How the QuoteHub Premium Index is built, and what it can and cannot tell you
The QuoteHub Premium Index prices life, trauma and TPD cover across six New Zealand insurers, sourced from insurers' published rate cards and collected through Quotemonster (QPR) on the QuoteHub adviser account, as a single snapshot taken on 8 September 2026. Income protection was withdrawn from the Index the following day; see the Corrections section below. This page sets out how the snapshot was built and why it can only be restated quarterly, so every figure on QuoteHub's quotes pages can be checked against its source.
Corrections, 9 September 2026
On 9 September 2026, QuoteHub withdrew all 32 income protection rows from the Index, from The QuoteHub Premium Index, How much does income protection cost in New Zealand? What…, The QuoteHub Premium Index 2026 and the downloadable CSV. The batch behind those rows was set up to price a different Quotemonster (QPR) benefit to the one it was labelled as: every row actually returned a small TPD lump-sum benefit, not a monthly income protection payment, so the figures published under "income protection" were not income protection prices at all. The error affected income protection only; life, trauma and TPD cover were priced correctly and are unaffected. QuoteHub does not currently publish an income protection price on any page. Income protection will be re-crunched on the correct benefit and republished at the next quarterly restatement of the Index. How much does income protection cost in New Zealand? What… explains what drives the cost in the meantime, with no premium figure, and every count and percentage on this page below has been recomputed to exclude the withdrawn rows.
Where the data comes from
Every premium figure in the QuoteHub Premium Index is pulled from Quotemonster (QPR), a rating engine New Zealand advisers use to run comparative quotes across multiple insurers' published rate tables from one adviser login. QuoteHub priced this snapshot through its own adviser account, and permission to publish figures derived from that account was confirmed directly by QuoteHub's director on 7 September 2026; the permission document itself is still to be filed. No live Quotemonster session, API call or adviser-only screen is ever exposed on a public QuoteHub page: every figure shown to a reader is a static number computed from the 8 September 2026 snapshot, not a live query.
What is Quotemonster (QPR)?
Quotemonster (QPR) is a rating and research platform used by licensed New Zealand financial advisers to compare insurers' published premium rates from a single interface, rather than a public consumer quoting tool. QuoteHub's access is through its own adviser account, and the figures published on QuoteHub's quotes pages are a dated snapshot pulled from that account, not a live feed.
Does a live Quotemonster quote ever appear on a public QuoteHub page?
No. Every premium figure on a QuoteHub quotes page is a static number from the 8 September 2026 snapshot described on this page, computed once and published as a dated, attributed figure. QuoteHub does not embed a live rating engine, an API call, or an adviser-only screen on any page a reader can reach without logging in.
What was priced
The snapshot covers three priced products, each at a fixed set of parameters, priced across ages 25 to 65 in five-year steps, both sexes, smoker and non-smoker status, for New Zealand's standard lowest-risk occupation category. A fourth, income protection, was withdrawn on 9 September 2026 (see Corrections above) and carries no priced row this cycle.
| Product | Cover priced | Ages | Occupation class | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life | $250,000, $500,000, $1,000,000 | 25 to 65 | 1 | 108 profiles across the three cover amounts |
| Trauma | $100,000 | 25 to 65 | 1 | 36 profiles |
| TPD | $250,000, any occupation | 25 to 60 | 1 | 32 profiles; no 65-year-old row was returned for any insurer |
| Income Protection | Not priced this cycle | n/a | n/a | Withdrawn 9 September 2026; the 32 rows this batch returned priced the wrong benefit (see Corrections above) |
Occupation class 1 is the standard, lowest-risk occupation category insurers use, and it is the only class priced this cycle; a class-3 or higher-risk occupation comparison is reserved for a future snapshot. Every priced figure is a stepped premium, standard rates (no loadings or exclusions applied), indexed cover, quoted monthly. Mortgage repayment cover was not priced this cycle and does not appear on any quotes page; see the mortgage protection calculator if that is what you are after, once it is added to a future snapshot.
Why is every premium on QuoteHub's quotes pages stepped, not level?
A level premium stays flat for a fixed calculation period rather than rising every year, but the length of that calculation period is set differently by different insurers and had not been independently verified against Quotemonster's output at the time this snapshot was built. Rather than publish a level-premium comparison that risked comparing insurers on different calculation periods without saying so, this cycle prices stepped premiums only. See stepped versus level premiums for how the two work.
What does "occupation class 1" mean, and why does it matter?
Insurers group jobs into risk classes and price accordingly; class 1 covers the lowest-risk occupations, typically office-based, professional or managerial roles, and pricing rises with the class for more physically hazardous jobs. Every figure across QuoteHub's quotes pages this cycle is class 1; a tradesperson or higher-risk occupation would be quoted materially higher, and this snapshot does not currently include a class-3 comparison.
Who priced how many rows
Across the 176 profiles priced this cycle (life, trauma and TPD combined; income protection is withdrawn, see Corrections above), the six panel insurers returned very different numbers of rates. This table is a fill count, not a ranking: an insurer that priced fewer rows is not a worse insurer, and an insurer that priced the most rows is not automatically the cheapest.
| Insurer | Rows priced (of 176) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| AIA | 176 | 100% |
| Chubb Life | 167 | 95% |
| Fidelity Life | 161 | 91% |
| Asteron Life | 155 | 88% |
| Partners Life | 144 | 82% |
| Momentum Life | 36 | 20% |
AIA returned a rate for every profile priced this cycle, across all three priced products. The other insurers' rate tables did not return a figure against every age, sex, smoking-status and cover combination this snapshot tried; a blank cell on any quotes page means that specific insurer did not price that specific profile in this snapshot, and it renders as "not priced," never as a filled-in guess.
Does "priced the most rows" mean an insurer is cheapest?
No, and the two are tracked separately on every quotes page. AIA priced every row in this snapshot but was rarely the cheapest on trauma cover, for example, where Fidelity Life and Asteron Life won more often; read the "cheapest insurer" table on each product page alongside this fill-count table, not instead of it.
Why did Momentum Life only price 36 rows?
Momentum Life prices Life cover at $250,000 only: its Quick Life product is guaranteed acceptance, with cover from $50,000 up to $300,000 per life insured and a two-year pre-existing-condition stand-down (Momentum Life, retrieved 8 September 2026), so it was never going to return a rate at the $500,000 or $1,000,000 cover levels priced this cycle, and its blanks there are a footnote, not a gap. Momentum Life also did not return a Trauma or TPD quote at any age this cycle; see Momentum Life for what it does publish.
Why is income protection not on this table?
Income protection was withdrawn from the Index on 9 September 2026: the batch that priced it returned a different, wrongly labelled benefit, not a real income protection figure, so there is no honest fill count to publish for it this cycle. See the Corrections section above and the income protection cost page, which explains what drives the cost instead of restating a number that cannot be trusted.
Why does TPD stop at age 60 and not go to 65?
No insurer in the panel returned a TPD quote for a 65-year-old at any sex or smoking status this cycle, while life and trauma cover were both priced to 65. That is a gap in what this snapshot returned for TPD specifically, not a claim that TPD cover is unavailable at 65; see the TPD insurance cost page for how that page states it.
Fill count by product
The overall 100%/95%/91%/88%/82%/20% fill split hides a lot: some insurers priced almost everything on one product and nothing at all on another, and that only shows up once the products are split out. Income protection is not a column here: it carries no priced rows this cycle (see Corrections above).
| Insurer | Life (of 108) | Trauma (of 36) | TPD (of 32) |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIA | 108 | 36 | 32 |
| Chubb Life | 106 | 35 | 26 |
| Fidelity Life | 106 | 31 | 24 |
| Asteron Life | 105 | 32 | 18 |
| Partners Life | 108 | 36 | 0 |
| Momentum Life | 36 | 0 | 0 |
Partners Life and Momentum Life priced no TPD at all this cycle; AIA is the only insurer that returned a rate for every profile on every priced product. This is the table to check before assuming a "cheapest" result on any product page reflects genuine six-way competition.
Why the index restates quarterly, not monthly
QuoteHub's Quotemonster adviser account has a fixed capacity of 999 rate-table lookups a month. Producing this snapshot, across four products, three cover levels for Life, nine age bands and multiple sex and smoking-status combinations, used a meaningful share of that monthly allowance in a single run. Re-running the full panel again inside the same month is not possible without exceeding the account's cap, which is why the QuoteHub Premium Index is restated on a quarterly cycle rather than monthly, and every quotes page states the exact snapshot date (8 September 2026) rather than implying the figures are live.
How often is the QuoteHub Premium Index updated?
Quarterly. The account behind this snapshot allows 999 Quotemonster lookups a month, which is enough to price the full panel once but not to refresh it again inside the same month, so QuoteHub commits to a quarterly restatement and dates every figure to the snapshot it came from (8 September 2026 for this cycle).
Will the numbers on QuoteHub's quotes pages change before the next snapshot?
No. Every figure is fixed to the 8 September 2026 snapshot until the next quarterly restatement, and each quotes page carries that date. Insurers change their own published rates between QuoteHub's snapshots, so the figure that actually applies to you always depends on underwriting and the insurer's current rate table, not this page.
What this snapshot cannot tell you
A premium figure on any QuoteHub quotes page is indicative, not a quote, and several things sit outside what this snapshot can show.
| What it cannot show | Why | Where to look instead |
|---|---|---|
| Your actual premium | Real underwriting considers your health, occupation, pastimes and full disclosure, which this snapshot does not model | A licensed adviser, or an insurer's own application process |
| A level-premium comparison | The level-premium calculation period is not verified across insurers this cycle | Stepped versus level premiums |
| Policy features, definitions and exclusions | Price alone does not show what a claim actually pays; the wordings differ by insurer even at the same premium | Each product page's insurer comparison table, and insurer financial strength ratings |
| A occupation-class 3 or higher-risk comparison | This cycle prices class 1 only | A licensed adviser for a class-specific estimate |
| Mortgage repayment cover pricing | Not priced this cycle | Mortgage protection calculator |
Is a QuoteHub Premium Index figure the same as an actual quote?
No. It is an indicative monthly premium computed from a rate-table lookup at standard rates with no loadings or exclusions, and your own premium depends on underwriting: your health, occupation, pastimes and full disclosure to the insurer. Treat every figure on a QuoteHub quotes page as a starting point for comparison, not a number you can hold an insurer to.
Why might a quote I get directly differ from the QuoteHub Premium Index figure?
Insurers may have changed their published rates since 8 September 2026, your own profile (health, occupation, pastimes, exact cover structure) will affect underwriting in ways this standard-rates snapshot does not model, and this snapshot excludes loadings, exclusions and any policy add-ons you might choose. A licensed adviser can run your own numbers against current rates.
Is reading this index the same as getting financial advice?
No. This page and every QuoteHub quotes page are general information about published and Quotemonster-sourced pricing, not personalised financial advice, and no figure here should be read as a recommendation for your own situation. 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.
Terms this index uses
The table below defines the pricing terms used across every QuoteHub quotes page, because "stepped" and "occupation class 1" are not self-explanatory to most readers comparing cover for the first time.
| Term | What it means on QuoteHub's quotes pages |
|---|---|
| Stepped premium | Rises each year as you get older; this is what every figure on QuoteHub's quotes pages is |
| Level premium | Stays flat for a set period regardless of age; not currently published, see below |
| Occupation class 1 | The standard, lowest-risk occupation category; the only class priced this cycle |
| Snapshot | A dated, static pull of rates, fixed until the next quarterly restatement; never a live quote |
| Standard rates | No loadings or exclusions applied for health, pastimes or occupation risk beyond the stated class |
| Cheapest of panel | The lowest priced insurer among those that returned a rate for that exact profile, not among every insurer that sells the product |
The restatement policy this snapshot sets is quarterly, tied to the account's monthly lookup cap rather than a calendar promise, so the table below shows the cadence rather than fixed future dates.
| Cycle | Status |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 (this snapshot) | Live: snapshot taken 8 September 2026, published across all quotes pages |
| Next restatement | Expected once the account's monthly lookup allowance resets and a full panel re-crunch is run, roughly quarterly |
What does "restated quarterly" actually mean for the dates on this site?
Each quotes page states the exact date its figures were snapshotted (8 September 2026 for this cycle), and that date does not move until the next full re-crunch of the panel, which QuoteHub expects roughly every quarter given the 999-lookup monthly cap on its Quotemonster account. If you are reading this more than three months after the stated snapshot date, treat the figures as more likely to be out of step with insurers' current published rates.
Where can I see the raw data behind this index?
The full dataset behind every quotes page is published as a downloadable CSV alongside the QuoteHub Premium Index study, which also sets out the cross-product findings, including the spread between insurers, the smoker multiple by age, the age curve and the gender gap, computed directly from this snapshot.
How to use this index
QuoteHub's read is that a methodology page only earns trust if it says what its own data cannot do, which is why every gap on this page (the missing 65-year-old TPD row, income protection's full withdrawal, Momentum Life's guaranteed-acceptance footnote) is stated rather than smoothed over. Compare the cheapest priced insurer at your own age, sex and smoking status on the relevant product page, then read the insurer comparison table on that same page for what each insurer's product actually is: the cheapest figure and the best-fit policy are different questions, and price alone never tells you which insurer to choose. Start at the quotes hub for life insurance, trauma insurance, TPD insurance or income protection, and see the full study for the cross-product findings this snapshot supports, including the spread between insurers, the smoker multiple by age, and the gender gap. Our insurer financial strength guide, claims and insurer strength research and insurer comparison tool cover what price alone does not, and each insurer's company page sets out its own products in full.
Adviser's view
QuoteHub's read is that a methodology page that hides its own mistakes is worse than useless, which is why the withdrawal of 32 wrongly priced income protection rows on 9 September 2026 is documented here in full rather than quietly edited away. Every count on this page is recomputed to exclude them, and income protection stays unpriced until it is re-run correctly at the next quarterly snapshot.
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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). How the QuoteHub Premium Index Is Built: Methodology. www.quotehub.co.nz/quotes/methodology. Updated 2026-09-09.
References
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Calculators.