Momentum Life complaints in NZ: how to raise one
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.
To complain about a Momentum Life policy, contact Momentum first: 0800 108 108 or [email protected]. It says it will acknowledge a complaint within 2 business days. If it cannot resolve the matter it issues a letter of deadlock, and you then have up to 3 months to take it to the free Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO).
The steps, with the timeframes Momentum publishes
Momentum Life sets out its complaints process on its complaints page, in its FAQs and in its Quick Life wording. The Funeral Insurance wording gives a shorter version: complain to Momentum, then refer an unresolved complaint to IFSO. The timeframes below are Momentum's aims, not guarantees.
| Step | Who | What happens | Published timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer care team | You raise the complaint by phone, email, the complaint form on Momentum's website, or post | Acknowledged within 2 business days |
| 2 | Complaints manager | Reviews it if customer care has not resolved it | Aims to reply within 10 business days, and says if more time is needed |
| 3 | Internal dispute resolution team | An independent internal review; a formal response, usually in writing | Aims to give a formal response within 2 months |
| 4 | Letter of deadlock | Issued if Momentum still cannot reach a resolution | You then have up to 3 months to go to IFSO |
| 5 | IFSO | Free, independent dispute resolution | Starts when you refer the complaint |
Step 1: raise it with Momentum
Momentum Life's published complaint contacts, retrieved 20 October 2026:
- Phone: 0800 108 108 (weekdays, 9am to 5pm)
- Email: [email protected]
- Post: Customer Service, Momentum Life, PO Box 90136, Victoria St West, Auckland 1142
- Online: a customer complaint form on momentumlife.co.nz
The Funeral Insurance wording says a complaint can be about the insurance or about how it was sold. A call is quick, but a written complaint leaves a record, so follow a call with an email that says what you spoke about.
What to have ready
Momentum does not publish a checklist of what to include, so this is general good practice rather than a Momentum requirement:
- the policy number and the names of the people insured and the policy owner;
- the dates that matter (application, any claim, any decision letter);
- what happened, what you expected and what you want Momentum to do;
- copies of letters, emails and the policy schedule, and notes of calls with the date and the name of the person you spoke to.
If the complaint is about a declined claim, our page on what to do when a claim is declined covers the common reasons, and the Momentum claims page explains how claims are handled.
Steps 2 and 3: the internal review
If customer care cannot resolve the problem, the complaints manager reviews it and aims to reply within 10 business days. If Momentum needs more time, its wording says it will tell you. Next, an internal dispute resolution team carries out what Momentum describes as an independent review, and aims to give a formal response, usually in writing, within two months. The wording does not say from which date the two months run; IFSO's FAQs say a provider has up to 2 months to try to resolve a complaint.
Two months is a target for Momentum's own review, not a deadline after which you automatically move on. The step that starts your 3-month window to go to IFSO is the letter of deadlock. If two months have passed and you have heard nothing final, ask Momentum in writing where your complaint is and whether it will issue a letter of deadlock.
Step 4 and 5: IFSO
IFSO is the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme. Momentum Life is a member, and Momentum describes the scheme as a free and independent service that helps settle insurance and financial services disputes. The law requires every business offering retail financial services in New Zealand to belong to an approved dispute resolution scheme (FMA: Disputes and consumer protection). You have a right to take an unresolved complaint to IFSO, and the Funeral Insurance and Quick Life wordings both say so.
IFSO's contact details, as printed in Momentum's policy wordings:
- Phone: 0800 888 202
- Email: [email protected]
- Post: PO Box 10-845, Wellington 6143
- Website: ifso.nz
Both Momentum wordings say IFSO's service is free to you and that its assessment or decision is binding on Momentum Life. IFSO's own FAQs say an assessment binds both sides only if you accept it, so you are not forced to accept an outcome you disagree with. IFSO also says about 90% of the disputes it investigates finish in under 90 days (IFSO FAQs, retrieved 20 October 2026). IFSO has monetary limits on the claims it can decide, which change over time; check ifso.nz before you rely on one.
A policy bought before 14 March 2018
Momentum's FAQs say that a policy bought before 14 March 2018 was issued by Fidelity Life Assurance Company Limited, not Momentum. The FAQs do not say who handles complaints on those policies, so ask Momentum which insurer applies before you use the steps above.
Complaints about QuoteHub are different
This page covers a complaint about a Momentum policy. A complaint about QuoteHub's or Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver's service goes through a different route, which is set out on our disclosure page. Please keep the two apart: Momentum and IFSO deal with the policy, and our own process deals with how we treated you. For other insurers' dispute routes, see funeral insurance disputes.
Momentum's rating and your complaint
Momentum Life Limited has a financial strength rating of B (Fair) from A.M. Best, a grade Momentum's own scale files under "Vulnerable", and its solvency ratio was 107% at 30 June 2026 (Momentum Life: Financial strength). The details are on our rating page. A rating is an agency's opinion of an insurer's financial strength and says nothing about how a complaint will be handled. Your right to complain, and to go to IFSO, does not depend on it.
Getting help with a complaint
A licensed financial adviser can help you read a policy schedule or a decline letter, and can tell you what the wording says about a claim. They cannot change a decision. If you are unsure which part of the policy applies, the plan pages for Funeral Insurance and Quick Life set out the early-cover rules that most often decide a claim. In short: Funeral Insurance pays only for accidental death in the first 24 months (premiums for that person are refunded on any other death), and its total premiums can add up to more than the benefit; Quick Life excludes pre-existing conditions and suicide for the first 2 years.
Where to go next
The buttons on this page open Momentum Life's online application. 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. Back to the Momentum Life page.
Adviser's view
Complain to Momentum first, in writing if you can, and keep copies. If it is not resolved you have the right to take it to the free IFSO scheme, and the clock for that starts from Momentum's letter of deadlock.
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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Momentum Life Complaints NZ: How to Raise One. www.quotehub.co.nz/life-insurance/momentum-life/complaints. Updated 2026-10-20.
References
- Momentum Life: Complaints
- Momentum Life: FAQs
- Momentum Life: Quick Life Insurance Policy Wording (PDF, November 2025)
- Momentum Life: Funeral Insurance Policy Wording (PDF, issue date 17 August 2023)
- IFSO: Frequently asked questions
- FMA: Disputes and consumer protection
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