Booster Life

Booster Assurance, the licensed insurer inside the Booster KiwiSaver group, writes two life products: Super Simple Life Insurance for its KiwiSaver members, bought in the app, and Booster SmartCover, sold through advisers.

Reviewed by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). Updated 17 September 2026.

Who owns and underwrites Booster

Who stands behind Booster
Question	Answer
Who underwrites it	Booster Assurance Limited
Who owns it	Wholly owned by Booster Financial Services Group Limited; ultimate holding company Booster Group Limited (New Zealand)
Financial strength	Not published by the insurer
How you can buy	Adviser or direct

QuoteHub’s read. Booster Assurance is a licensed insurer with no financial strength rating of its own, sitting under the $1.5 million premium threshold and reinsured with Hannover Re; its online Super Simple Life cover is for Booster KiwiSaver Scheme members aged 18 to 50 only and ends at 65, while the adviser-sold SmartCover runs to $2 million.

Booster at a glance

Key facts about Booster
Fact	What the register holds
Licensed entity	Booster Assurance Limited
Owner	Wholly owned by Booster Financial Services Group Limited; ultimate holding company Booster Group Limited (New Zealand)
What they write	Super Simple Life Insurance, Booster SmartCover
How you can buy	Adviser or direct
Financial strength	Not published by the insurer
Rating as at	Not published
On the QuoteHub panel	No, we do not place cover with them
Complaints	Financial Dispute Resolution Service, free for consumers

QuoteHub’s verdict on Booster

Reviewed and updated 17 September 2026 by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699), for the QuoteHub adviser team. The tables above are register records; this section is our read of them.

Booster Assurance Limited is the licensed insurer inside the Booster group. It writes two life products: Super Simple Life Insurance, $20,000 to $200,000, applied for inside the mybooster app or portal by Booster KiwiSaver Scheme members aged 18 to 50 at entry, often with an instant outcome; and Booster SmartCover, adviser-sold Life & Terminal Illness cover from $200,000 to $2 million with optional accelerated TPD and Trauma & Critical Illness benefits.

It publishes no financial strength rating because it sits under the $1.5 million premium threshold at which one is required, and its benefits are reinsured with Hannover Re. That is a legitimate position for a small insurer, and it is also a fact to weigh, because there is no agency grade to set beside the rated insurers on this site.

The online cover has hard edges: members only, entry to 50, premiums fixed until 40 and rising each year after, and the policy ends at the anniversary after 65. SmartCover’s Special Events Increase lets cover grow after marriage, a birth, a new home or a separation without new health questions.

It may fit a Booster member who wants a modest sum quickly, or an advised client for whom SmartCover prices well on the day; cover past 65, or a rated insurer, is a comparison made elsewhere.

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.

What Booster writes

Booster products and what each one pays
Cover	What it pays
Super Simple Life Insurance	Online life cover with a terminal illness benefit, for Booster KiwiSaver members aged 18 to 50 at entry.
Booster SmartCover	Adviser-sold life cover with optional accelerated TPD and trauma benefits, to $2 million.

Is Booster a fit for you?

The reasons to shortlist it, and the catches to check first. Every line below is read from a Booster document, linked with the date.

Check these before you choose

Only KiwiSaver members can buy the online cover. Super Simple Life Insurance is exclusive to Booster KiwiSaver Scheme members aged 18 to 50 at entry; it is applied for inside the mybooster app or portal. (source, Super Simple Life Insurance page, booster.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)
Which Booster product you are looking at. Booster SmartCover is the adviser-sold product, available through Booster's trusted financial advisers, with Booster able to refer an accredited independent adviser if you do not have one. (source, Booster SmartCover page, booster.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)

Booster could fit

If one or more of these look like your situation.

A Booster KiwiSaver member who wants simple cover fast. Super Simple Life Insurance covers $20,000 to $200,000, is applied for online, and often gives an instant outcome. (source, Super Simple Life Insurance page, booster.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)
Cover that can grow with life events. SmartCover's Special Events Increase lets you buy extra cover without new health questions after marriage, a birth or adoption, a new home, a separation or the death of a spouse. (source, Booster SmartCover page, booster.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)

Compare more carefully

If any of these apply, it is worth a closer look at the rest of the panel.

The online cover ends at 65. Super Simple Life Insurance ends at the policy anniversary after you turn 65, and its premiums, fixed until age 40, rise each year after that. (source, Super Simple Life Insurance Policy Document (PDF), booster.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)
No rating of its own. Booster Assurance Limited carries no financial strength rating because it sits under the $1.5 million premium threshold; the backing is the Hannover Re reinsurance, rated AA- by Standard & Poor's, not a rating on Booster itself. (source, Super Simple Life Insurance disclosure statement, booster.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)

Waiting periods, limits and ages

The numbers worth checking before you compare, read from Booster’s own documents.

Super Simple Life Insurance: $20,000 to $200,000, online

Online, no-medical life cover with a terminal illness benefit, for Booster KiwiSaver Scheme members only.

Only Booster KiwiSaver Scheme members can apply, aged 18 to 50 at entry, and permanently resident in New Zealand (a citizen, passport holder, residency-visa holder or holder of a work permit of two years or more).
Cover from $20,000 to $200,000.
Applied for inside the mybooster app or portal, often with an instant outcome, with no adviser involved.
This is a members-only product: it is not sold to the public outside the Booster KiwiSaver Scheme.

Source: Super Simple Life Insurance page, booster.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

Booster SmartCover: Life cover $200,000 to $2 million

Adviser-sold Life & Terminal Illness cover with optional accelerated TPD and Trauma & Critical Illness benefits.

Life & Terminal Illness: entry age 16 to 69, expiry age 99, cover from $200,000 to $2,000,000.
Total & Permanent Disability (optional, accelerated): entry age 16 to 60, expiry age 65, cover $25,000 to $500,000.
Trauma & Critical Illness (optional, accelerated): entry age 16 to 60, expiry age 70, cover $25,000 to $500,000.
TPD and Trauma & Critical Illness together are capped at $500,000 or the Life Cover amount, whichever is lower.
An immediate end-of-life payment of $15,000 is made ahead of the full claim; grief counselling of $2,500; child death expenses of $2,000 under age 10 or $5,000 from 10 to 18.
The TPD and trauma benefits are accelerated: a payment under either reduces the Life Cover amount.

Source: Booster SmartCover Policy Document (PDF, BSC00001072025 v2025.3), read 16 September 2026.

Financial strength: No rating required; reinsured with Hannover Re

Booster Assurance Limited is a licensed insurer below the size at which a financial strength rating is required; its benefits are reinsured.

Booster Assurance Limited does not need a financial strength rating because its annual gross premium income for 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 is less than $1.5 million, as calculated under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Regulations 2010.
The Super Simple Life Insurance and Booster SmartCover benefits are reinsured with Hannover Re, which has a Standard & Poor's financial strength rating of AA-.
Solvency at 30 June 2026: solvency capital of $5,360k against an adjusted prescribed capital requirement of $2,183k, an adjusted solvency margin of $3,177k and an adjusted solvency ratio of 246%.
The AA- rating belongs to the reinsurer, Hannover Re, not to Booster Assurance Limited.

Source: Super Simple Life Insurance disclosure statement, booster.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

What it costs

QuoteHub does not quote or place cover with Booster. Compare the insurers we do quote.

How Booster compares on financial strength

Financial strength is the one comparable published fact about an insurer. Every grade below is the insurer's own disclosure for the named licensed entity, linked and dated. A rating belongs to that entity, not to a brand or a product name.

Financial strength ratings for the New Zealand insurers QuoteHub compares
Insurer	Licensed entity	Financial strength	Rating as at
AIA New Zealand	AIA New Zealand Limited	AA (Fitch, source, read 14 Aug 2026)	Date not published
Asteron Life	Asteron Life Limited	A+ (Fitch, source, read 14 Aug 2026)	Date not published
Chubb Life NZ	Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand Limited	A (Excellent) (A.M. Best, source, read 14 Aug 2026)	Date not published
Fidelity Life	Fidelity Life Assurance Company Limited	A- (A.M. Best, source, read 14 Aug 2026)	Date not published
Momentum Life	Momentum Life Limited (FSP472286)	B (Fair) (A.M. Best, source, read 14 Aug 2026)	11 Feb 2026
Partners Life	Partners Life Limited	A (Excellent) (A.M. Best, source, read 14 Aug 2026)	5 Feb 2026

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.

What Booster publishes

Booster does not publish a policy wording we can link from here. Ask for the wording before you apply: a brochure is not the contract.

Questions about Booster

Who is Booster?

Who owns Booster?

Wholly owned by Booster Financial Services Group Limited; ultimate holding company Booster Group Limited (New Zealand). Ownership matters because it decides who carries the risk behind a claim, not how a claim is assessed.

Is Booster financially strong?

We do not publish a grade for Booster because the effective date and outlook need confirming directly. The Reserve Bank register of licensed insurers is the primary source.

Can I buy Booster cover without an adviser?

Both routes exist. You can go direct, or use a licensed adviser who can put Booster next to the other insurers on the same set of details.

What does Booster cover?

Super Simple Life Insurance, Booster SmartCover. What each of those pays, and what it excludes, is set by the policy wording rather than by the marketing page, which is why the documents are listed on this page with the date we read them.

Where can I read Booster's policy wording?

Booster does not publish a policy wording we can link. Ask for it before you apply: the wording is the contract.

Is Booster the cheapest?

No insurer is cheapest for everyone. Price depends on your age, your health and an underwriting decision that has not happened yet, so a comparison that leads with price compares the wrong thing. The published limits and definitions are what can be compared, and they are on this page.

How does Booster compare with the other insurers?

The financial strength table on this page puts every insurer we compare side by side, with the agency, the grade and the date. The benefit limits sit on the comparison page, and a licensed adviser can run your own details across the panel.

Does QuoteHub work with Booster?

No. Booster is not on the QuoteHub panel, so we cannot quote or arrange their cover. This page exists because the company is worth understanding if you hold one of their policies or are considering one, not because we sell it. The insurers we can place are published on the disclosure page.

What should I check before applying to Booster?

The stand-down period, the exclusions that apply to your own history, whether the premium is stepped or level, and what happens at renewal. All four are in the wording and none of them is in a price.

Does Booster cover pre-existing conditions?

Not automatically. An existing condition is either excluded, loaded or accepted on its own terms, and that decision is made at underwriting on your own history. What matters is what you disclose, because non-disclosure is the most common reason a claim is declined.

Are Booster premiums stepped or level?

Both structures exist in the New Zealand market. Stepped rises with your age each year and costs less at the start; level holds a rate to a chosen age and costs more early and less later. Which is cheaper over the life of the policy depends on how long you keep it, not on the insurer.

Can I move to Booster from another insurer?

Yes, but moving means new underwriting, so anything that has happened to your health since you took the old policy is assessed again. Never cancel the old cover until the new policy is issued and you have read what it excludes.

Does Booster pay claims quickly?

Claims-paid percentages and payment times are published by some New Zealand insurers and not by others, on different bases, which is why we publish the figure only where the insurer publishes it with a period. Where we hold one it appears on the review page for that insurer.

Is Booster regulated in New Zealand?

Yes. A licensed insurer is regulated by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and the advice about a policy is regulated separately by the Financial Markets Authority. Those are two different licences and both matter.

What happens to my Booster policy if the company is sold?

A policy is a contract with the licensed entity, so it continues on its terms if ownership changes. New Zealand has seen several life books change hands, and the practical effect for existing policyholders is usually the servicing brand rather than the cover.

How much does Booster cover cost?

We do not publish a price for an insurer on this page. A premium depends on age, health, smoking status, occupation, the cover amount and an underwriting decision, so a single figure would be wrong for almost everyone reading it.

Where can I get advice about Booster?

A licensed financial adviser can compare it against the rest of the panel on your own details and tell you where it suits you and where it does not. QuoteHub is a trading name of a licensed Financial Advice Provider and the review is free.

How do I make a complaint about Booster?

Raise it with the insurer first. If it is not resolved you can take it to the insurer's dispute resolution scheme at no cost. QuoteHub's own scheme is the Financial Dispute Resolution Service.

Where to go next

Reviews and comparisons

The nine life insurers compared, in order

Other life insurers

Health insurers

Compare and calculate

Cover explained

What cover costs

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