What is non-guaranteed acceptance? Underwritten cover in NZ
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.
Non-guaranteed acceptance is a name some people use for fully underwritten life insurance. The insurer asks about your health, family history and lifestyle, may ask for medical evidence, and then decides whether to accept you, at what price and with which exclusions. Guaranteed acceptance, such as Momentum's Quick Life, asks no health questions and accepts applicants who meet its age and residency rules.
"Non-guaranteed" is a search phrase, not an insurer's product name. Insurers call the process underwriting. Underwriting is the assessment an insurer makes of the risk you present, using your answers, your records and sometimes tests, before it sets the terms. Because the insurer can say no or add conditions, acceptance is not guaranteed. This page explains how that assessment works, what it can produce, and when it is the better route than guaranteed acceptance.
How fully underwritten cover is assessed
The steps vary by insurer, but they follow a pattern.
- Application. You complete a form or answer questions by phone about your health, family history, smoking, occupation and pastimes. Fidelity Life's underwriting guide says telephone underwriting is its preferred way of getting additional information, that calls are recorded, and that what you say forms part of your application (Fidelity Life underwriting guide, October 2025).
- Evidence, if needed. Whether the insurer asks for medical records or tests depends on the amount, your age, your build and what you disclose. Chubb Life and Fidelity Life both publish that up to $500,000 they need only a form or personal statement at every age. See medical exams and blood tests for the tables.
- Assessment. The underwriter weighs the answers and any evidence.
- Decision. You receive an offer on standard terms, an offer with changes, a postponement or a decline.
Fidelity also offers a pre-assessment before you apply, which it describes as "not an offer of cover, nor a binding final assessment" and "an indication of possible terms only". Our underwriting process guide walks through each step.
What the insurer can decide
| Outcome | What it means |
|---|---|
| Standard terms | Cover at the standard rate for your age, gender and smoking status |
| Loading | A higher premium for the added risk |
| Exclusion | A named condition is not covered, permanently or for a set time |
| Postponement | The insurer asks you to wait, then reconsiders |
| Decline | No cover is offered |
Asteron Life says that even 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 Life). Loadings are published for few conditions. Chubb Life's adviser article says Type 1 diabetes is most commonly offered life cover only "with a loading of at least 100%", and that a well-controlled Type 2 diagnosis made later in life "may have a loading of 50-75%" (Chubb Life). That is one insurer's guidance for one condition, not a rule or a promise. We publish no loadings for other conditions because insurers do not. Read premium loadings for how they work.
What moves the price
Your health, smoking and build set your terms, so the price is personal. QuoteHub's Premium Index shows how much smoking alone matters. Here are indicative monthly costs for $500,000 of stepped life cover for a man from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026, occupation class 1, standard rates with no loadings or exclusions, as ranges across the insurers that priced them, rounded outward. Your own premium depends on underwriting.
| Age | Non-smoker | Smoker |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | $40 to $50 | $90 to $110 |
| 50 | $90 to $120 | $200 to $275 |
| 60 | $300 to $375 | $675 to $800 |
Chubb and Fidelity both need 12 months without tobacco or nicotine replacement, including nicotine vaping, before they treat you as a non-smoker; Momentum needs 24 consecutive months (Fidelity Life underwriting guide, Chubb Life Essential Underwriting Guide). Chubb also offers a "Lifetime Reward" discount to non-smokers with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.99. See the cost of smoking for the method.
Underwritten versus guaranteed acceptance
| Non-guaranteed (fully underwritten) | Guaranteed acceptance (Quick Life) | |
|---|---|---|
| Health questions | Yes | None |
| Entry ages | AIA and Chubb Life 10 to 70; Fidelity Life 16 to 75 | 18 to 65 |
| Cover amount | No maximum at some insurers, subject to assessment | $50,000 to $300,000 at the start; capped at $500,000 per person |
| Pre-existing conditions | Covered unless the insurer excludes or loads them | Excluded for the first 2 years |
| Suicide | 13 months in the wordings we read | Excluded for 2 years |
| Can you be declined for health? | Yes | No health questions; Momentum's site excludes anyone with a terminal diagnosis |
| Price for a healthy person | Usually lower if accepted on standard terms | Set by age, gender, smoking status and amount, not health |
| Premiums | Stepped or level, by insurer | Stepped to 75, then fixed |
The entry ages are from AIA, Chubb Life's brochure and Fidelity Life, read on 20 October 2026.
A rubric: which route fits
This is a framework for thinking, not a recommendation for you.
| If this is true of you | It points towards |
|---|---|
| You are healthy and likely to be accepted on standard terms | Underwritten: higher cover and a lower price |
| You need more than $300,000, for a mortgage or income replacement | Underwritten: Quick Life starts at up to $300,000 |
| You might claim within 2 years, or have symptoms you have not had checked | Underwritten, because Quick Life excludes pre-existing conditions for 2 years; see the two-year exclusion |
| You have been declined, loaded heavily, or do not want to answer health questions | Guaranteed acceptance, accepting its limits |
| You are over 65 | Quick Life is closed; underwritten entry ages run to 70 or 75 at the insurers above |
| You are unsure | Ask a licensed adviser for a pre-assessment |
Honesty on the form
Whatever the route, answer every question. IFSO says the law puts an obligation on insureds to disclose all material information, and it has published cases where insurers reduced or avoided claims because information was left out (IFSO). From 15 November 2027 (not yet in force), the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024 replaces that broad duty with a duty to take reasonable care and sets proportionate remedies (FMA). Until then, disclose everything you are asked.
Why an adviser helps with underwritten cover
An adviser can ask several insurers, explain the questions and compare the terms offered. They cannot make an insurer accept you. The Financial Markets Authority says most insurance advisers receive commission from the insurer, built into the premium, and must disclose it (FMA: Insurance advice). For the wider comparison, see what guaranteed acceptance is and guaranteed acceptance versus full medical.
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 are guaranteed acceptance products and not underwritten cover. 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.
Adviser's view
Non-guaranteed acceptance is simply fully underwritten cover, and a healthy person can usually get more cover for less this way: higher amounts, no blanket two-year pre-existing exclusion and a lower price if accepted on standard terms. Its cost is the questions, the wait and the chance of a loading, exclusion or decline. Guaranteed acceptance is the right answer when those risks are the problem, not as a default.
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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). What Is Non-Guaranteed Acceptance? Underwritten Cover NZ. www.quotehub.co.nz/guaranteed-acceptance/non-guaranteed-acceptance-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.
References
- Fidelity Life: Quick reference underwriting guide (October 2025)
- Chubb Life: Essential Underwriting Guide v8 (May 2025)
- Chubb Life: Assurance Extra Life and Life Income Cover brochure (v6)
- Chubb Life: Diving into diabetes
- Asteron Life: Insurance options for pre-existing conditions
- AIA New Zealand: Life insurance
- Fidelity Life: Life cover
- Momentum Life: Quick Life Insurance Policy Wording (November 2025)
- Momentum Life: Financial strength
- IFSO: Non-disclosure case
- FMA: Contracts of Insurance Act 2024
- FMA: Insurance advice
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