MAS

Medical Assurance Society: a member-owned New Zealand mutual for professionals, whose life insurer Medical Life Assurance Society Limited writes life, income, recovery and disablement cover through MAS Advisers.

MAS at a glance

Key facts about MAS
Fact	What the register holds
Licensed entity	Medical Life Assurance Society Limited
Owner	Member-owned mutual: owned by its members, not shareholders
What they write	Life Insurance, Income Security Insurance, Recovery Insurance, Total Permanent Disablement Insurance
How you can buy	Through an adviser
Financial strength	Not published for public use in our register
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

What MAS writes

MAS products and what each one pays
Cover	What it pays
Life Insurance	A lump sum to the people you name, paid on death or a terminal diagnosis.
Income Security Insurance	A monthly benefit while illness or injury stops you earning, after a waiting period.
Recovery Insurance	A lump sum on the diagnosis of a listed condition, paid whether or not you stop work.
Total Permanent Disablement Insurance	A lump sum if you are unlikely ever to work again, on a definition set by the wording.

Is MAS a fit for you?

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

Check these before you choose

Membership comes first. MAS is a member-owned New Zealand mutual, owned by its members rather than shareholders, serving more than 50,000 professionals. (source, About us, mas.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)
Cover is arranged through MAS Advisers. MAS Life Insurance is arranged through MAS Advisers, not bought online. (source, Life Insurance page, mas.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)

MAS could fit

If one or more of these look like your situation.

Professionals who want a mutual. MAS is a mutual owned by its members, not shareholders, with more than 50,000 professionals in its membership. (source, About us, mas.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.

Rated, but as a society. The A rating from S&P Global belongs to Medical Life Assurance Society Limited, the life insurer inside MAS, and its adjusted solvency ratio at 30 June 2026 was 110%. (source, Financial strength ratings and solvency, mas.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)

Waiting periods, limits and ages

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

Life Insurance: $1 million terminal illness advance

MAS Life Insurance pays a lump sum on death, with an early payment on a terminal diagnosis and an immediate advance towards funeral costs.

Terminal Illness Benefit: up to $1,000,000 of the cover is paid early on a terminal diagnosis.
Advanced Assistance: $15,000 paid immediately on notice of death, ahead of the full claim.
Arranged through MAS Advisers.

Source: Life Insurance page, mas.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

Financial strength: A (S&P Global)

Medical Life Assurance Society Limited, the MAS life insurer, is rated A by S&P Global Ratings Australia.

Medical Life Assurance Society Limited (MLA), the life insurer, is rated A by S&P Global Ratings Australia Pty Ltd; Medical Insurance Society Limited (MIS), the general insurer, is also rated A.
Both are licensed insurers under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010.
Solvency at 30 June 2026 for MLA: solvency capital of $201,865k against an adjusted prescribed capital requirement of $183,348k, an adjusted solvency margin of $18,517k and an adjusted solvency ratio of 110%.

Source: Financial strength ratings and solvency, mas.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

What it costs

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

How MAS 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

What MAS publishes

MAS 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 MAS

Who is MAS?

Who owns MAS?

Member-owned mutual: owned by its members, not shareholders. Ownership matters because it decides who carries the risk behind a claim, not how a claim is assessed.

Is MAS financially strong?

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

Can I buy MAS cover without an adviser?

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

What does MAS cover?

Life Insurance, Income Security Insurance, Recovery Insurance, Total Permanent Disablement Insurance. 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 MAS's policy wording?

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

Is MAS 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 MAS 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 MAS?

No. MAS 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 MAS?

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 MAS 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 MAS 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 MAS 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 MAS 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 MAS 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 MAS 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 MAS 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 MAS?

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 MAS?

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.

MAS