Claims readiness checklists
If you are reading this after a death in the family, or because you are seriously ill or unable to work, we are sorry you need it. This page is deliberately practical: for each type of insurance claim it lists what the insurer will ask for, who to contact first, and the claims phone numbers and timeframes QuoteHub has verified — so you can gather things once, instead of in pieces over stressful weeks.
One thing this page will never do is predict the outcome. Whether a claim is accepted is always the insurer’s decision under the terms of the policy, and no checklist changes that. What preparation helps with is the process. Each insurer’s published claims statistics, with the year they cover, are on QuoteHub’s individual insurer reviews — linked from the contacts table below.
life & terminal illnesstraumaincome protectionhealth pre-approvalfuneralinsurer claims contactsif a claim is declinedHow to use these checklists
Every checklist on this page is complete as printed text — you do not need to tick anything for it to work, and nothing you tick is stored or sent anywhere. The items are the documents and details New Zealand insurers commonly request on their claim forms and claims pages; where a requirement varies by insurer or policy, the item tells you to ask the claims team rather than guessing for you. You do not have to go through an adviser to claim — every insurer in the contacts table takes claims directly — but if your policy was arranged through QuoteHub’s advisers, they can lodge the claim and deal with the insurer for you: how adviser claims support works
Notify the insurer as soon as you reasonably can. Policies set notification periods — the exact period is in your policy wording, so check yours or ask the claims team when you first call. Missing paperwork should never stop you from making that first call: the claims team will tell you what they need and who may certify copies.
Life and terminal illness claims
A life insurance claim pays the policy’s lump sum to the beneficiaries or the estate after the insured person dies; a terminal illness claim pays the same sum early, while the insured person is alive, on medical evidence of a terminal diagnosis — most NZ policies define this by a stated life expectancy, commonly twelve months, but the definition in your own policy wording is the one that applies. These claims are usually lodged by a family member, the executor, or the adviser, and the person lodging does not need every document in hand before calling the insurer.
Contact first: the insurer’s claims team (verified numbers below), or your adviser if the policy was arranged through one — the adviser can lodge the claim on your behalf and handle the insurer contact for you.
Life / terminal illness claim checklist
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Trauma and critical illness claims
Trauma cover (also sold as critical illness cover) pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a condition specifically defined in the policy — a cancer of a defined severity, a heart attack meeting stated diagnostic criteria, a stroke with stated effects, and so on. Because the payment turns on whether the medical evidence meets the policy’s definition, the specialist’s report is the centre of a trauma claim, and the most useful preparation is getting the diagnosis documented by the treating specialist rather than only by a GP referral note.
Contact first: the insurer’s claims team or your adviser. It is worth calling before the paperwork is complete — the claims team will say exactly which medical evidence they need for the condition being claimed.
Trauma / critical illness claim checklist
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Income protection claims
Income protection pays a regular amount while illness or injury stops you working, so an income protection claim needs two kinds of evidence the lump-sum covers do not: proof of what you were earning, and ongoing medical evidence that you remain unable to work. Payments start after the waiting period your policy was set up with, and the claim stays open while you are being paid — expect the insurer to ask for updated medical certificates through the life of the claim.
Contact first: the insurer’s claims team or your adviser, as soon as it is clear you will be off work beyond your policy’s waiting period — earlier notification gives the assessment time to run while the waiting period does. If an injury is involved, contact ACC as well: how ACC weekly compensation works
Income protection claim checklist
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Health insurance claims and surgical pre-approval
Health insurance claims run in the opposite order from the other claim types on this page: for surgery, specialist treatment and diagnostics, the approval usually happens before the treatment, not after it. NZ health insurers operate pre-approval processes — you (or often your specialist or provider) submit the planned treatment’s details and the insurer confirms what the policy covers before anything is booked. Everyday claims — GP visits, prescriptions and similar benefits on plans that include them — are typically submitted afterwards through the insurer’s member portal or app with receipts attached.
Contact first: the insurer’s pre-approval channel, before treatment is booked. nib asks members to request pre-approval through my nib for specialist care, diagnostics, surgery and cancer treatment, with some First Choice network providers handling the paperwork for you (nib claims page, retrieved 18 Aug 2026); Southern Cross runs pre-approval for surgery with Affiliated Providers often claiming directly, as covered in QuoteHub’s Southern Cross review
Health / surgical pre-approval checklist
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Funeral cover claims and funeral advances
Funeral-related payments arrive by two different routes, and it helps to know which one you are claiming. A funeral insurance policy is its own product with its own claim process, built to pay quickly — Chubb, for example, says it usually pays approved funeral claims within 48 hours, with a dedicated claims line for its LifeOne, Funeral, Bill and Income Cover products (Chubb Life claims page, retrieved 14 Aug 2026). Separately, many NZ life insurance policies include a bereavement or funeral-advance benefit — an early payment towards funeral costs made ahead of the main life claim. Amounts and conditions differ by policy, so the first phone call should establish which route applies and what the insurer accepts at this early stage.
Contact first: the insurer’s claims line, early — before the funeral if you can. Ask two questions on that call: whether the policy includes an early funeral payment, and which documents they can start with while formal paperwork is still being issued.
Funeral claim / funeral advance checklist
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Who to contact first — verified insurer claims contacts
QuoteHub verified each contact below on the named insurer’s own claims page on the date shown, during the research for its insurer reviews. Insurers change contact details between our checks, so if a number does not connect, the insurer’s claims page is the authoritative source. Where QuoteHub has not verified a contact — including for insurers not listed here — check your policy schedule or the insurer’s claims page. Each insurer’s published claims statistics, with the year they cover, are on its linked QuoteHub review.
| Insurer | First contact for claims (verified source in cell) | Published claim-handling timeframes |
|---|---|---|
| AIAQuoteHub review | 0800 500 108, Monday to Friday 8:30am–5:00pm. Health claims can also be lodged online or through the MyAIA portal. (AIA claims page, retrieved 18 Aug 2026) | Not published — AIA allocates a claims team member as your contact during assessment, but publishes no end-to-end timeframe. |
| Asteron LifeQuoteHub review | 0800 737 101, 8:30am–5pm Monday to Friday, or email the completed claim form to [email protected]. (Asteron Life claims page, retrieved 15 Aug 2026) | Published service targets: acknowledgement within one hour of lodgement, a status update within 5–7 working days, a dedicated case manager, and payment typically processed within two days of acceptance. (Asteron Life claims page, retrieved 15 Aug 2026) |
| Chubb LifeQuoteHub review | 0508 464 999 for life claims; 0800 224 623 for LifeOne, Funeral, Bill and Income Cover claims. Claims can also start by online form, email, or through your adviser. (Chubb Life claims page, retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | Chubb says it aims to begin assessing a claim within five working days of receiving it, and usually pays approved funeral claims within 48 hours. (Chubb Life claims page, retrieved 14 Aug 2026) |
| Fidelity LifeQuoteHub review | 0800 88 22 88 (claims and general line). Claims can be started directly or through your adviser. (Fidelity Life claims section, retrieved 15 Aug 2026) | Not published — Fidelity Life publishes a claims guide and a claims promise, but no end-to-end timeframe figure. |
| nibQuoteHub review | 0800 123 642 for help with cover and claims. Everyday claims go through the my nib portal or app; specialist care, diagnostics, surgery and cancer treatment need pre-approval first (nib claims page, retrieved 18 Aug 2026). Life & Living claims run through a separate channel (nib life and living claims contact, retrieved 18 Aug 2026). | Not published — no verified figure. |
| Partners LifeQuoteHub review | 0800 145 433, 8.30am–5pm Monday to Friday. Private Medical claims go through the online claim service; all other claim types are lodged by emailing the completed claim form and supporting documents to [email protected]. (Partners Life claims page, retrieved 18 Aug 2026) | Not published — no verified figure. |
| Southern CrossQuoteHub review | No claims phone line verified by QuoteHub — check your policy schedule or Southern Cross’s claims pages. Members submit and track claims through the My Southern Cross portal and app; Affiliated Providers often claim directly, and surgery needs pre-approval. | Not published — no verified figure. |
How long claims take — only what insurers publish
Most New Zealand insurers do not publish end-to-end claim timeframes, and QuoteHub does not estimate what is not published — a made-up “typical” number would be worse than none during a stressful process. The verified published figures are the ones in the table above: Chubb’s aim to begin assessing within five working days (with approved funeral claims usually paid within 48 hours), and Asteron’s service targets of a one-hour acknowledgement, a status update within 5–7 working days, and payment typically within two days of acceptance. Where the table says “not published”, that is a statement about the insurer’s website, not about their speed.
In practice, how long any claim takes depends on how quickly the medical and financial evidence comes together — which is exactly the part the checklists above put in your hands. Asking the claims team for their expected next step and its timing on every call is a reasonable thing to do, and an adviser can chase this for you.
If a claim is declined: the complaints path
A declined claim is not necessarily the end of the process. The first step is asking the insurer for its decline reasons in writing and going through its internal complaints process — every licensed insurer has one, and its claims or complaints page explains how to start it. If that does not resolve things, the insurer belongs to an approved dispute resolution scheme — the scheme named in your policy documents, most commonly the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO) Scheme or Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL) — which can review the decision independently.
Where the insurer belongs to the IFSO Scheme, the Scheme can make decisions binding on the insurer for lump-sum complaints up to $500,000 plus GST. That limit rose from $350,000 on 18 July 2024, and complaints deadlocked before that date remain subject to the earlier limit (IFSO Scheme, Terms of Reference changes 2024, verified 15 Aug 2026). FSCL’s equivalent limit is not restated here — check the scheme named in your own policy documents. For the fuller picture, QuoteHub’s guides cover what to do when a claim is declined how the NZ insurance complaints process works
What QuoteHub’s advisers do in a claim
Insurers assess and pay claims — that decision is always theirs. What an adviser changes is the process around it: lodging the claim and gathering the documentation on your behalf, dealing directly with the insurer’s claims team so you are not the one chasing, and advocating for you if the claim hits complications or a dispute. For clients whose cover was arranged through QuoteHub, this support is part of the service, not an extra — the claims support page explains how it works.
If you are facing a claim right now and want someone in your corner, contact the adviser team — there is no charge for claims assistance on policies arranged through QuoteHub, and no obligation attached to asking a question. Nothing on this page generates a quote, and no part of this checklist is a sales process.
About this page
This page is general information about the claims process, not personalised financial advice, and it does not predict, estimate or imply whether any claim will be accepted — acceptance is always the insurer’s decision under the terms of the policy. Insurer contacts and published timeframes were verified against each insurer’s own claims page on the dates shown; requirements vary by insurer and policy, and your policy wording prevails over anything here. Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). Page last reviewed 18 Aug 2026.
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Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, For Brokers.