How much does TPD insurance cost in New Zealand? The QuoteHub Premium Index, September 2026

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-09-09 · 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.

TPD insurance for $250,000 of any-occupation cover, priced across four insurers by the QuoteHub Premium Index, ran from $16.56 a month for a 25-year-old non-smoking man to $282.50 a month at 60, and no insurer in this snapshot priced TPD past age 60. See our TPD insurance guide for how the cover works, and the full methodology for how this snapshot was built.

TPD (total and permanent disability) cover pays a single lump sum if illness or injury leaves you permanently unable to work, and the "any occupation" definition priced on this page is the stricter, cheaper of the two common tests: it pays only once you cannot do any job you are reasonably suited to by training or experience, not just your own job. Every figure below is the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026, an indicative monthly premium sourced from insurers' published rate cards and collected through Quotemonster (QPR) on the QuoteHub adviser account, as at 8 September 2026. It is a snapshot of published rate tables, not a quote, and your own premium depends on underwriting.

What $250,000 of TPD cover costs by age

TPD premiums rise more steeply than trauma or life cover once they start moving, and the table below is a non-smoker, $250,000 sum insured, any-occupation, priced across four insurers for occupation class 1.

A 25-year-old non-smoking man was cheapest at AIA on $18.36 a month; by 45 the cheapest price had risen to $27.56 a month at Asteron Life, and by 60, the oldest age priced this cycle, the cheapest price was $282.50 a month at AIA. That is a 15.4-times increase in the cheapest price from 25 to 60. Momentum Life and Partners Life did not price a TPD quote at any age this cycle.

How much does TPD insurance cost at 45?

At 45, non-smoking $250,000 any-occupation TPD cover ran from $27.56 a month (Asteron Life, cheapest) to $38.38 a month (Fidelity Life) for a man, and from $32.59 (Asteron Life) to $46.10 (Chubb Life) for a woman, per the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026. The jump from age 40 is sharp: the cheapest male price rose 30% between 40 and 45, and a further 113% between 45 and 50.

How much does TPD insurance cost at 55?

At 55, the cheapest priced non-smoking $250,000 TPD cover was $126.03 a month for a man (AIA) and $140.44 a month for a woman (Asteron Life), per the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026. Unlike the mid-40s, the sexes are close together at this age: the female figure is 11% above the male figure, a smaller gap than trauma cover shows at the same age.

Why this snapshot stops at age 60

No insurer in the QuoteHub Premium Index panel returned a TPD quote for a 65-year-old in this snapshot, at any sex or smoking status. That is different from a blank cell inside a priced age band: it is a complete gap at the oldest age this index otherwise prices for life and trauma cover, and it is stated here rather than guessed at. TPD entry and cover-to ages differ by insurer and policy (Fidelity Life's own TPD cover, for instance, is available for entry from 16 to 64, per its published product page below), so the absence of a 65-year-old row in this snapshot is a statement about what Quotemonster returned this cycle, not a claim that no insurer offers TPD cover to a 65-year-old.

Why did some insurers not price TPD at every age or in the smoker category?

Across the 32 profiles priced, AIA returned all 32, Chubb Life 26, Fidelity Life 24 and Asteron Life 18; the remaining cells print "not priced" rather than a guessed figure, and Momentum Life and Partners Life returned none. A blank cell in the tables on this page means that insurer did not return a rate for that exact age, sex and smoking-status combination in this snapshot, not that the insurer has no TPD product; see the methodology page for the full fill count by insurer and product.

What smokers pay for the same $250,000 of cover

A smoker's TPD premium overtakes a non-smoker's gradually rather than at a fixed multiple, and the gap widens through the 40s and 50s before narrowing again at 60.

At 25 the cheapest smoker price for a man was $18.02 a month (Fidelity Life), actually below the $18.36 non-smoker price (AIA), because the cheapest insurer differs between the two rows at that age. By 45 the cheapest smoker price was $49.88 (Asteron Life) against $27.56 for a non-smoker (Asteron Life), a multiple of 1.81 times, rising to 1.79 times at 50 before easing to 1.48 times at 60.

How much more does a smoker pay for TPD insurance?

A smoker paid roughly 1.0 to 1.8 times the cheapest non-smoker price for the same $250,000 of TPD cover in this snapshot, with the multiple lowest at 25 and highest in the mid-to-late 40s, per the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026. That pattern is different from trauma cover, where the smoker multiple keeps rising into the 50s; TPD pricing appears to weight the extra risk of smoking most heavily in the decade before it plateaus.

Which insurer is cheapest for TPD cover

No single insurer was cheapest at every age, sex and smoking status this cycle, and the insurer that priced the most rows was not the cheapest most often.

Across the 32 profiles priced, AIA was cheapest 13 times, Asteron Life 11 times and Fidelity Life 8 times. AIA priced every one of the 32 profiles and was cheapest in 13 of them; Asteron Life priced only 18 of the 32 profiles yet was cheapest in 11 of those it priced, which is why "priced the most rows" and "cheapest most often" are different questions. Chubb Life priced 26 profiles but was never the cheapest.

What is the cheapest TPD insurance in NZ?

There is no single cheapest TPD insurer across every age and sex in this snapshot: AIA was cheapest in 13 of 32 priced profiles, Asteron Life in 11 and Fidelity Life in 8, per the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026. The cheapest insurer at your own age and sex is shown in the table above, and price is only one factor in choosing TPD cover; see our TPD insurance guide for the definitions and exclusions that matter alongside it.

Do men or women pay more for TPD insurance?

The sex gap in TPD pricing is smaller than trauma cover shows at the same ages, and briefly favours men in the mid-30s and again at 60.

At 25, the cheapest priced quote for a man ($18.36, AIA) was 5.2% above the cheapest for a woman ($17.45, AIA). By 45 the male figure ($27.56) was 15.4% below the female figure ($32.59). By 60 the gap had narrowed to 5.0% in the man's favour ($282.50 against $269.11), which is a much flatter pattern than trauma cover, where the female price falls further behind the male price at every older age.

Do men or women pay more for TPD insurance in NZ?

Men paid slightly more at 25 and again at 60, and women paid more through the 30s, 40s and 50s, with the gap never exceeding about 15% in either direction in this snapshot, per the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026. That is a narrower and less one-directional gap than either trauma or life cover show over the same age range.

What does TPD cover you for?

TPD pays a single lump sum, most commonly used to clear debt, pay for care or adapt a home, once you are assessed as permanently unable to work under the policy's definition; it does not pay a recurring income, which is what income protection is for. AIA describes it as financial support for medical expenses, mortgage or rent payments, home modifications and employing a caregiver, and Asteron Life's brochure lists paying off debt, home modifications and everyday living expenses among the common uses (see the sources below). Compare that with income protection cost if you are weighing a lump sum against ongoing monthly cover.

How do you qualify for TPD?

You qualify for a TPD payout by meeting the policy's own permanent-disability definition, assessed against medical evidence, not by holding a particular diagnosis: AIA's own-occupation test asks whether you can resume your usual role in your current industry, while its any-occupation test, the one priced on this page, asks whether you can do any work reasonably suited to your training or experience. The exact wording, waiting period before a claim can be assessed, and any occupation exclusions differ by insurer and policy; see the TPD insurance guide for how the assessment process works in practice.

Can I claim TPD for PTSD?

A TPD claim can, in principle, be made for a permanent psychiatric condition including PTSD, but it must meet the same disability threshold as any other claim: permanent and total inability to work under the policy's own-occupation or any-occupation test, supported by medical evidence, and insurers apply that threshold strictly to mental-health claims. This is general information, not a statement that any particular condition would meet any particular insurer's definition; see a licensed adviser or your own policy wording before assuming eligibility.

Does ACC pay out for permanent disability instead of TPD insurance?

Only if the disability was caused by an accident: ACC provides financial support for a permanent injury as a one-off or an ongoing payment, with the amount depending on the date of the injury and the assessed level of impairment, and any such payment is tax-free (ACC, retrieved 8 September 2026). ACC does not cover permanent disability caused by illness, such as cancer or a degenerative condition, which is the gap that TPD insurance is designed to fill; see our guide to what ACC does not cover for the boundary in more detail.

How much TPD cover do I need?

There is no single published rule for a TPD sum insured; the right figure depends on your outstanding debt, dependants and how long your income would need replacing while you adjust, and it is different from a life cover calculation because you would still be alive and likely still have ongoing costs. Use the TPD calculator to model your own numbers against your mortgage and expenses, or speak to a licensed adviser about how TPD sits alongside your life cover and income protection.

Is a TPD payout taxable in New Zealand?

No: a personally owned TPD policy pays a tax-free lump sum in New Zealand, in the same way as life and trauma cover, with premiums not tax-deductible either. Employer-paid TPD cover changes who pays fringe benefit tax on the premium but the lump sum itself stays tax-free to you; see our full life insurance and TPD tax guide for trust-owned and employer-paid variations.

What each insurer's TPD cover actually is

The four priced insurers structure TPD differently, and "own occupation" versus "any occupation" is the single biggest driver of both the price and what actually triggers a claim.

What is the difference between own occupation and any occupation TPD?

Own-occupation TPD pays out once you cannot return to your specific role in your current industry, even if you could retrain into a different job; any-occupation TPD, the definition priced on this page, only pays once you cannot do any work you are reasonably suited to by education, training or experience. AIA sets out both definitions on its product page (linked above), and own-occupation cover is typically priced higher because it is easier to trigger a valid claim under it.

Can I have TPD cover alongside life cover?

Yes, and most insurers in this snapshot offer TPD either as an accelerated benefit taken from your Life cover sum insured, which reduces the life benefit after a TPD claim, or as a standalone benefit that leaves your life cover untouched. Fidelity Life states TPD can be added into Life cover or taken as a standalone policy, and AIA and Asteron Life offer comparable structures in their product documentation linked above; a licensed adviser can model which structure suits your own life cover alongside TPD.

Is TPD the same as trauma insurance?

No. TPD pays a lump sum only once you are assessed as permanently unable to work; trauma insurance pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a listed serious condition such as cancer, heart attack or stroke, whether or not it affects your ability to work. See our trauma insurance cost page for how that pricing compares, and our TPD guide for how the two are commonly bundled.

What occupation class does this TPD pricing use?

Every figure on this page is occupation class 1, the standard, lowest-risk occupation category used across the QuoteHub Premium Index this cycle. A higher-risk occupation class would be priced differently, and this snapshot does not currently include a class-3 comparison; see the methodology page for the panel's scope.

Is TPD cover stepped or level in this snapshot?

Every TPD premium on this page is a stepped premium, which increases each year as you get older; the QuoteHub Premium Index does not currently publish a level-premium comparison, because the level-premium calculation period differs by insurer and has not been independently verified against Quotemonster's output. See stepped versus level premiums for what that choice means for your own cover.

How does TPD compare with trauma on price?

At age 45, non-smoking, the cheapest priced monthly figures in this snapshot were $27.56 for $250,000 of TPD cover and $65.41 for $100,000 of trauma cover: two different products insuring two different risks with two different sums insured, so the premiums are not directly comparable without also weighing what each pays and when. Income protection pricing was withdrawn from the Index on 9 September 2026 (see the methodology's Corrections section) and is not part of this comparison this cycle. See trauma insurance cost for the full breakdown and income protection cost for what drives that product's price instead.

How this snapshot was priced

The QuoteHub Premium Index is a September 2026 snapshot of four insurers' published TPD rates, sourced from insurers' published rate cards and collected through Quotemonster (QPR) on the QuoteHub adviser account, as at 8 September 2026: standard rates, occupation class 1, any occupation, stepped premiums, no loadings or exclusions, indexed monthly cover. QuoteHub's read is that the missing 65-year-old age band and the uneven fill across insurers matter as much as the headline price: a snapshot that shows what it does not have is more useful than one that pretends every cell is filled. Full detail, including why the account can only restate this data quarterly, is on the methodology page. This page is general information, not personalised financial advice. 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. For advice on which TPD cover suits your situation, see our TPD insurance guide or use the TPD calculator to estimate a sum insured, then compare insurers on more than price.

Talk through trauma cover with a licensed adviser · free, no obligation.

Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). TPD Insurance Cost NZ, Sep 2026: The QuoteHub Index. www.quotehub.co.nz/quotes/tpd-insurance. Updated 2026-09-09.

References

• AIA: Total Permanent Disability Insurance
• Asteron Life: Total and Permanent Disablement Insurance
• Chubb: Complete Disablement Cover
• Fidelity Life: Total and permanent disability cover
• ACC: Financial support for a permanent injury

Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Referral.