Momentum Life's financial strength rating explained

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.

Momentum Life Limited has a financial strength rating of B (Fair) from A.M. Best, affirmed on 11 February 2026. Momentum's own rating table lists B (Fair) under "Vulnerable". A rating is an agency's opinion of an insurer's financial strength. It is not a recommendation, and it is not a promise that any claim will or will not be paid.

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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

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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.

What the rating is

A Best's Financial Strength Rating is, in A.M. Best's words, "an independent opinion of an insurer's financial strength and ability to meet its ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations". It is not assigned to a policy. It does not address an insurer's claims-payment policies or procedures, or its ability to dispute or deny a claim on grounds such as misrepresentation, and A.M. Best states it is not a recommendation to purchase, hold or terminate any policy (A.M. Best: Guide to Best's Financial Strength Ratings).

Momentum Life Limited is the company behind both Funeral Insurance and Quick Life, and its page states: "Momentum Life has a B (Fair) Financial Strength Rating given by A.M. Best" and "The rating should not be read as a recommendation" (Momentum Life: Financial strength). Policies bought before 14 March 2018 are insured by Fidelity Life, not Momentum, so this rating does not apply to them.

Where B (Fair) sits on the scale

A.M. Best's scale runs from Superior at the top to Poor at the bottom. Momentum prints a version of it with its own "Secure" and "Vulnerable" headings. Those two headings are Momentum's labels, not A.M. Best's, so we attribute them.

Category	Grades	Momentum's heading	Definition, in short
Superior	A++, A+	Secure	A superior ability to meet ongoing insurance obligations
Excellent	A, A-	Secure	An excellent ability
Good	B++, B+	Secure	A good ability
Fair	B, B-	Vulnerable	A fair ability; "financial strength is vulnerable to adverse changes in underwriting and economic conditions"
Marginal	C++, C+	Vulnerable	A marginal ability; vulnerable to adverse changes
Weak	C, C-	Vulnerable	A weak ability; "very vulnerable"
Poor	D	Vulnerable	A poor ability; "extremely vulnerable"
Not a grade	E (under regulatory supervision), F (in liquidation), S (suspended)	Vulnerable	Non-rating designations, not grades of ability to pay

Sources: A.M. Best guide for the categories and definitions, and Momentum's financial strength page and Quick Life wording for the headings. Retrieved 20 October 2026 and 17 October 2026.

B (Fair) is the fourth category from the top, and A.M. Best's own definition of Fair says the insurer's "financial strength is vulnerable to adverse changes in underwriting and economic conditions". Two grades above it, B++ and B+ (Good), are grouped as Secure on Momentum's table. The same letter means different things at different agencies: B is "Fair" at A.M. Best but "Weak" at S&P and Fitch, so never compare letters across agencies.

How the rating has moved

Date	Rating action	Source
April 2024	Affirmed B++ (Good), with an Issuer Credit Rating of "bbb"	A.M. Best release, 9 April 2024
11 February 2026	Removed the rating from review with negative implications, and affirmed B (Fair) with an Issuer Credit Rating of "bb" (Fair), outlook stable	A.M. Best release, 11 February 2026

A.M. Best's 11 February 2026 release describes Momentum's balance sheet as "adequate", operating performance as "marginal" (with pre-tax losses in fiscal 2023 to 2025 and the first half of fiscal 2026), business profile as "limited" and enterprise risk management as "marginal". It cites "a high level of execution risk" and "high reliance on third-party reinsurance for risk transfer and upfront commission financing". It says solvency improved to 117% as of September 2025 after a capital injection (A.M. Best release via Business Wire). The same release says the acquisition of Momentum by DCG Invest Limited closed in July 2025; see who owns Momentum Life. The release names guaranteed-acceptance funeral insurance and fully underwritten term life; it does not discuss Quick Life by name.

We have not confirmed the exact date of the step from B++ to B in between, so we do not give one.

Momentum's own solvency figure

Momentum publishes its solvency under the Reserve Bank's Interim Solvency Standard 2023. At 30 June 2026 its page shows:

	Amount
Solvency capital	$8.8 million
Adjusted prescribed capital requirement	$8.2 million
Adjusted solvency margin	$0.6 million, after a specific business run-off risk charge
Adjusted solvency ratio	107%

An earlier version of the same page, retrieved 17 October 2026, showed a margin of $1.4 million and a ratio of 117% for 30 June 2025. No source we found says why the figure fell, so we do not speculate.

How the rating compares with other insurers

Other insurers rated by A.M. Best, as each publishes its own grade, retrieved 20 October 2026:

Insurer	Grade	Note
Momentum Life	B (Fair)	Affirmed 11 February 2026
Pinnacle Life (issues NZ Seniors and OneChoice funeral insurance)	B+ (Good)	Affirmed 15 April 2026
Autosure (Greenwich Life)	B++ (Good)	Affirmed 10 September 2026
Fidelity Life	A- (Excellent)	Rated since December 1996
Chubb Life New Zealand	A (Excellent)	No date published on its page

Other insurers, such as AIA New Zealand and Asteron Life, are rated by Fitch, and nib and MAS by S&P Global. Those use different scales, and we found no source that converts one agency's grade into another's, so we do not compare across agencies.

Solvency ratios do not rank insurers either. Fidelity Life reports 113% with a margin of $106.8 million at 30 June 2026, and Pinnacle Life reports 112.6% with a margin of $8.78 million. A ratio of similar size sits on very different amounts of money, which is why the dollar margin is shown beside Momentum's figure above. Sources: Fidelity, Pinnacle. Compare product terms for funeral cover on our funeral insurance comparison.

Does a rating guarantee claims will be paid?

No, and no rating can. A.M. Best says its rating does not address claims-payment practice or the insurer's ability to decline a claim. Whether a particular claim is paid depends on the policy: its early-cover limits, exclusions, whether premiums are up to date, and what was true at the time. Momentum Funeral Insurance pays only accidental death in the first 24 months. Quick Life excludes pre-existing conditions and suicide in the first 2 years. Neither a higher nor a lower grade changes those terms. Momentum publishes no claims statistics, so we cannot say how often claims are paid.

If you have a dispute about a Momentum policy, the route is Momentum first, then the free Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman scheme; see how to complain about Momentum Life.

What a policyholder might weigh

These are questions, not advice.

Size and length of the promise. A small funeral sum paid within years differs from $300,000 of life cover held for decades. A rating describes the insurer's position at the date it was given, and ratings can change in either direction.
The terms in the wording. The early-cover limits, exclusions and premium shape are in the policy wording and are often more decisive for a claim than the grade.
Alternatives. Other guaranteed-acceptance and funeral products exist, with different ratings and different early-claim rules. A licensed adviser can compare them on your own details. A healthy person can often get more cover for less through fully underwritten cover.
The free look. Both products give a 30-day free look. Funeral Insurance runs it from the acceptance date, and Quick Life from the policy start date, with a full refund if no claim has been made.

Neither product accepts new applicants over 75. Momentum's financial strength page points readers to ambest.com for the latest ratings.

Scope of this page

Compared: Momentum Life, Pinnacle Life, Autosure, Fidelity Life and Chubb Life New Zealand, on A.M. Best grade and published solvency, as at 20 October 2026, from each insurer's own pages and A.M. Best's published releases and guide. Not every New Zealand insurer is included. This is QuoteHub's reading of public documents, not a score.

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 or see our insurer financial strength rates page.