Resolution Life NZ

Services legacy AMP Life policies rather than selling significant new business, and is proposing to transfer every New Zealand policy to Asteron Life by 2027.

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

Who owns and underwrites Resolution Life

QuoteHub’s read. Resolution Life NZ services legacy AMP policies rather than selling new cover, is rated A by Fitch, paid $171 million to 3,091 customers in 2025, and proposes to transfer every New Zealand policy to Asteron Life, estimated for February 2027, with no change to cover, premiums or claims while that is decided.

Resolution Life at a glance

QuoteHub’s verdict on Resolution Life

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.

Resolution Life NZ is not a choice you can make today. It services the legacy AMP Life book rather than selling significant new business, and its site is built around existing policies and a proposed two-stage transfer that would make Asteron Life the insurer of its New Zealand policies, estimated for February 2027 and subject to regulatory approval.

For the people who hold those policies the facts are specific. Resolution Life states there is no change to cover, premiums or how a claim is made while the transfer is decided; claims are lodged online, by phone or by email and assigned a case manager; in 2025 it paid $171 million to 3,091 customers; and Fitch rates Resolution Life New Zealand A.

The transfer itself is not a reason to cancel, because the wording, the definitions and the premium basis travel with the policy. Whether an AMP-era policy still fits is a separate question that depends on its definitions, its premium basis and your health today, and that is the question a review of the policy against the current market answers.

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 Resolution Life writes

Is Resolution Life a fit for you?

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

Check these before you choose

• Existing policyholders only. Resolution Life NZ's site is built around servicing existing policies and the proposed transfer to Asteron Life; no new-business product pages were found on resolutionlife.co.nz. (source, Statutory fund restructure and proposed transfer to Asteron Life, resolutionlife.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)
• No change needed from policyholders. Resolution Life NZ states there is no change to your policy or account, your cover, or how you make a claim, while the proposed transfer to Asteron Life proceeds. (source, Statutory fund restructure FAQs, resolutionlife.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 transfer isn't finalised yet. The move to Asteron Life is described as a proposal requiring regulatory approval — the dates given are Resolution Life's best estimate, not a confirmed timeline. (source, Statutory fund restructure and proposed transfer to Asteron Life, resolutionlife.co.nz, read 16 September 2026)

Waiting periods, limits and ages

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

Proposed transfer to Asteron Life: To Asteron Life, est. Feb 2027

Resolution Life NZ describes a two-stage statutory fund restructure, subject to regulatory approval, that would make Asteron Life the insurer of its New Zealand policies.

• Stage 1 (best estimate around 1 October 2026): New Zealand policies move into a dedicated, NZ-only statutory fund, subject to RBNZ and APRA approval.
• Stage 2 (best estimate February 2027): New Zealand policies transfer to Asteron Life and become held within (referable to) Asteron Life's Statutory Fund No. 1.
• Both stages require approval by regulators, so the dates given are Resolution Life's best estimate, not confirmed.
• Independent and appointed actuary reports have been prepared on the proposal.
• From 2027, Resolution Life Australasia NZ and Asteron Life NZ are proposed to be known as Acenda Life.
• Proposed transfer to Asteron Life: Stage 1 (best estimate around 1 October 2026): New Zealand policies move into a dedicated NZ statutory fund., Stage 2 (best estimate February 2027): policies transfer to Asteron Life, held within Asteron Life's Statutory Fund No. 1., From 2027: Resolution Life Australasia NZ and Asteron Life NZ are proposed to be rebranded as Acenda Life.
• Both stages of the transfer are still proposed and subject to regulatory approval — the dates given are the company's best estimate, not confirmed dates.

Source: Statutory fund restructure and proposed transfer to Asteron Life, resolutionlife.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

Servicing of existing policies: No change to cover or claims

Resolution Life NZ states the proposed transfer does not change existing policyholders' cover, premiums or how they make a claim.

• No change to your policy or account, your cover, or how you make a claim, as a result of either stage.
• Premium amounts and payment methods stay the same.
• Resolution Life New Zealand is part of the Acenda Group, ultimately owned by Nippon Life.
• Resolution Life completed its acquisition of Asteron Life New Zealand, announced 3 January 2025 — ahead of its own proposed transfer of NZ policies to Asteron Life in 2027.

Source: Statutory fund restructure FAQs, resolutionlife.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

Financial strength: A (Fitch), Resolution Life NZ

Fitch Ratings' insurer financial strength ratings, as published by Resolution Life.

• Resolution Life Australasia Limited (the group entity) holds an AA- (Very Strong) Insurer Financial Strength Rating from Fitch Ratings.
• Fitch has separately assigned a first-time 'A' Insurer Financial Strength Rating specifically to Resolution Life New Zealand, distinct from the group-wide AA- rating.

Source: Insurer financial strength ratings, resolutionlife.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

Claims paid (2025): $171 million paid to 3,091 customers

Resolution Life NZ publishes its own claims-paid statistics for existing policyholders, for 2025.

• $171 million paid in insurance claims to 3,091 claim recipients in 2025, averaging $467,236 paid per day.
• The average age of customers who made a claim was 69.
• By benefit type: death and terminal illness 58%, income protection 23%, trauma 16%, total and permanent disablement 3%.
• Life insurance claims: $100 million paid to 2,011 customers; leading causes were circulatory disease/heart conditions (30%) and cancer (24%).
• Trauma insurance claims: $27 million paid to 332 customers; leading cause was cancer (60%).
• Income protection claims: $39 million paid to 738 customers.

Source: Our claims data 2025, resolutionlife.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

Making a claim on an existing policy: Online claims, a case manager

Existing policyholders or their family lodge a claim online, by phone, or by email, and are assigned a case manager.

• Claims can be lodged using Resolution Life's online claims notification service, for life, trauma, income protection, disability and death claims.
• A dedicated case manager is assigned to help through the process.
• Required documents typically include a certified death certificate and the policy document; a declaration of loss is accepted if the policy document can't be found.
• Monthly benefit payments (e.g. income protection) begin within one month after the end of any applicable waiting period, paid monthly in arrears.

Source: How to make a claim, resolutionlife.co.nz, read 16 September 2026.

What it costs

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

How Resolution Life 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.

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 Resolution Life publishes

Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life

Who is Resolution Life?

Services legacy AMP Life policies rather than selling significant new business, and is proposing to transfer every New Zealand policy to Asteron Life by 2027. The licensed entity behind the policies is Resolution Life New Zealand Limited.

Who owns Resolution Life?

Resolution Life group. Ownership matters because it decides who carries the risk behind a claim, not how a claim is assessed.

Is Resolution Life financially strong?

Resolution Life New Zealand Limited holds a A rating from Fitch, read from the insurer's own disclosure on 16 Sep 2026. A rating is an independent view of the ability to pay claims. It says nothing about what a policy covers or what it costs.

Can I buy Resolution Life cover without an adviser?

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

What does Resolution Life cover?

Life cover. 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 Resolution Life's policy wording?

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

Is Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life?

No. Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life?

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 Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life 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 Resolution Life?

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 Resolution Life?

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

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