Term life insurance 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 can get life cover in New Zealand without a medical exam, but usually not without health questions. Cover that asks you to declare your health can skip the exam below set amounts. Momentum Life's Quick Life asks no health questions at all, but it is not a fixed-term policy: it renews every year, with premiums that rise until age 75.

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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.

Term life insurance is cover that pays a lump sum if the person insured dies, and in the textbook version it lasts a fixed number of years at a premium set for that period. New Zealand insurers use the word loosely. Fidelity Life describes a Level Term option that "starts a bit higher" and stays the same for the term (Fidelity Life). AIA offers premiums level for 10 years, to 65 or to 80, then converting to rate-for-age (AIA Living umbrella wording). Yet Fidelity's life cover has "no expiry age" and Chubb's Assurance Extra Life Cover never expires (Chubb brochure), so the term is often your premium pattern, not the length of cover. Quick Life, issued by Momentum Life Limited, sits at the other end: guaranteed acceptance, annual renewal, and an early period that restricts what is paid. The rest of this page keeps the two apart.

Is term life insurance available without a medical exam?

There are three different things people mean by "no exam".

Cover with health questions, where no exam is triggered. You answer questions or take a phone interview and the insurer decides. Fidelity's underwriting guide lists an application form alone as the minimum evidence for life cover up to $500,000 at every age band, and Chubb's guide lists a personal statement alone (Fidelity guide; Chubb guide). These are minimums, not promises: a condition you disclose can lead to more requirements, a loading, an exclusion or a decline. Above $500,000, requirements step up with age and amount; from $500,001 at 61 and over, Fidelity's guide lists a GP medical or paramedical exam with blood tests.
Guaranteed acceptance with no health questions. Momentum Life's Quick Life is the example this site covers: ages 18 to 65, $50,000 to $300,000, no health questions or medical exam (Momentum Life: Quick Life policy wording, November 2025).
Another guaranteed-acceptance life product. Greenwich Life's QuickCover Life says acceptance is guaranteed regardless of medical history, for ages 21 to 60 and $50,000 to $200,000, with existing conditions not covered for the first two years and premiums that rise with age (Greenwich Life).

Underwritten cover has entry ages that run to 70 or 75 (Fidelity 16 to 75; Chubb and AIA Life Cover 10 to 70). If you are over 65, Quick Life is closed to you, and the question is whether an insurer with health questions will accept you.

How the structures differ

	Level-premium cover with health questions	Quick Life (guaranteed acceptance)
What you are asked	Health and lifestyle questions; sometimes records or tests	No health questions, no medical exam; age, gender and smoking status set the price
Length of cover	Fidelity and Chubb life cover have no expiry age, and AIA Life Cover has none	For life, or until cancelled
Premium pattern	Stepped, or level for a chosen period (for example AIA 10 years; Chubb 5 or 10 year review periods)	The policy runs one year at a time and renews automatically; premiums are recalculated each anniversary and generally rise until 75, then are fixed
Cover amount	Large amounts available	$50,000 to $300,000 at the start, rising 3% a year to age 75 or a $500,000 cap per person
Early period	No blanket early exclusion for existing conditions; the terms the insurer accepts you on are set out in your offer. Fidelity and Chubb exclude suicide for 13 months from the start	First 2 years: pre-existing conditions and suicide are excluded; accidental death and new conditions are covered
Terminal illness	Varies by policy; check the schedule	Paid early if death is expected within 12 months
Cash value	Check the policy	None; Quick Life is protection only

The row that matters most for a buyer comparing the two is the premium pattern. A level quote and a stepped quote are not comparable by their first-year price. The Financial Markets Authority notes that cover that is cheaper at first can cost more over time (FMA: Insurance). Our guide to stepped versus level premiums and the stepped premium projection tool show the pattern.

What Quick Life's structure means in practice

Annual renewal. The wording says the policy "runs for 1 year at a time" and renews automatically on the same terms. Momentum Life can change premiums for everyone on the same offer if tax or other law changes, or if claims experience is significantly different from expected, with at least 30 days' written notice.
Stepped premiums. Each anniversary the premium is reset for age, gender and smoking status, and it generally rises. From 75 the premium is fixed for the rest of the policy.
Indexation. The benefit rises 3% each anniversary until 75 or $500,000 per person, whichever comes first. You can opt out of an increase in any year and remain eligible for later ones, but the premium rises with the benefit.
The early period. In the first 2 years no benefit is paid for a death, or terminal illness diagnosis, related to a pre-existing condition or to suicide or self-harm. If death comes from a pre-existing condition within the first 24 months and no claim is payable, premiums are refunded. The detail is on our two-year exclusion page.
Always excluded. Deaths caused by alcohol or drug effects, war, terrorism, criminal activity, and listed dangerous jobs or pastimes are not paid at any time.
No guarantee on total cost. Momentum says Quick Life is not a savings plan, and total premiums might be more than the benefit paid out.

What happens at 65 and at 75

Sixty-five is Quick Life's entry limit, not a cut-off for existing holders. If a person's true age at the start was over 65, the policy is void and all premiums are refunded. At 75, indexation stops and premiums are fixed. Also at 75, $20,000 of the benefit becomes free: the policyholder can elect a free $20,000 funeral benefit or continue Quick Life with the free component. Momentum's wording does not say which premium, if any, continues, so ask before 75 if you hold the policy.

Terminal illness benefits without medical screening

Quick Life pays the benefit early on diagnosis of a terminal illness, defined as an illness expected, even with treatment, to lead to death within 12 months, confirmed by a medical practitioner Momentum approves. Momentum can ask for an independent second opinion at its cost, and that opinion is final. When the benefit is paid, that person's cover ends.

"No screening at application" does not mean no checks later. Momentum's website says the product is not available to applicants already diagnosed with a terminal illness or in palliative or hospice care (Momentum Life: Quick Life). And in the first 2 years, a terminal illness diagnosis related to a pre-existing condition is not paid.

How to decide

Are you in good health? If you could answer health questions, get a quote on cover with health questions first. It can offer larger amounts, and an accepted existing condition is not subject to a two-year wait. A licensed adviser can compare insurers. Our guaranteed acceptance versus full medical page sets this out.
Have you been declined or heavily loaded? Guaranteed acceptance may suit you. Read the early period first.
How much do you need? Quick Life's starting maximum is $300,000. For a mortgage or a high income, see mortgage cover without a medical.
Can you afford the premium in your seventies? Stepped premiums rise until 75.
Disclose honestly if you are asked. IFSO case notes show insurers avoiding or reducing claims for non-disclosure (IFSO).

The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application for Quick Life, one option among several. Momentum's A.M. Best rating is B (Fair), which Momentum's own table places in its "Vulnerable" range; see its financial strength page. 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. Advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). More on the product is on our Quick Life page, and the wider topic is in the guaranteed acceptance hub and our guide to life insurance with no medical exam.

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 often get life cover in New Zealand without a medical exam, but usually still by answering health questions. Quick Life asks none, which is its value for someone who would struggle elsewhere, but it renews year by year with stepped premiums and restricts the first two years. If you are in good health, price cover with health questions first, because it can be cheaper and has no early exclusion for existing conditions.

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

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Term Life Insurance No Medical Exam NZ: Options. www.quotehub.co.nz/guaranteed-acceptance/term-life-insurance-no-medical-exam-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

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