Life insurance with blindness or visual impairment

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.

Being blind or having low vision does not stop you applying for life insurance in New Zealand. Momentum's Funeral Insurance (ages 40 to 75) and Quick Life (ages 18 to 65) ask no health questions. We found no insurer that publishes terms for visual impairment on cover that does ask, so the outcome depends on the cause and the insurer.

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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.

Death cover is life insurance that pays a lump sum when the person insured dies. It is a different product from cover that pays when you are disabled, ill or unable to work, and the difference matters more here than the impairment itself. A visual impairment is a health fact an insurer may weigh on an application. What an insurer weighs is the cause (an eye condition on its own, an injury, or an effect of a wider condition such as diabetes), whether it is stable, and which benefit you are asking for. No New Zealand insurer we read gives a rule or loading for blindness, so this page sets out what is published, flags what is not, and says what to ask. It is general information, not advice about your situation.

Death cover and disability cover are different

Benefit	What it pays on	Where an existing impairment is more likely to matter
Life cover (death)	Death	Less often, because the trigger is death, but the insurer still assesses the whole application
Total and permanent disability (TPD)	Being totally and permanently disabled and unlikely to ever work again (Fidelity's definition)	More likely, because the trigger is a disability
Trauma	A defined serious illness or condition	More likely, since only listed conditions pay (IFSO)
Income protection	A monthly amount while you cannot work	More likely, since the trigger is inability to work

Definitions are from Fidelity's underwriting guide and IFSO, retrieved 20 October 2026. The last column is our reasoning from how each benefit is triggered. It is not a published rule, and we did not find an insurer that says how it treats a pre-existing visual impairment in any of these benefits. Ask in writing whether the impairment would be excluded, loaded or accepted before you rely on a disability-type benefit. See TPD versus income protection and life insurance with a disability.

Cover that asks health questions

Insurers that ask health questions decide on your history. For cover up to $500,000, Fidelity's published minimum is an application form and Chubb's is a personal statement, at every age band; a disclosed condition can lead to more evidence being requested (Fidelity guide, Chubb guide). Expect to be asked what caused the impairment, when, and what treatment you have had. In Chubb's adviser article on diabetes, the underwriter's list includes complications, age at diagnosis and how well the condition is controlled (Chubb). If your sight loss is linked to diabetes, that applies to you. Asteron describes three common outcomes for an existing condition: a stand-down period, a higher premium or an exclusion of the condition (Asteron).

Answer every question fully. IFSO case notes show insurers avoiding policies and reducing claims for non-disclosure (IFSO).

Guaranteed acceptance and a visual impairment

Quick Life (ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000) asks no health questions, and its price comes from age, gender, smoking status and sum insured. Your impairment is not asked about, so it does not set the price. The early period is the catch. In its first 2 years, a death or terminal illness diagnosis that is directly or indirectly related to a pre-existing condition is not paid. The wording's definition looks back 2 years from the start date, and it names "complications related to diabetes" as one of the markers (Quick Life wording, November 2025).

Two points follow. First, the exclusion applies to deaths related to the condition. A death from an accident is covered from the start, and a death from an unrelated new illness is covered too. Whether a given death is related is decided at claim, so we cannot say. Second, if diabetes complications caused the sight loss, the wording's own marker puts that history inside the exclusion. Once the 2 years have passed the exclusion lapses, apart from any named permanent exclusions in your policy schedule. Within the first 24 months, a refund of premiums replaces the benefit where a pre-existing condition caused the death and no claim is payable. Quick Life has no disability or trauma benefit; it pays on accidental death, death from any cause and terminal illness.

Funeral Insurance (ages 40 to 75, $3,000 to $30,000) is the other no-questions option, and it has no pre-existing condition clause at all. Its only early restriction is the 24-month window: accidental death within 90 days of the accident is paid, a death from illness is not, and the premiums for that person are returned. After the window it covers any cause, so sight loss matters to this product only through the death itself. Premiums over the years can add up to more than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover a full funeral.

Applying when the form is a barrier

We have not tested Momentum's online application with a screen reader or other assistive technology, so we cannot say how well it works. Momentum sells by phone as well as online, and a licensed adviser can take you through any insurer's application. If you want to compare underwritten cover first, our page on guaranteed acceptance against full underwriting sets out the trade-off. QuoteHub's life insurance premium ranges are standard-rate and assume no loadings, so they show what a healthy person pays, not what a loaded policy would.

What to ask an adviser

Would the impairment be excluded, loaded or accepted for life cover, and for any disability-type benefit?
Does the cause (injury, eye condition or a wider condition) change the answer?
What does a guaranteed acceptance policy pay in the first two years if the death is unrelated to the impairment?
What amount do I need? Our guide on how much life insurance costs can start that conversation.

Where to get advice

The buttons on this page lead to Momentum's online quote, one option among several. 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 calls "vulnerable" (Momentum). Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). For plan details, see Quick Life, Funeral Insurance and the guaranteed acceptance hub, or start with what guaranteed acceptance is.