Health insurance companies in New Zealand
Reviewed by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). Updated 17 September 2026.
Every health insurer QuoteHub compares, with the licensed entity behind the policies, what it writes, its published financial strength and how you can buy. Each name links to that insurer's page, which lists the documents we read and the date we read them.
Health insurance companies in New Zealand
| Insurer | On our panel | Licensed entity | What they write | Financial strength | How you can buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Cross Health Society | Yes | Southern Cross Medical Care Society | Private health cover, Everyday health cover, Business schemes | A+ (Strong) (Standard & Poor's) | Adviser or direct |
| nib nz | Yes | nib nz limited | Private health cover, Everyday health cover, Business schemes | A (Standard & Poor's) | Adviser or direct |
| UniMed | No | Union Medical Benefits Society Limited | Private health cover, Workplace schemes | Not published | Adviser or direct |
| Partners Life | Yes | Partners Life Limited | Private medical | A (Excellent) (A.M. Best) | Through an adviser |
| AIA New Zealand | Yes | AIA New Zealand Limited | Life cover, Trauma cover, Income protection, TPD, Private health cover | AA (Fitch) | Adviser or direct |
Which health insurer is best in New Zealand?
No single health insurer is best for everyone, so this page does not score them. What it does is compare all 5 on the facts that can be checked: who underwrites the policy, who owns that insurer, its published financial strength grade, how you can buy, and QuoteHub's one-line read of each, with every fact linked to its source on the insurer's own page. General information, not a recommendation: whether a policy suits you depends on your health, your budget and what you need covered. A licensed adviser can put it next to the rest of the panel on your own details. Updated 17 September 2026.
| Insurer | Who underwrites it | Who owns it | Financial strength | How you can buy | QuoteHub’s read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Cross Health Society | Southern Cross Medical Care Society | member-owned friendly society | A+ (Strong) (Standard & Poor's) | Adviser or direct | Southern Cross is a not-for-profit friendly society and New Zealand’s largest health insurer, rated A+ (Strong) by Standard & Poor’s: Wellbeing One and Two set no maximum on surgical procedures, the base chemotherapy benefit is $60,000 a year, and on Wellbeing One consultations, imaging and tests are covered only within six months of related eligible treatment, a window Wellbeing Two removes. |
| nib nz | nib nz limited | nib holdings limited (ASX listed) | A (Standard & Poor's) | Adviser or direct | nib nz is the New Zealand arm of the ASX-listed nib holdings, rated A by Standard & Poor’s: base cover pays up to $300,000 a year for surgery and $200,000 for non-surgical hospital treatment at 100% inside its First Choice Network, with a three-year wait on pre-existing conditions, a permanent exclusion list, and an 80% co-payment on scans, tests and specialist visits. |
| UniMed | Union Medical Benefits Society Limited | member-owned society | Not published by the insurer | Adviser or direct | UniMed is a New Zealand not-for-profit rated A by A.M. Best that specialises in workplace schemes and now carries the former Accuro plans: Hospital Select pays private surgery with no maximum, caps chemotherapy and radiotherapy at $65,000 a year each, and assesses every pre-existing condition person by person on the membership certificate. |
| Partners Life | Partners Life Limited | Dai-ichi Life Holdings (acquired 2022) | A (Excellent) (A.M. Best) | Through an adviser | Partners Life Private Medical Cover is adviser-only and rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best: the Surgical Benefit pays up to $600,000 a policy year for approved private surgery including up to $25,000 of non-Pharmac drugs, a newborn is covered free for six months, and it sits on the same Journey Plan as the life covers with the multi-benefit discount. |
| AIA New Zealand | AIA New Zealand Limited | AIA Group Limited (Hong Kong listed) | AA (Fitch) | Adviser or direct | AIA is rated AA by Fitch, writes life, three separate trauma products, income protection and private health cover, and is the one insurer here whose wellness programme discounts the premium: Vitality starts at 10%, moves each year with your status, and does not attach to every product. |
The whole register, every insurer with its legal entity, owner, grade, effective date and source, is a dated dataset you can download: nz-insurer-financial-strength-2026-09-17.csv.
Who writes which health cover
Taken from each insurer's own product range as our register records it. "Not written" means that insurer does not offer that cover, not that it is unavailable in New Zealand.
| Cover | Southern Cross | nib | UniMed | Partners Life | AIA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private health cover | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not written | Yes |
| Everyday health cover | Yes | Yes | Not written | Not written | Not written |
| Business schemes | Yes | Yes | Not written | Not written | Not written |
| Workplace schemes | Not written | Not written | Yes | Not written | Not written |
| Private medical | Not written | Not written | Not written | Yes | Not written |
| Life cover | Not written | Not written | Not written | Not written | Yes |
| Trauma cover | Not written | Not written | Not written | Not written | Yes |
| Income protection | Not written | Not written | Not written | Not written | Yes |
| TPD | Not written | Not written | Not written | Not written | Yes |
How you can buy, and who owns them
Distribution decides who does the comparing. A direct insurer sells its own product and the comparison work is yours; an adviser-distributed insurer is arranged by someone who can put it next to the rest of the panel on the same details.
| Insurer | How you can buy | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Cross | Adviser or direct | member-owned friendly society |
| nib | Adviser or direct | nib holdings limited (ASX listed) |
| UniMed | Adviser or direct | member-owned society |
| Partners Life | Through an adviser | Dai-ichi Life Holdings (acquired 2022) |
| AIA | Adviser or direct | AIA Group Limited (Hong Kong listed) |
What each insurer publishes
The wording is the contract and a brochure is not. These are the documents we hold for each insurer, with the date each was read.
| Insurer | Documents | Last read |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Cross | Wellbeing One benefit summary; Wellbeing One and Wellbeing Two policy document; Health insurance for businesses | 2026-09-08 |
| nib | Premium Hospital policy document; Health and Life Insurance for your business | 2026-09-08 |
| UniMed | Hospital Select Plus Modules Health Plan; UniMed Terms and Conditions; Business, group health schemes | 2026-09-08 |
| Partners Life | Life Cover overview, Partners Life Journey Plan; Trauma Cover overview, Partners Life Journey Plan; Private Medical Cover overview, Partners Life Journey Plan; This is Partners Life 2025, key claims stats | 2026-09-08 |
| AIA | AIA Living Life Personal Cover Policy Wording; AIA Health Insurance brochure (Private Health and Cancer Care) | 2026-09-08 |
Plans
- Southern Cross Wellbeing One and Wellbeing Two
- Southern Cross UltraCare
- UniMed SmartCare
- AIA AIA Living
How this directory is kept
The licensed entity, the owner and the distribution route come from our insurer register, and the financial strength grade from each insurer's own disclosure, linked and dated on that insurer's page. We hold 14 of their published documents. A fact that is not published says so rather than being estimated.
Questions about health insurers in New Zealand
How many health insurers are there in New Zealand?
The Reserve Bank licenses the insurers; the number that actively writes new health cover to the public is smaller than the register suggests, because several licences are closed books or brands sitting on another insurer's licence. This directory lists the ones QuoteHub compares and names the licensed entity behind each.
What is the difference between a brand and an insurer?
A brand is a name a policy is sold under; the insurer is the licensed entity that carries the risk and pays the claim. Several New Zealand brands are underwritten by another company, so the financial strength rating that matters is the underwriter's, not the brand's.
Which health insurer is the best?
None of them is best for everyone, and a directory that declared one would be selling rather than comparing. What can be compared is published: the licensed entity, the financial strength grade, the benefit limits and the exclusions. Those are on each insurer's page.
Does QuoteHub compare every health insurer?
No. QuoteHub compares the insurers on its panel, which is published on the disclosure page. Not every insurer lists with every adviser, and saying so plainly is more useful than implying the whole market.
How often is this directory checked?
Every fact here traces to a dated record: the register entry, or the insurer's own disclosure with the date we read it. Ratings are re-verified quarterly and on the day of any republish, because a rating is reissued and goes stale silently.
What should I compare between health insurers?
The definitions and the limits, not the price. Price depends on your age, your health and an underwriting decision that has not happened yet, so two quotes are rarely comparing the same thing. What a benefit pays, what caps it, and what it excludes are published and fixed.
Where to go next
Southern Cross on this site
- Southern Cross KiwiCare
- Southern Cross RegularCare
- Southern Cross UltraCare
- Southern Cross Wellbeing One and Two
- Southern Cross Wellbeing Plus Options
- Claiming with Southern Cross
- Southern Cross prior approval
Reviews and comparisons
Other health insurers
Life insurers
Compare and calculate
- Compare NZ insurers side by side
- What private treatment costs
- Every insurer financial strength rating
- All calculators
Cover explained
- Health insurance in New Zealand
- What ACC does not cover
- Life insurance in New Zealand
- Income protection in New Zealand
What cover costs
- What health insurance costs in NZ
- Private treatment costs and waiting times
- Every published insurance number, with its source
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, How It Works.