Download:
Cornerstone application form
Employee Life Cover
As an employer, you have your employees’ best interests at heart. You might want to provide them with additional benefits (to either reward them for their service, or to help keep them with your company).
Financial protection for your employees, at no cost to them
With Cornerstone Cover you pay for risk cover for all your eligible employees, by way of a single premium payment each month. You only pay for those employees who are eligible for cover at the start of each month.
Your choices for what you can offer your employees includes:
• Life insurance
• Trauma Insurance (if more than 10 eligible employees)
Find out more
Some of the detail
- Eligible employees are typically not required to provide any evidence of health status, up to the level of cover provided by your Group Risk Scheme.
- All eligible employees automatically join the scheme, but they can opt-out if they choose. While this is very uncommon, some may choose to do so for religious or cultural reasons.
- Our Group Schemes are available to businesses that have more than 5 eligible employees, with different levels of options available when applying for a Group Risk Scheme. Individual employees can choose to select a higher level of cover, with the additional cost paid for by the employee
Benefits for your company
Improved employee morale – by providing your people with this additional benefit, at no cost to them, you are providing them with something they will hope never to need, but will be invaluable if they do. For most employers, the cost is only a small additional proportion of total salary costs, but provides real value to your people.
Value for money – under our scheme you only pay for your eligible employees each month, versus many schemes where you have to pay an annual premium with built in additional costs just in case your employee levels increase, plus no savings if your employee levels go down.
Low administration cost – as we use your Belong membership and / or payroll information to manage the Group Risk Scheme dynamically, there are no additional costs for you. All communication with your employees is either directly through the Belong employee portal, or from Pinnacle Life, or its assigned agent.
Benefits for your people
Protection for their family at no cost - There is no cost to employees to be part of your Group Risk Scheme, and it provides them with additional support for their families in a time of need.
Ability to increase their level of protection - Employees can choose a higher level of cover, with the additional costs being paid for by them.
Automatic acceptance - We automatically accept all eligible employees and cover them up to an agreed amount from the date the scheme starts or from when they are eligible for cover under your group policy.
Cover provided during unpaid leave - Employees can still be covered while they are on parental, or other unpaid leave, as long as payment for their cover continues.
Cover provided while working overseas - Employees are covered while holidaying overseas, as well as those travelling on business, for less than 3 months continuously. If an employee is going to be working overseas for longer than this, then we may be able to provide continued cover for them.
Option for ongoing cover - When an employee covered under your Group Risk Scheme leaves your company's employment, they can choose to continue their cover at their own cost.
How do I get started?
Get started by calling us on 0800 22 22 23 or email ask@pinnaclelife.co.nz.
We'll need to know:
The number of employees working more than 15 hours a week.
Approximate average age of employees.
What type of work most of your employees do.
Or alternatively, download the application form and send it back to us.
Frequently asked questions
How do you work out how much premium I pay?
How do you work out how much premium I pay?
Premiums are calculated based on several factors, including your age, gender, smoking status, medical history, some lifestyle factors, and how much cover you need. Actuaries work out the likelihood of you needing to make a claim based on all these factors and set the premiums accordingly. There are some things you can do to control what you pay, including not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and not undertaking risky activities, like sky diving or rock climbing. The amount of cover you choose also affects your premium, more cover will cost more.
What are your age limits?
What are your age limits?
We offer cover to people aged between 18 and 75. Specifically, the age limits are:
For Life Insurance
- you can apply online if you are aged 20-69
- or by talking to us if you are 18-74.
- You can be living in NZ, Australia, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong or Singapore.
For Income Protection
- you can apply if you are 20-59 and,
- living and working in NZ.
For Critical Conditions (note you can only apply for Critical Conditions at the same time that you apply for life insurance)
- You can apply online if you are age 20-59
For Disability Cover (note you can only apply for Disability Cover at the same time that you apply for life insurance)
- You can apply online if you are age 20-59
What are your cover limits?
What are your cover limits?
For Life Insurance
- if you apply online you can get cover from $100,000 to $1,500,000.
- If you’d like to apply for cover of under $100,000 or up to $2 million contact our office (there will be some extra medical check requirements for the higher cover levels).
For Income Protection
- Your Income Protection Cover amount cannot exceed 75% of your monthly income or $15,000 per month.
- There are also limits depending on the age of the life insured :
- When covering 40% of the insured person’s monthly income, our cover limit is:
- $8,000 per month if the insured person is aged 20 to 50,
- $6,670 per month if they are aged 51 to 54 and
- $5,340 per month if they’re aged 55 to 65.
- When covering 60% of the insured person’s monthly income, our cover limit is:
- $12,000 per month if the insured person is aged 20 to 50,
- $10,000 per month if they are aged 51 to 54
- $8,000 per month if they’re aged 55 to 65.
- When covering 75% of the insured person’s monthly income, our cover limit is:
- $15,000 per month if the insured person is aged 20 to 50,
- $12,500 per month if they are aged 51 to 54 and $
- 10,000 per month if they are aged 55 to 65.
- When covering 40% of the insured person’s monthly income, our cover limit is:
Where can I find Pinnacle Lifes' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy?
Where can I find Pinnacle Lifes' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy?
You can find our terms and conditions here and our privacy policy here.
What's your financial strength rating?
What's your financial strength rating?
A.M Best rates Pinnacle Life Limited 'B+' financial strength (Good) and a bbb- issuer credit rating (outlook 'stable') at 1 May 2024. Our financial strength rating is important because it lets you know whether you can rely on us to be there when you need us.
You may also want to know that Pinnacle Life is reinsured by Hannover Life Re of Australasia Ltd, which is part of the global group Hannover Re, one of the five largest reinsurance groups in the world. Reinsurance is important because it allows insurance companies to spread risk, meaning they are unlikely to get overwhelmed if claims are unusually high. Hannover Re’s financial strength rating can be found here.
I have a joint policy with my partner and we have separated. What happens to our policy?
I have a joint policy with my partner and we have separated. What happens to our policy?
We may be able to help you split the policy into two individual policies, how this works will depend on the ownership structure of your policy. if we split your policy, you won't have to re-apply or be re-assessed for your cover, unless you want to apply for more cover. Contact us on 0800 22 22 23 or by email to work through exactly what needs to happen for your policy.
Or
You may wish to leave the policy as it is, which is fine. If you are joint owners of the policy then should you pass away, your ex-partner will be paid the proceeds of any claim on your life and vice versa. This is sometimes a good option if you have children that will be dependent on you if either of you should pass away.
How does someone make a claim?
How does someone make a claim?
Information about making a claim can be found here.
What percentage of claims gets paid out?
What percentage of claims gets paid out?
Pinnacle Life has paid out 95.1%* of all life insurance claims received since 1998 (*as of 14th August 2024).
Out customers say the loveliest things
View all reviews5 / 5
Lovely staff very informative and helpful. Easy to use website to quote and book life insurance.
5 / 5
All good, i like the online application process, it was quick to price check and find out what the insurance would cost.
5 / 5
Great premiums for a fair coverage. Very straight forward process and very easy to understand.
5 / 5
Fast, friendly & welcoming.
5 / 5
Clear product knowledge, no hard selling, seamless process.
4.4/5
Average Customer Rating