Trauma Insurance in New Zealand
Trauma insurance NZ pays a lump sum when you are diagnosed with a covered critical illness. It gives cash flexibility while you focus on treatment and recovery.
You get a licensed adviser’s written read on which conditions your trauma policy would actually pay out on, and where the definitions would stop it. Free, and you decide what happens next.
Written by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). Updated 8 September 2026. How we compare · How we are paid
Asteron Life paid 97% of the trauma, life and income protection claims it received in the year to 30 June 2024. Asteron Life media release, 11 December 2024, Retrieved 18 August 2026.
An adviser's view
Trauma cover gets judged on how many conditions are on the list. The list is not what decides a claim, the definition under each condition is. Two policies can both say they cover a heart attack and mean different things by it. That paragraph is the one worth reading before you buy, and the one almost nobody reads.
What the review covers
- Whether you'd receive a lump sum if diagnosed with cancer, heart attack, stroke, or other serious conditions
- The difference between trauma cover and income protection (one-time payment vs ongoing)
- How your cover compares to actual costs of treatment, time off, and lifestyle changes
- Whether your health insurance and trauma cover work together or leave gaps between them
What people usually miss
Think "it won't happen to me"
1 in 3 Kiwis will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Heart disease and stroke are among the leading causes of death. The odds aren't as far off as people assume.
Don't realise how fast savings disappear
Treatment costs, time off work, travel to appointments, childcare while you recover. Even with health insurance, the out-of-pocket costs add up fast. Trauma cover gives you cash to handle all of it.
Confused about what health insurance vs trauma cover does
Health insurance covers medical bills. Trauma cover gives you a lump sum to use however you need: mortgage payments, household costs, or just taking time to recover without financial stress.
More about trauma insurance in NZ
Trauma insurance in New Zealand, also called critical illness insurance, pays a one-off lump sum when specific serious conditions are diagnosed. It is different from health insurance, which pays treatment bills, and income protection, which replaces monthly income.
The payout can be used for whatever matters most
Treatment travel, specialist access, mortgage repayments, or time away from work. Conditions covered, partial payment rules, and definitions vary across insurers, so policy wording is critical when comparing options.
Many families hold trauma cover alongside life and income protection to create a more complete safety net. A review helps decide the right cover amount based on debt, expenses, and how much flexibility you want if a major diagnosis occurs.
QuoteHub compared with the alternatives
The premium an insurer charges is the same whether you buy direct, through a broker, through a comparison site, or through QuoteHub, because adviser commission is built into the insurer’s standard price rather than added to it. What changes is how much of the market you see, whether anyone writes down why one policy was recommended over another, and who lodges the claim when it matters. QuoteHub compares 8 New Zealand insurers named in full on our disclosure page, gives you a written recommendation, and stays with you at claim time. Going direct gives you one insurer and its own claims team. A broker usually does what we do, though panel sizes differ, so ask for the list. A comparison website is usually a quote list rather than advice, and some are owned by an insurer or by a business that resells enquiries.
Frequently asked questions
How is trauma cover different from health insurance?
Health insurance pays for treatment: hospital bills, surgeries, specialist appointments. Trauma cover pays you a lump sum when you're diagnosed. You can use it for anything: mortgage, bills, time off. They're complementary, not the same.
What conditions does trauma cover actually cover?
The major ones: cancer, heart attack, stroke, coronary artery bypass. Most policies also cover things like major organ transplants, severe burns, and loss of limbs. The specifics depend on the insurer and policy.
Is trauma cover worth it if I already have income protection?
Yes. Income protection replaces your salary while you can't work. Trauma cover gives you a lump sum on diagnosis whether you can still work or not. Many people use it to cover costs that income protection doesn't touch.
How much trauma cover do I need?
That depends on your debts, expenses, and how long you'd want to be able to take time off without financial stress. An adviser can help you work out a realistic figure based on your situation.
Can I get trauma cover if I have a pre-existing condition?
Possibly. It depends on the condition and the insurer. Some conditions may be excluded, others may be covered with different terms. An adviser can help navigate the options.
Related guides
- Health insurance in New Zealand
- Income protection insurance NZ
- Life insurance in New Zealand
- How to compare critical illness cover
- What trauma cover costs in New Zealand
- Life cover and trauma cover, side by side
- How trauma cover responds to a cancer diagnosis
- How we compare insurers, and our sources
- How we are paid
- What you get from the review
The insurers behind trauma cover in New Zealand
Financial strength is the one comparable, published fact about an insurer: an independent agency's view of its ability to pay claims. Every grade below is the insurer's own published disclosure for the named New Zealand licensed entity, linked and dated. A rating belongs to that entity, not to a brand or a product name.
| Insurer | Licensed entity | Financial strength | Rating as at | How you can buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIA New Zealand | AIA New Zealand Limited | AA (Fitch, source, retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | Date not published | Adviser or direct |
| Asteron Life | Asteron Life Limited | A+ (Fitch, source, retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | Date not published | Through an adviser |
| Chubb Life NZ | Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand Limited | A (Excellent) (A.M. Best, source, retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | Date not published | Adviser or direct |
| Fidelity Life | Fidelity Life Assurance Company Limited | A- (A.M. Best, source, retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | Date not published | Through an adviser |
| Partners Life | Partners Life Limited | A (Excellent) (A.M. Best, source, retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | 5 Feb 2026 | Through an adviser |
Ratings are not a recommendation, and they say nothing about what a policy covers or what it costs. They were read from each insurer's own disclosure on 14 Aug 2026 and can change. Every licensed New Zealand life and health insurer, with its rating · How we compare
What trauma cover actually includes, insurer by insurer
Trauma policies differ most in the parts nobody reads: the stand-down at the start, whether a partial diagnosis pays, and whether you can be insured again after a claim. Each value below was read from the insurer document linked beside it.
| Feature | What it decides | Chubb Life Assurance Extra Trauma Cover | Fidelity Life Trauma cover | Partners Life Trauma Cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry age | The ages at which a new application is accepted. | 16 to 70, and 60 or 65 for the 'level to age 65' and 'level to age 70' premium options [1] | 16 to 64, or 69 where it is taken as an accelerated benefit [2] | Not published |
| When the cover ends | The age at which the contract stops. | To age 75 [1] | Age 70, unless it is an accelerated benefit, in which case it continues for life while premiums are paid [2] | Not published |
| Maximum sum insured | The largest lump sum the documents commit to. | $2,000,000 across Trauma Cover and Moderate Trauma Cover combined [1] | Not published | Not published |
| Accelerated or standalone | Whether a trauma claim eats into the life cover or sits beside it. | Both: accelerated reduces the Life Cover sum insured by the amount paid, standalone does not [1] | Accelerated and standalone forms are both referenced [2] | Trauma Cover Accelerated and Trauma Cover Standalone provide the same benefits; accelerated reduces the Life Cover by the amount paid [3] |
| Conditions covered | The list you are actually buying, and where to read it. | The brochure publishes the full Full Trauma Benefit list, a separate Partial Benefit list, and marks the conditions that carry a Diagnosis Benefit [1] | Listed in the product info sheet rather than on the page; children are covered for most of the same conditions [2] | Covered Conditions are listed in the Partners Life Journey Plan policy wordings [3] |
| Partial payments | Whether a less severe diagnosis pays something rather than nothing. | A Partial Benefit and a Diagnosis Benefit are payable on the conditions marked for them [1] | Not published | Partial Payment Benefit Option pays a portion of the sum insured on listed diagnoses [3] |
| Buy-back of the trauma cover | Whether you can be insured again after claiming. | Optional Trauma Cover Buy-Back, exercisable within 60 days once 12 months have passed since the claim [1] | Not published | An Immediate Buy-Back Option that reinstates automatically, or a Deferred Buy-Back Option 12 months after a claim is paid [3] |
| Buy-back of the life cover | Restores life cover reduced by an accelerated trauma claim. | Optional Life Cover Buy-Back, on accelerated cover only [1] | Not published | Life Cover Buy-Back Option restores Life Cover reduced by an accelerated Trauma claim [3] |
| Stand-down at the start | The window in which cancer and heart claims are not payable. | No claim is payable where the condition, or signs or symptoms of it, appear within 90 days of the application for the marked conditions [1] | Some conditions are not covered for the first three months after the cover starts [2] | Stand-down periods apply and run from the time the application is received [3] |
| Survival period | How long you must live after diagnosis for the cover to pay. | 14 days after first meeting the criteria for a covered condition [1] | Not published | Not published |
| Children's trauma cover | What is covered for a child, and until when. | Complimentary Children's Benefit of up to $50,000 from 3 months to 23 years inclusive, convertible to standalone cover at 24 without medical underwriting [1] | $50,000 or 20% of the cover amount, whichever is lower, for children aged 3 months to 20 years, at no extra cost [2] | Child's Trauma Cover Benefit of up to $50,000 from four months old to the 21st birthday, convertible to their own cover without medical assessment [3] |
| Newborn cover | Whether a baby born with a listed condition is covered. | Newborn Children's Benefit of up to $50,000 for listed congenital conditions [1] | Not published | Newborn Child's Benefit pays a lump sum on listed conditions diagnosed within four months of birth [3] |
- [1] Chubb Life New Zealand, Assurance Extra Trauma Cover brochure, cig0019 v6, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [2] Fidelity Life, Trauma cover, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [3] Partners Life, Trauma Cover overview, Partners Life Journey Plan, PLJP_OVERVIEW_TRAUMA_V02_1025, read 8 Sep 2026.
How we compared
We compared 3 insurers. Every value in the table above was transcribed from one of these documents on the date shown beside it: Chubb Life's Assurance Extra Trauma Cover document, Fidelity Life's Trauma cover document, Partners Life's Trauma Cover document. Nothing was taken from an adviser summary, a comparison site or a previous version of this page.
Rows were chosen for the features that decide what a claim pays and that an insurer publishes: entry ages, benefit limits, definitions, waiting and stand-down periods, and the rights you keep after a claim. A cell reads "Not published" where we could not find the fact stated in the documents listed under the table on the date they were read. It is a statement about those documents, not a claim that the insurer has no such benefit.
Price is not compared here, and not because it does not matter. Premiums depend on your age, your health, your occupation and the underwriting decision, so a published figure would be someone else's price rather than yours. Everything on this page is true before anyone is underwritten. How QuoteHub compares insurers.
What trauma claims are actually made for
Cancer dominates trauma claims at every insurer that publishes a split, and nothing else comes close. Every figure below is the insurer's own published number for the period named beside it.
| Condition | Share of claims | Insurer and product | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | 60% [1] | Partners Life, Trauma Cover | 1 Apr 2024 – 31 Mar 2025 |
| Heart | 20% [1] | Partners Life, Trauma Cover | 1 Apr 2024 – 31 Mar 2025 |
| Accident and injury | 9% [1] | Partners Life, Trauma Cover | 1 Apr 2024 – 31 Mar 2025 |
| Neurological | 3% [1] | Partners Life, Trauma Cover | 1 Apr 2024 – 31 Mar 2025 |
| Cancer | 47% [2] | Asteron Life, lump sum and trauma | FY25 |
| Accidental injury | 19% [2] | Asteron Life, lump sum and trauma | FY25 |
| Heart conditions | 14% [2] | Asteron Life, lump sum and trauma | FY25 |
| Cancer | 33% of all new claims accepted, across every product [3] | Fidelity Life, all products | 1 Jul 2024 – 30 Jun 2025 |
| Cardiovascular | 14% of all new claims accepted, across every product [3] | Fidelity Life, all products | 1 Jul 2024 – 30 Jun 2025 |
| Neurological | 10% of all new claims accepted, across every product [3] | Fidelity Life, all products | 1 Jul 2024 – 30 Jun 2025 |
- [1] Partners Life, This is Partners Life 2025, key claims stats, 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [2] Asteron Life, Claims, FY25 acceptance rates and claims paid, FY25, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [3] Fidelity Life, Claims we've paid, 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [4] Chubb Life New Zealand, Our 2024 claims stats, 2024 (published July 2025), read 8 Sep 2026.
These are shares of claims, not odds of claiming, and they describe the people each insurer already covers rather than the population. The three insurers here count differently, Partners Life and Asteron Life publish a split per product, Fidelity Life publishes one across all products, so read down a single insurer rather than across them. Two insurers on the panel are absent for one reason: AIA New Zealand publishes its per-product split as a graphic and Chubb Life publishes its 2024 condition breakdown in a video, and a figure read off an image is not one this page will stand behind. [4] How QuoteHub compares insurers.
Total and permanent disablement cover, and how it differs from trauma
TPD is the cover people mean when they say trauma and get it wrong. Trauma pays on a diagnosis; TPD pays when work is over. The definition is the whole product, and it is the part that varies most between insurers.
What it pays
A lump sum when illness or injury permanently stops you working. It is a separate contract from trauma cover, which pays on a diagnosis whether or not you can work.
How the definition changes
The test of "totally and permanently disabled" is not one definition. Fidelity Life states plainly that what it means changes with your working status and your duties, which is why two people with the same injury can get different answers. [1]
Own occupation or any occupation
AIA writes an accelerated Any Occupation Total Permanent Disablement Benefit with an expiry age of 65, judged against any occupation rather than the one you trained for. [2]
Entry age and expiry
Fidelity Life takes applications from 16 to 64 and the cover runs to age 100 while premiums are paid. AIA's accelerated Any Occupation benefit expires at 65. [1]
If you are not in paid work
Fidelity Life states that TPD can be taken out by people who are not paid for the work they do, with the disability definition adjusted accordingly. [1]
Increasing it later
Fidelity Life allows the amount to be increased on a life event any time before age 55 without medical evidence. [1]
How it sits with life and trauma cover
Chubb Life carries total and permanent disability as an optional condition inside Assurance Extra Trauma Cover as well as a cover in its own right, so the same event can be insured twice over or once, depending on how the plan is built. [3]
Where Chubb Life puts it
Chubb Life lists total and permanent disablement among the covers in the Assurance Extra suite on one page, alongside income, trauma and specific injury cover, so it can be bought as part of a plan rather than as a separate contract. [4]
Where Asteron Life puts it
Asteron Life publishes a total and permanent disablement page of its own, separate from trauma. Neither insurer publishes the full disability definition on those pages, so ask for the policy document before buying on the strength of a summary. [5]
How often it is claimed on
Least of the lump-sum covers. Partners Life paid $8.0m of TPD claims in the year to 31 March 2025 against $78.8m of trauma claims, with endocrine and cardiovascular conditions the largest causes. [6]
- [1] Fidelity Life, Total and permanent disability cover, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [2] AIA New Zealand, AIA Living Life Personal Cover Policy Wording, 10 October 2023 (1101 AL-LIFE version 5), read 8 Sep 2026.
- [3] Chubb Life New Zealand, Assurance Extra Trauma Cover brochure, cig0019 v6, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [4] Chubb Life New Zealand, Assurance Extra (cover options in the suite), read 8 Sep 2026.
- [5] Asteron Life, Total and permanent disablement insurance, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [6] Partners Life, This is Partners Life 2025, key claims stats, 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025, read 8 Sep 2026.
Trauma cover: the words on the page, in plain English
Insurance vocabulary is not decoration; each of these words changes what a policy pays. This is what they mean on a New Zealand trauma cover contract.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Covered condition | A condition named in the policy, with its own medical definition. If a diagnosis does not meet the definition, nothing is payable. |
| Full benefit | The whole sum insured, paid when a covered condition meets the policy's severity criteria. |
| Partial benefit | A percentage of the sum insured for a less severe form of a covered condition, leaving the rest of the cover in place. |
| Diagnosis benefit | An early part payment triggered by a diagnosis alone, before the full severity test is met. |
| Stand-down period | A window at the start, usually 90 days, in which cancer and heart claims are not payable. |
| Survival period | How long you must live after meeting the criteria for the claim to be paid. Fourteen days is common. |
| Buy-back | A right to reinstate the sum insured after a claim, so a second unrelated condition is still covered. |
| Accelerated trauma | Trauma cover attached to life cover, where a claim reduces the life sum insured by the amount paid. |
| Standalone trauma | Trauma cover written separately, so a claim leaves the life cover intact. |
| Severity-based cover | A design that pays in tiers by how advanced the condition is, rather than all or nothing. |
| Child trauma benefit | Cover for a dependent child, usually free and usually capped around $50,000, attached to a parent's policy. |
| Reinstatement | Restoring cover after a claim or a lapse. Terms differ, and previously claimed conditions are often excluded from it. |
Trauma cover: questions people actually ask
Short answers, written to be read on their own. Where an answer relies on a published figure, the document it came from is linked beside it.
What is trauma cover for?
A lump sum on the diagnosis of a named serious condition, paid whether or not you stop working. It buys time and choices, a mortgage break, a treatment not funded here, a partner taking leave, rather than replacing income.
How is it different from health insurance?
Health insurance pays providers for treatment. Trauma pays you, in cash, on a diagnosis, and the money is yours to spend on anything. They cover different halves of the same event and neither substitutes for the other.
How is it different from income protection?
Income protection replaces earnings month by month while you cannot work. Trauma pays once, on diagnosis, even if you never miss a day. Households that hold both use trauma for the immediate costs and income protection for the long haul.
How many conditions are covered?
Between about forty and sixty on a full policy, but the count matters far less than the definitions. A long list of tightly defined conditions can pay less often than a shorter list defined generously, which is why wording beats numbers here.
What is a partial payment?
A percentage of the sum insured for a less severe form of a covered condition, an early-stage cancer, an angioplasty, that leaves the rest of the cover in place. Partials are the most-used part of a modern trauma policy.
What is a buy-back?
The right to reinstate the sum insured after a claim so a second, unrelated condition is still covered. Terms vary: one insurer above reinstates automatically, another after 12 months, and previously claimed conditions are usually excluded from the reinstated cover.
What is the stand-down period at the start?
A window immediately after the cover starts, 90 days on the policies above, in which claims for cancer, heart conditions and some others are not payable. It exists to stop cover being bought on the strength of a symptom.
Is cancer really most of the claims?
Yes. Partners Life reports cancer as 60% of its trauma claims and Asteron Life reports cancer as 47% of its lump sum and trauma claims. No other cause is close, which is why the cancer definitions are the ones worth reading.
Should I take accelerated or standalone trauma?
Accelerated attaches to your life cover and reduces it by any trauma claim, which is cheaper. Standalone is separate, so a trauma claim leaves the life cover intact. Accelerated plus a life buy-back option is the common middle ground.
Are children covered?
On every policy in the grid above, and usually at no extra cost. The cap is around $50,000, the ages differ, and the cover can generally be converted to the child's own policy without medical underwriting when they age out.
What is a severity-based trauma policy?
A design that pays in tiers by how advanced a condition is, rather than paying everything or nothing at a single threshold. It pays more often and in smaller amounts, and it needs reading against the full-benefit design rather than beside it.
Can I claim twice for the same condition?
Generally not without a buy-back, and even then the condition already claimed is usually excluded from the reinstated cover. What a buy-back protects against is a second, unrelated diagnosis.
What if I recover completely?
The money stays yours. Trauma is not repayable and does not depend on a permanent outcome, a heart attack you fully recover from still pays, provided the diagnosis meets the policy definition.
Exclusions and things to note
The parts of a trauma cover contract that decide a declined claim are rarely in the brochure headline. Each of the following is quoted from the policy document or product page linked beside it, and each one is a real limit on a real policy sold in New Zealand today. Your own schedule may carry personal exclusions on top of these.
- No claim is payable where you have the condition, or signs or symptoms of it, within 90 days of the application, for the conditions marked in the brochure. [1]
- Nothing is payable if you or a covered child does not survive at least 14 days after first meeting the criteria for a covered condition. [1]
- Intentional self-harm, including attempted suicide, is excluded. [1]
- Taking part in a criminal activity is excluded. [1]
- Harm to a covered child caused by you or by the child's parents or guardians is excluded. [1]
- Congenital conditions present before the commencement date, or before adoption or permanent guardianship, are not covered under the complimentary children's benefit. [1]
- Some conditions are not covered for the first three months after the cover starts. [2]
- Under a buy-back option, previously claimed conditions may be permanently excluded and stand-down periods may apply to the reinstated cover. [3]
- [1] Chubb Life New Zealand, Assurance Extra Trauma Cover brochure, cig0019 v6, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [2] Fidelity Life, Trauma cover, read 8 Sep 2026.
- [3] Partners Life, Trauma Cover overview, Partners Life Journey Plan, PLJP_OVERVIEW_TRAUMA_V02_1025, read 8 Sep 2026.
News that affects this cover
- Three Health Insurers, Three Different Rules On When You Must Ask First, Health system, 9 September 2026. If you have moved between health insurers, the rule you are carrying in your head may belong to your old one.
- Four Of The Five Insurers You Can Buy From Directly Now Sell The Same Thing, And Call It The Same Name, Insurers, 9 September 2026. If you are buying cover directly rather than through an adviser, you are increasingly choosing between five versions of one product shape rather than assembling cover from parts.
- Australia bans genetic test results in life underwriting next month. New Zealand does not., Regulation, 8 September 2026. If you are considering a predictive genetic test in New Zealand, the result can be asked for and used by a life or health insurer assessing a future application.
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Explore related pages: Quotes Trauma Insurance, Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Calculators.