Can you get $1 million life cover without a medical exam?

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.

You cannot get $1,000,000 of life cover through guaranteed acceptance in New Zealand. Momentum's Quick Life starts at up to $300,000 and is capped at $500,000 per person, even with its 3% yearly increases. A $1 million fully underwritten policy can be arranged without a mandatory medical exam, on the Chubb Life and Fidelity Life guides, for applicants up to age 60, but it still asks health questions.

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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

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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.

Why guaranteed acceptance stops far short of $1 million

Guaranteed acceptance means the insurer accepts you without health questions, so it limits what it will pay out. Momentum's Quick Life covers $50,000 to $300,000 per person for ages 18 to 65. The benefit rises by 3% on each policy anniversary until age 75 or a $500,000 cap per life insured, whichever comes first, and a combined limit applies across all of a person's Momentum policies (Momentum Life: Quick Life Insurance Policy Wording, November 2025). Its Funeral Insurance is $3,000 to $30,000. Neither is a route to $1 million, so this page does not offer a Momentum application for that amount.

Quick Life also carries an early period. For the first 2 years, pre-existing conditions and suicide are excluded, and the rule applies again to an increase you apply for. See guaranteed life insurance cover amounts and $500,000 cover with no medical exam for what sits below the ceiling.

When a medical exam or blood test starts to apply

Two insurers publish the amount and age at which they require medical evidence. Both add up your total cover with them, including any policy already in force and the one you are applying for, and use the highest requirement of any cover type. "Form" below means an application form or personal statement, which asks health questions but needs no mandatory exam or test. "Code A" is a GP medical or paramedical exam (or, at Chubb, a report of your medical notes) plus blood tests for HbA1c, lipids and liver function.

Chubb Life, life cover, by age at application

Total cover	0 to 45	46 to 50	51 to 60	61 and over
Up to $500,000	Form	Form	Form	Form
$500,001 to $750,000	Form	Form	Form	Code A
$750,001 to $1,000,000	Form	Form	Form	Code A
$1,000,001 to $1,500,000	Form	Form	Code A	Code A
$1,500,001 to $2,000,000	Form	Code A	Code A	Code A

Fidelity Life, life cover, by age at application

Total cover	0 to 45	46 to 50	51 to 55	56 to 60	61 and over
Up to $500,000	Form	Form	Form	Form	Form
$500,001 to $750,000	Form	Form	Form	Form	Code A
$750,001 to $1,000,000	Form	Form	Form	Form	Code A
$1,000,001 to $1,500,000	Form	Form	Code A	Code A	Code A
$1,500,001 to $2,000,000	Form	Form	Code B	Code B	Code B

Sources: Chubb Life Essential Underwriting Guide v8 (May 2025) and Fidelity Life quick reference underwriting guide (October 2025), both read on 20 October 2026. Fidelity's guide calls itself "a guideline" and is marked for adviser use, so cite it for process, not as a promise.

Read the tables this way. At exactly $1,000,000, both guides require no mandatory exam or test for anyone aged 60 or under. At 61 and over, both require Code A from $500,001. Above $1,000,000, the line moves down the age bands: at $1,000,001 to $1,500,000, Chubb requires Code A from 51 and Fidelity from 51. At higher amounts the codes step up: Chubb's Code B adds hepatitis B, blood count and kidney function (creatinine) tests, while Fidelity's Code B asks for a GP medical or a report from your own doctor with the same blood tests as Code A, and its Code C adds blood count, kidney function, hepatitis B and HIV tests. These are minimums. Both insurers reserve the right to ask for more, for example where you have disclosed a pre-existing condition, and Chubb's guide says a BMI of 37 or above needs a build exam and non-fasting blood tests whatever the amount.

Why the "no exam" part is the easy part

For a healthy applicant, the medical exam is rarely the hurdle at $1 million. The questions are. A personal statement or application form asks about your medical history, family history, lifestyle, smoking and more, and your answers decide whether the insurer asks for GP notes or tests. A form is not guaranteed acceptance: the insurer can decline, load the premium or add an exclusion.

Financial evidence is the second part. Chubb's guide lists no financial requirements for life cover up to $2.5 million, and Fidelity asks for a statement of advice or a financial questionnaire only above $2.5 million. So at $1 million, income proof is not what is holding anyone back on these two guides, although other insurers and purposes, such as business cover, can differ.

Insurers also differ from each other. Partners Life announced in October 2024 that it requires no build exam or blood tests up to a BMI of 37.99 for applicants aged 30 or under, and for others on life and medical covers if they have no cardiovascular risk factors, as trade press reported (RiskinfoNZ). That is why an adviser who can ask several insurers is useful at this size.

What $1 million costs, as a range

Cost rises steeply with age. These are indicative monthly costs for $1,000,000 of stepped life cover from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026, non-smoker, occupation class 1, standard rates with no loadings or exclusions. Each is a range across the insurers that priced it, rounded outward. Your own premium depends on underwriting. See, for example, Chubb Life's Assurance Extra brochure.

Age	Man	Woman
40	$70 to $80	$50 to $70
60	$550 to $650	$400 to $475
65	$1,125 to $1,275	$725 to $850

Momentum was not priced at $1 million, because Quick Life stops at $300,000. QuoteHub publishes no exact premium for any insurer; see the life insurance quotes page for the method. For help sizing the amount first, read how much life insurance costs and how much you need.

If you have a health condition

A condition does not rule out $1 million, but it changes what the insurer asks for and what it offers. Asteron says that with an existing condition it can usually still offer cover by adding a stand-down period, raising the premium, or excluding the condition permanently or for a set time (Asteron). Whether you can be accepted is the insurer's decision. If you would likely be declined, or loaded heavily, the guaranteed acceptance route gives cover without health questions, up to the limits above. Compare the two in guaranteed acceptance versus full medical. A new Quick Life policy carries its own 2-year period.

Who this page is for

This page suits someone who wants a large amount of cover, has seen "no medical exam" advertised, and is unsure whether it applies at $1 million. For a smaller amount without tests, see life insurance without a blood test. It does not suit someone who needs a guaranteed-acceptance policy for $1 million, because none exists in the market we checked.

How we are paid, and who we are

General information, not advice. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner, and Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy through our link; see how we are paid and our disclosure. Momentum Life Limited's A.M. Best financial strength rating is B (Fair), affirmed 11 February 2026, and Momentum's own table puts B in its "Vulnerable" range; see its financial strength page. A rating is an opinion, not a recommendation. The buttons on this page open Momentum's own online application for Quick Life or Funeral Insurance, which cannot provide $1 million of cover; for that amount, ask a licensed adviser. See the Quick Life page and the guaranteed acceptance hub. Written by the QuoteHub Editorial Team and reviewed by the QuoteHub Adviser Team. Last reviewed 20 October 2026.