The QuoteHub Premium Index 2026: what New Zealanders pay for life, trauma and TPD cover

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-09-20 · Reviewed quarterly, when the underlying data is restated.

The QuoteHub Premium Index prices life, trauma and TPD cover across six New Zealand insurers as a single snapshot taken on 8 September 2026, sourced from insurers' published rate cards and collected through adviser rating software on the QuoteHub adviser account. Across 176 priced profiles, no insurer was cheapest on every product, and the smoker multiple peaks in the mid-40s to mid-50s across all three. Income protection was withdrawn from this snapshot on 9 September 2026; see the correction below. The full dataset is free to download below.

Correction, 9 September 2026

QuoteHub withdrew all 32 income protection rows from this study, from The QuoteHub Premium Index, How much does income protection cost in New Zealand? What… and the downloadable CSV, the day after this snapshot was first published. The batch behind those rows was set up to price a different 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 no genuine income protection finding exists in this snapshot. The error affected income protection only; every life, trauma and TPD finding below was priced correctly and is unaffected. Every count, table and finding on this page has been recomputed to exclude the withdrawn rows. Income protection will be re-crunched on the correct benefit and rejoin this study at the next quarterly restatement; see the methodology's Corrections section for the full account, and How much does income protection cost in New Zealand? What… for what drives the cost in the meantime, with no premium figure.

Key findings

Five patterns hold across this snapshot, and each is examined in full in its own section below with the table that supports it. QuoteHub's read is that the most useful comparison is never a single "cheapest insurer" headline, because that insurer changes by product, cover amount and age, which is exactly what the sections below set out to show.

• No insurer is cheapest across the board. One insurer prices $250,000 of life cover cheapest in 34 of 36 profiles, but a different insurer overtakes it at $1,000,000 of cover, cheapest in 20 of 36; on trauma cover two insurers split the cheapest spot, and a different pair does on TPD cover. The insurer that wins depends on the product and the cover amount, not a fixed ranking.
• The spread between insurers widens with the size of the risk insured. At age 45, male, non-smoking, the cheapest and dearest priced insurer were 12% apart on $500,000 of life cover, 15% apart on $100,000 of trauma cover, and 39% apart on $250,000 of TPD cover, the widest spread of any product this snapshot measures.
• The smoker multiple peaks in the mid-40s to mid-50s, then narrows. A 45-year-old male smoker paid up to 2.38 times the non-smoker price for life cover, 2.31 times for trauma cover and 1.81 times for TPD cover.
• The pricing curve accelerates sharply around 45, not smoothly. TPD's cheapest priced monthly figure rose 113% between age 45 and 50, and trauma cover rose 194% between age 35 and 45; life cover accelerates too, but more gradually, without a single discrete jump.
• The sex gap is not consistent across products. Women pay less than men for life cover at every age and cover amount this snapshot measures, by 9.9% to 66.8% depending on age and cover. On trauma cover, men were actually cheaper at 25 (by about 11%) before women became cheaper by 45. On TPD cover, the gap stays under about 15% in either direction.

What this snapshot covers

The snapshot prices three products across a total of 176 profiles: ages 25 to 65 in five-year steps (25 to 60 only for TPD, where no insurer returned a 65-year-old rate), both sexes, smoker and non-smoker status, occupation class 1, standard rates, stepped premiums. Income protection was withdrawn on 9 September 2026 (see the correction above) and carries no row here. AIA returned a rate for every one of the 176 profiles; the other five insurers returned fewer, down to Momentum Life's 36, all on Life cover at $250,000 only, where it is a guaranteed-acceptance product capped at $300,000 per life insured. See the full methodology for the complete fill count by insurer and product, and why an insurer priced fewer rows is not automatically a worse insurer. Start at the quotes hub for the individual product pages, each with its own age-by-age tables.

Life insurance

For $500,000 of stepped, non-smoker life cover, the cheapest priced quote in this snapshot ran from about $20 to $25 a month at age 30 to about $625 to $650 at 65, indicative monthly cost from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026 (see Fidelity Life: Life cover for one insurer's own published rates). One insurer priced this cover cheapest in 20 of 36 age, sex and smoking-status cells; a different insurer overtook it at $1,000,000 of cover, cheapest in 20 of 36 cells there against 13. At $250,000, one insurer dominated almost completely, cheapest in 34 of 36 cells. Full detail, including the by-age and by-cover breakdowns, is on the life insurance cost page; every figure there is a typical cost range across the panel, never one insurer's own price, and each insurer's own product features sit on its company page.

How much does life insurance cost in NZ?

For $500,000 of non-smoker cover, the cheapest priced quote in the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026 runs from about $20 to $25 a month in your early thirties to about $625 to $650 by 65, with age the single biggest driver of cost, indicative monthly cost from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026 (see Fidelity Life: Life cover). See the life insurance cost page for the full breakdown by cover amount, and the methodology for how the panel was built.

Do women pay less for life insurance than men?

Yes, at every one of the 108 age, cover amount and smoking-status combinations this snapshot measures. At $500,000 of non-smoker cover, a 25-year-old man's cheapest quote runs 65.3% above a woman's at the same age, narrowing to 14.4% by 40 before widening to 55.1% by 65. See the full gender comparison for every age and cover amount.

How much more do smokers pay for life insurance?

The smoker multiple on life cover climbs from roughly 1.5 to 1.7 times the non-smoker price in your twenties and thirties to a peak of around 2.2 to 2.4 times in your mid-forties to mid-fifties, then eases back to around 1.6 to 1.8 times by 65. See the full smoker comparison for the multiple at every age and cover amount this snapshot prices.

Trauma insurance

Trauma cover for $100,000, priced across five insurers, ran from about $15 to $20 a month at 25 to about $575 to $600 at 65, indicative monthly cost from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026 (see Asteron Life's trauma cover for one insurer's published rates), and the cheapest insurer changed at almost every age across the five insurers that priced it. One insurer priced every profile but was never the cheapest. Full detail, including what each insurer's trauma product actually is, is on the trauma insurance cost page.

How much does trauma insurance cost in NZ?

Trauma cover for $100,000, priced across five insurers in the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026, ran from about $15 to $20 a month at age 25 to about $575 to $600 at 65, indicative monthly cost from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026 (see Asteron Life's trauma cover), and no single insurer was cheapest at every age. See the trauma insurance cost page for the full age-by-age breakdown and what each insurer's product actually covers.

Do men or women pay more for trauma insurance?

It depends on age, unlike life cover: at 25 the cheapest priced quote favoured men by about 11%, by 45 women were about 15% cheaper, and by 65 women were about 74% cheaper. That reversal does not happen on life cover, where women are cheaper at every age this snapshot prices.

TPD insurance

TPD cover for $250,000, any occupation, priced across four insurers, ran from about $15 to $20 a month at 25 to about $275 to $300 at 60, indicative monthly cost from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026 (see AIA's TPD product page for one insurer's own published rates), the oldest age priced this cycle: no insurer in the panel returned a TPD rate for a 65-year-old. The cheapest insurer varied across the four insurers that priced it, with no single insurer cheapest in even half of the profiles. Full detail is on the TPD insurance cost page.

How much does TPD insurance cost in NZ?

TPD cover for $250,000, any occupation, priced across four insurers in the QuoteHub Premium Index for September 2026, ran from about $15 to $20 a month at age 25 to about $275 to $300 at 60, a 15.4-times increase, indicative monthly cost from insurers' published rate cards as at 8 September 2026 (see AIA's TPD product page). See the TPD insurance cost page for the full age-by-age breakdown, and why this snapshot has no 65-year-old row.

Why does TPD cover show the widest insurer spread of any product?

At age 45, male, non-smoking, the cheapest and dearest priced TPD quote were 39% apart, wider than the 12% spread on life cover or the 15% spread on trauma cover at the same age and sex. TPD had the fewest insurers returning a full set of rates, which widens the gap between whichever insurer priced lowest and whichever priced highest at any given profile.

Income protection

Income protection carries no priced row in this snapshot: all 32 rows were withdrawn on 9 September 2026 after the batch behind them priced the wrong benefit (see the correction above). QuoteHub does not currently publish an income protection premium anywhere on the site.

How much does income protection cost in NZ?

There is no figure to report this cycle. How much does income protection cost in New Zealand? What… sets out what actually drives the cost, waiting period, benefit period, occupation class and Agreed Value versus Indemnity, sourced to each insurer's own published wording, and income protection rejoins this study at the next quarterly restatement.

The spread between insurers

The gap between the cheapest and dearest priced insurer at the same age, sex and smoking status widens as the product insures a bigger, more concentrated risk. At 45, male, non-smoking, the spread was 12% on $500,000 of life cover, 15% on $100,000 of trauma cover and 39% on $250,000 of TPD cover. Income protection is not in this section: it was withdrawn on 9 September 2026 (see the correction above), so no spread finding exists for it this cycle. A wider spread means the choice of insurer matters more, in dollar terms, on TPD cover than on life cover.

Who priced cheapest, by product

This is a count of which insurer's published rate was lowest in this snapshot, not a ranking of policy quality: an insurer that is rarely cheapest may still be the better fit once benefits, definitions and claims experience are weighed. One insurer priced every profile across all three priced products and was cheapest most often on TPD cover, but was rarely cheapest on life cover at $250,000 or on trauma cover, where a different insurer dominates. Income protection is withdrawn this cycle (see the correction above) and carries no cheapest-insurer count. See each product's own page for the insurer comparison table that explains what price alone does not, our insurer comparison tool to weigh more than price, and our insurer financial strength guide for solvency and ratings, which this Index does not measure.

Is the insurer that prices the most rows also the cheapest?

No. The insurer that priced the most rows priced all 176 profiles in this snapshot, more than any other insurer, but was cheapest on life cover only at $1,000,000 and never cheapest on trauma cover; a different insurer priced fewer rows overall but was cheapest most often on life cover at $250,000 and $500,000. Read the fill-count and cheapest-count tables together, never one alone.

The smoker multiple by age

A smoker's premium climbs fastest, in relative terms, through the thirties and forties on lump-sum products. At age 45, a male smoker's cheapest priced quote was 2.38 times the non-smoker price for $1,000,000 of life cover, 2.31 times for $100,000 of trauma cover, and 1.81 times for $250,000 of TPD cover; the multiple then narrows again by 65 across all three, because the underlying non-smoker rate has itself climbed close to the smoker rate.

Why does the smoker multiple narrow again after 55?

The non-smoker premium itself rises so steeply after 55 on lump-sum products that it closes much of the gap to the smoker premium in percentage terms, even though the dollar gap keeps growing. This pattern repeats on life, trauma and TPD cover in this snapshot, and is one of the clearer findings a single-product page cannot show on its own.

The age curve, and where it breaks

Every product in this snapshot gets more expensive with age, but not at a constant rate. TPD's cheapest priced monthly figure rose 30% between 40 and 45, then 113% between 45 and 50; trauma cover rose 194% between 35 and 45. Life cover accelerates too, from roughly 15 to 25 percentage points of increase per five-year step in your thirties to 74 to 99 points by your late fifties and sixties, but without a single sharp break in the same way TPD and trauma show.

Why do trauma and TPD premiums jump so much harder around 45 than life cover does?

Trauma and TPD pricing is driven directly by the measured incidence of the covered conditions, cancer, heart attack, stroke and permanent disability, which climbs sharply through the forties rather than in a straight line from age 25; life cover pricing reflects mortality risk, which rises more gradually across the same age range in this panel.

The gender gap by product

Life cover shows the largest and most consistent gender gap: women are cheaper at every age and cover amount this snapshot measures, from 9.9% at $250,000, age 40 to 66.8% at $1,000,000, age 25. Trauma cover reverses direction at younger ages, briefly favouring men at 25 before swinging to favour women by a wide margin at 65 (74%). TPD cover stays within about 15% either way at every age. Income protection is withdrawn this cycle (see the correction above) and carries no gender-gap finding.

Why does the gender gap behave so differently across products?

Life cover prices mortality risk, where the actuarial gap between men and women is well established and consistent across ages; trauma and TPD cover price morbidity and disability risk, where the gap between the sexes changes shape at different ages as different conditions become more or less common. Income protection typically weights occupation and income more heavily than sex in how it is underwritten, though this snapshot carries no priced figures to measure that against this cycle.

Data quality, honestly

Not every product in this snapshot is priced with the same completeness, and this section says so rather than letting a thin panel read like a full one.

How this snapshot was built

The QuoteHub Premium Index is sourced from insurers' published rate cards, collected through the rating software New Zealand advisers use to compare those rates, on the QuoteHub adviser account, as a snapshot taken on 8 September 2026. Every figure is stepped, occupation class 1, standard rates, with no loadings or exclusions, and the account's cap of 999 rate-table lookups a month means the index can only be restated quarterly. No live rating query, session or adviser-only screen appears on any public QuoteHub page; every figure here is a fixed, dated number. The full methodology page sets out the complete build process, the fill count by insurer and product, and why the level-premium comparison is not yet published. This study, and every figure on it, is general information, not personalised financial advice, and no figure is a quote. 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. Price is one input into choosing cover; our claims and insurer strength research and our premiums news coverage sit alongside this Index for the parts price alone does not answer.

Download the dataset

The full snapshot behind every figure on this page and across QuoteHub's quotes pages is free to download as a CSV: quotehub-premium-index-2026-09.csv. It contains all 176 priced profiles across life, trauma and TPD cover: product, cover amount, age, sex, smoking status, occupation class, and a rounded typical monthly cost range across whichever insurers priced that profile. No individual insurer's premium and no "cheapest insurer" naming appear in the file, on this page, or anywhere else on the site. The CSV's own header states the income protection withdrawal; the 32 withdrawn rows are not in the file.

How do I cite the QuoteHub Premium Index?

Cite it as: "The QuoteHub Premium Index, September 2026, QuoteHub (www.quotehub.co.nz/research/premium-index), snapshot 8 September 2026." Link to this page rather than an individual product page when citing a cross-product finding, and to the specific product page (for example How much does trauma insurance cost in New Zealand? The…) when citing a single-product figure. Do not attribute a figure to "QuoteHub" alone; attribute it to the Index, dated to its snapshot.

Can I republish figures from the QuoteHub Premium Index?

Yes, with attribution to the Index and its snapshot date, as set out above, and a link back to this page or the relevant product page. Do not present a single figure as current pricing without the snapshot date; insurers' own published rates may have changed since 8 September 2026.

Is this the same data QuoteHub uses to advise clients?

No. This snapshot is a fixed, dated publication for public comparison, not a live pricing tool; a licensed adviser assessing your own cover works from current insurer rates and your own underwriting, not from this Index. See how the Index was built for the distinction in full.

Why does QuoteHub publish this instead of just linking to insurers' own rate cards?

Most New Zealand insurers do not publish a full, comparable rate table on their own websites, so a reader cannot otherwise see how their own age, sex, smoking status and chosen cover amount stack up across insurers in one place. The QuoteHub Premium Index exists to make that comparison possible from one published, dated snapshot, with every gap and limitation stated rather than hidden.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). The QuoteHub Premium Index 2026: NZ Insurance Price Study. www.quotehub.co.nz/research/premium-index. Updated 2026-09-20.

References

• Momentum Life: Quick Life Insurance

Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, What You Get.