition. The wording defines that as any illness, condition or symptoms in the 2 years before the policy started, including anything you had treatment or advice for or noticed symptoms of, even if undiagnosed (Quick Life wording, November 2025). Ulcerative colitis you have been treated for in that period fits the definition. If death is from a pre-existing condition in the first 24 months and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded. After 2 years pre-existing conditions are covered, except some specific conditions that can be permanently excluded; the wording says any are listed in your policy, but we do not know which, and the general wording does not say. A new condition that starts after cover begins is covered from the start. Increasing the cover yourself starts a new 2-year period for the increase (automatic increases do not), and cancelling and rejoining restarts the 2 years.

Funeral Insurance (ages 40 to 75, $3,000 to $30,000). It has no health questions and no pre-existing condition clause, so a stoma or past surgery does not matter at application. In the first 24 months it pays only if death is the direct result of an accident and occurs within 90 days of it; any other death in that time pays nothing and all premiums for the person are refunded. After 24 months it pays for death from any cause. Total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover a whole funeral. See Funeral Insurance.

Which route to try first

If your ulcerative colitis is in remission and you are otherwise well, ask an adviser to test the market with cover that asks health questions first. If it is accepted on standard or modestly loaded terms, it can offer more cover for less than a guaranteed acceptance policy, and it does not carry Quick Life's blanket 2-year pre-existing condition exclusion, although an insurer can still exclude the condition by name. If you are declined, postponed or offered terms you cannot accept, guaranteed acceptance becomes the practical fallback. See guaranteed acceptance versus full medical underwriting and the two-year exclusion.

Do not cancel existing cover to move. The Financial Markets Authority says to keep the old policy running until the new one is in force and to watch for new qualifying periods and exclusions (FMA).

Where to get advice

The buttons on this page lead to Momentum's online quote. Momentum is one option, not a verdict on your case. 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. Momentum Life's A.M. Best rating is B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026 and in the range Momentum's own table labels "vulnerable"; read Momentum's financial strength page before you decide. A licensed adviser can approach several insurers for you. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). More on the hub: guaranteed acceptance, or the plain explainer what is guaranteed acceptance. Plan details: Quick Life.

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

You can apply for life insurance with ulcerative colitis, and the insurer decides the terms after it reads your history. No New Zealand insurer we read publishes a loading, wait or decline rate for the condition, so nobody can honestly promise an outcome. Guaranteed acceptance is a fallback with no health questions, but ulcerative colitis you have now is a pre-existing condition for Quick Life's first two years.

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

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

References

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