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Help with Life Insurance

How much cover do you need?

What type of cover should you choose? How much will it cost?

For many people, this is where buying life insurance gets complicated and overwhelming. It just feels too hard and it can seem easier to just leave it for another day. We can help.

How much life insurance do other people have?

When you’re not sure how much life insurance you need it can be helpful to see what other people have. See how much life insurance other New Zealanders your age have been asking about.

We've accessed over 128,000 life insurance quotes that Kiwis have asked for over a two-year period. Once you let us know your gender and age, we will show you the information that is relevant to you. This is a great starting point for what might be right for you.
How old are you?
  • What is your gender?

Tools & Calculators

Our tools and calculators have been designed to help you work out what cover you need. If you have a number already in mind, then go to our Quick Quote Calculator to get a quick and simple breakdown of how much different payment amounts will cost you.

If you're not sure how much insurance you need our Digital Advice tool will step you through the process to give you 3 levels of cover to choose from in just 10 minutes.

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Quick Quote Calculator

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Free Life Insurance Advice Tool Free Life Insurance Advice Tool

Free Life Insurance Advice Tool

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FAQs

FAQs

What is life insurance?

Life insurance takes care of the ones you leave behind. It is there to ensure that when you pass away, your loved ones will receive a tax-free, lump-sum payment of money.

What does life insurance cover?

The purpose of Life Insurance is to relieve your loved ones of any financial burden when you die. When you take out your policy and are deciding how much cover you need, consider how much debt you have and what you don't want your family to have to deal with. That might include things like a mortgage, funeral expenses, rent, schools fees and more.

How much is life insurance?

There are a number of factors that affect the premiums you can expect to pay on your life insurance. These are tailored according to your age, gender and smoking status and can also be affected by your health and lifestyle.

How does life insurance work?

Life insurance is usually paid out upon your death. However, you can also get it paid out early if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness leaving you with only 6- 12 months (depending on your policy) or less to live.

How to choose life insurance

When choosing your Life Insurance start by choosing a provider that you trust. Then compare prices and any extra cover that you want, for example, Critical Illness or Disability cover. Life insurance premiums increase over time as you age and to keep up with inflation (you can turn this off at any time). It’s up to you to choose the lump-sum amount of your life insurance when you first take it out. If you get stuck our customer service team at Pinnacle Life are able to help you make the best decision for you or try our free advice tool.

How to get life insurance

At Pinnacle Life, our priority is to help you provide for those you leave behind. We believe Life Insurance should be accessible to everyone and that you should be able to sort it yourself if you want to. You can get Pinnacle life Insurance all online in under 10 minutes or if you get stuck our customer service team can help you work out the right life insurance cover for you.

Does life insurance pay for suicidal death?

Life insurance pays for any cause of death, including terminal illnesses and accidents and yes, life insurance policies do cover suicide, It is however typical for policies to not provide cover for suicide for at least the first 13 months. The main reason for this is to make sure that people who may be thinking about suicide aren't influenced by thinking that their family will be financially looked after immediately – when really the most important thing to the family is having that person around in the future.

Why do I need life insurance?

Life Insurance provides for those you leave behind and helps them after you are gone. Having life insurance means that those you care about can have some peace of mind around making sure the mortgage and the bills are paid at a time when everything else can seem tough. A life insurance policy helps your family maintain their lifestyle if you become terminally ill or if you die unexpectedly.

Is term life insurance right for leaving a legacy?

Term Life Insurance is one way to ensure you can leave a legacy. You just need to make sure that your cover includes the amount you want to gift. But, at the same time, you should also be saving for the legacy you want to leave. As you get older, your premiums will get more expensive, which means that long term you’ll probably want to reduce your cover or cancel it. So just like eventually you’ll pay your mortgage off and won’t need life insurance; eventually, you should have your legacy saved, and you won’t need to pay for life insurance to cover it either. You don’t want to live to 93 and feel trapped paying premiums so that you can leave behind a legacy.

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What is income protection insurance?

Income protection insurance takes care of you and your family if you become temporarily unable to work due to an accident, illness, or injury. It means you receive a monthly payment to account for your loss of earnings to ensure that life’s necessities can be paid for as usual until you’ve recovered.

What does income protection cover?

Income protection insurance covers you for sickness, as well as accidents or injury that prevents you from working. ACC does not cover you for illness, so income protection insurance can be a great option to cover your bases.

Do I need income protection insurance?

Statistics show that the most common reason New Zealanders are unable to work for an extended period of time is due to illness. ACC will only cover you for an accident or injury in this instance. Make sure you’ve got the cover that you need with income protection insurance from Pinnacle Life.

What are the differences between income protection and ACC?

If you are unable to work due to illness or injury, our income protection cover can help replace your lost income, so that the bills can still be paid, and stress on the family is reduced while you recover.

In NZ we are lucky to have ACC, however, ACC doesn’t cover you when you can’t work due to sickness. Statistics show the most likely reason that you may not be able to work for an extended period of time is an illness. ACC will pay a maximum of up to 80% of your income as weekly compensation if you’re unable to work due to an injury.

The maximum cover that Pinnacle Life can provide under our Income Protection Cover is 75% of your income.

If ACC are replacing 80% of your income, your income protection cover won’t top you up to 100% however, if you are receiving less than 75% from ACC, we may be able to top you up to 75%. Any income that you receive while you are off work, whether it is from ACC, WINZ or another insurance policy, will affect our payments to you.

Does it matter if I have other Income Protection policies?

If you have an income protection product elsewhere already, we suggest you talk to us before taking out another policy, as you may not be able to claim on both policies. If it comes time to claim, and you receive income from other sources eg ACC or another government agency, this will be offset against your income protection payments.

What is disability insurance?

Disability insurance is an advance payment of life cover, paid out if you were to suffer an accident, illness or injury that resulted in your total and permanent disability. TPD insurance allows you to move forward with your life and account for any extra costs, including modifications to your home and care assistance.

What does disability insurance cover?

If you were to become permanently unable to work due to an illness, accident or injury, you may be eligible to receive a disability insurance lump-sum payment. It includes some conditions, such as loss of limbs, that fall outside of our Critical Illness cover. Take a look at our Total and Permanent Disability Definitions to see exactly what’s covered.

Do I need disability insurance?

It’s a good idea to consider adding disability insurance to your life cover with Pinnacle Life. In this way, you’ll be covered for sudden changes in circumstances that affect your ongoing ability to work and take care of yourself, and you'll avoid a financial burden for you and your family.

How much does disability insurance cost?

The cost of disability insurance varies depending on your individual circumstances, including things like your age, gender, your health, occupation and your chosen level of cover. It’s up to you to decide the level of disability insurance coverage you want, you can choose from anywhere between $100,000 up to $1 million.

What is trauma (or critical illness) insurance?

Trauma insurance covers you for specific medical conditions. Once diagnosed, you may be eligible to receive a tax-free, lump-sum payment that can be used in any way you like if your ailment is one of the 24 conditions covered by our policy. Help to fund your care or to look after your family members, trauma insurance is there to help you during difficult times. You can only buy it alongside life cover, you can’t buy it as a seperate policy.

What does trauma (critical illness) insurance cover?

There are 24 conditions covered by trauma insurance. You can find a list here of Pinnacle Life Critical Illness Definitions. Most common conditions are a cancer diagnosis, heart attack, or stroke.

How much trauma (critical illness) insurance do I need?

The amount of critical insurance cover you require is up to you. The maximum amount of cover you can have is up to $625,000. For help with understanding what you need, use our online tools to get a quote or more personalised advice check out our online advice tool.

Is trauma (critical illness) insurance worth it?

We think it’s good to be prepared when we don’t know what the future may hold. Trauma insurance takes care of the bigger unknowns by covering most major health conditions. By adding trauma cover alongside life insurance, know that you will be well-taken care of, no matter what.

Why do I need trauma (critical illness) cover?

If you are diagnosed with a critical illness, this cover will pay you a tax-free lump sum. Some people use it to pay bills while they aren’t able to work, to help fund their treatment, or to get some extra help at home. It can help make your life easier while you are dealing with an illness.

Critical Illness covers you the first time you are diagnosed with any one of 24 different conditions.

If you've been with us for a while, you may have an older version of this policy, Serious Illness Cover. Serious Illness Cover protects you the first time you are diagnosed with one of four serious conditions. If you'd rather have Critical Illness cover, you'll need to apply.

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What’s your financial strength rating?

Our Financial Strength is important becuase it lets you know whether you can rely on us to be there when you need us. We are backed by Hannover Life Re of Australasia, and have been since we started business in 1998. Hannover Life Re is a member of the Hannover Re reinsurance group of companies, with whom all our reinsurance is currently placed. Hannover Re has a very strong financial strength rating, being rated by Standard & Poor’s as AA- “Very Strong” and A.M. Best as A “Excellent”.

Who underwrites your policies?

Pinnacle Life is a licenced life insurer, our policies are not underwritten by any other company. Our policies are reinsured with Hannover Life Re of Australasia as part of our prudent financial management.

Where can I find Pinnacles' Terms and Conditions and Privacy policies?

You can find our terms and conditions here and our privacy and security policy here.

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 cover

  • we offer cover of up to a maximum of $12k per month (before tax income).

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 18-75.
  • 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 Illness (note you can only apply for Critical Illness 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

Does it matter if I have other life cover policies?

No. You can have as many policies as you like with as many companies as you like.

Can I get cover for my parent/partner?

Yes, they simply need to apply. Note that it's the person getting insured who must provide the answers to the health questions on the application form and complete the declaration. When the policy is issued, the insured person will also be the policy owner. If they want to change that, they will need to request an update using the 'change of ownership' form included in the policy.

Can I take out life insurance on anyone I choose, for example, can I insure the old fella that lives across the road?

In theory yes you can, but not without their knowledge, as they need to be the one that applies. It's the person getting insured who must provide the answers to the health questions on the application form and complete the declaration. When the policy is issued, the insured person will also be the policy owner. If they want to change that, they will need to request an update using the 'change of ownership' form included in the policy.

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.

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What discounts can I get?

If you apply online for a new policy, you’ll get a 10% discount for your first year. You might also be eligible for a further 10% discount depending on your health and lifestyle.

Who gets the money?

It can depend on the kind of policy you have:

For life insurance policies, the claim is paid to,

  • the policy owner or,
  • if the policy owner has died, to their estate.

For a mortgage policy

  • the beneficiary nominated in the policy document

For an Income Protection policy

  • the beneficiary nominated in the policy document

For a Funeral policy

  • the beneficiary nominated in the policy document

How much Life Insurance cover do I need?

We have a range of tools to help you work out the right amount of cover for your needs. Go through our no-obligation online advice process to find out what we recommend for you. Or find out what level of cover others of your age and gender have asked for.

To find out more about our products, and what needs they meet, please contact us on 0800 22 22 23 or by email and we’d be happy to advise you based on your current needs and circumstances.

What does ownership mean?

The owner or owners are the people

  • who will receive any proceeds of a claim or if the owner is deceased, the claim will be paid to their estate. If there are two owners and one has died in most cases the proceeds of a claim will be paid to the surviving owner.
  • who can authorise changes to this policy like
  • reducing the cover
  • changing the beneficiaries (if your policy has a beneficiary) or
  • cancelling the policy. If there is more than one owner then all of the owners will need to agree to any changes.

How long does it take to assess or process an application?

It depends on your answers to the health and lifestyle questions we have to ask to be able to offer you cover. For many people, we will be able to assess your information online fully, and you will have Life Insurance in less than 10 minutes.

If you aren’t accepted straight away online, we’ll be in touch on the next working day and will let you know the next steps.

If that means we need more information from you, then the process may take another day or two, while if we need information from your GP, it will depend on how quickly your GP responds to our request. Some doctors respond within a week, and others can take two or three weeks or sometimes longer.

So how long it takes depends on several factors, mostly outside of the control of Pinnacle Life, but we do everything we can to make it as easy and simple as we can.

What am I not covered for?

At Pinnacle Life it’s slightly different for each type of policy. Click here for a summary by product.

When does coverage begin after applying for a policy online?

If you apply for a policy online, are approved and accept the declaration you are covered straight away.

You then need to make sure you pay your first premium within 14 days.

If we don't receive a premium payment from you, then your policy will be suspended until we do. (If you need to claim within the first 14 days, we must receive the premium first.)

We will send you a copy of your policy document for your files immediately.

I vape ( or smoke E-cigarettes) but I don't smoke cigarettes – am I still classified as a smoker?

If you have vaped or used E-cigarettes within the last 12 months you are considered to be a smoker.

Once you have been smokefree and have not smoked tobacco or any other substance including e-cigarettes and vaping, you can request to change to non-smoker rates which are cheaper.

What if I have a health problem? / Why do you want to know all of my medical history?

We assess your health at the time of your application to ensure that the price we charge you reflects the risks associated with your health. Doing this assessment at the time of application means there should be no hiccups or delays if you need to make a claim.

Having a health issue shouldn’t stop you from applying.

Your health conditions might affect your application, as depending on the condition, we may:

  • accept your application at standard premiums, or
  • we may ask you to pay a higher premium than the standard (called a loading), or
  • we may defer your application for up to 12 months.

If, after you’ve answered our questions, we need more details about your health we may ask for your permission to get notes from your doctor. We ask for these details so that we can make a fair and accurate assessment of your application for cover by having an accurate picture of your health.

Do I have to visit the doctor to apply for a life insurance policy or any other kind of policy?

Probably not – in fact less than 2% of customers who apply for cover need to visit a GP. Depending on your answers on the application form, we may require additional information from you or from your GP but this does not mean you have to visit them. We simply ask them to send us the relevant information from your medical file. Some GPs want to see or speak with you before they will release the information to us, we will let you know as soon as possible if this is the case.

Occasionally we may require you to see your GP to have a medical exam or to have a blood test done, but if this is the case we will discuss it with you first.

What if I’m not sure whether I should declare something?

It’s best to give us as much information as possible at the time you apply to ensure there are no issues or questions come claim time. If you are not sure where to put something on your application then you can answer “yes” to the question about ‘any other medical condition” and provide the details there, or you can ‘disagree’ to the policy terms and conditions at the end of the application, This will give you the ability to provide additional information and we will be in contact with you. Alternatively, you can call us on 0800 22 22 23 or send us a chat message and we can discuss where it might fit in the application.

What if I use more than one name?

Some people use a name that’s different from their legal name, while some people will have two legal names; your medical records might use one name and your driver’s licence something different. Getting things set up right at the start of your policy is going to make things easier for you or your family come claim time as there won’t be any hassles over identification.

If you use more than one name then when applying enter the name that you expect will appear on official documents like your passport (and your death certificate).

If you think that your medical records or death certificate might be in a different name then the one you’ve entered then contact us after you submit your application. Our team will talk you through the next steps, (eg we might need copies of your ID) and we’ll make sure you are using whatever name you prefer in correspondence.

How can I pay?

You can pay your Pinnacle Life premiums monthly, six-monthly or yearly. We prefer it if you pay by direct debit, however we also accept internet banking/automatic payment, or credit card. When paying via credit card, a charge of 3.95% is added to your premiums.

We do not accept weekly or fortnightly payments.

​Can I leave my life insurance to a charity?

Your life insurance will be paid out to the owner of the policy. In most cases the person whose life is insured is also the policy owner, so when the life insured dies the payout will go to their estate. What happens to the money will depend on what’s set out in their will. If you want your money to go to a charity make sure you’ve specified that in your will.

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I’m moving overseas - do I have to cancel?

No matter where you move to you will continue to be covered. You don't need to cancel or put your premiums on hold. Just let us know so that we have your current contact details.

What if I can't afford to pay my premiums at the moment?

The best thing to do is to drop us a line or give us a call on 0800 22 22 23. Every person's situation is different, and we want to make sure we do the best thing for you.

Why do my premiums go up every year? Do they have to?

Premiums go up annually because they are based on age as well as gender, smoking status and health and lifestyle factors. They are calculated by an actuary who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty.

Statistically, a person's chance of dying at a certain age changes yearly. When you are younger, premiums can decrease each year as the chance of dying by accident reduces. Unfortunately, as you age, the chance of dying increases, so premiums increase. The amount by which they increase varies from year to year.

Can I change who gets the money from my policy?

For Life Insurance

• Yes - If you have a Life Cover policy, the policy owner will receive the money from any claim, or their estate if they have passed away. You can change the ownership of a policy at any time

For a mortgage, income protection or funeral cover policy

• Yes, any payment will be made to the nominated beneficiary unless you change who that is. You can change the beneficiary for a mortgage, income protection or funeral cover policy by using this form.

Why can’t my premiums stay the same?

Some companies offer “level premiums” which means that for a fixed period, usually up to a specified age e.g. up to age 65, you keep paying the same amount. Pinnacle Life doesn’t offer ‘level premiums’ as a standard offer, but if you have an existing ‘level premium’ policy or quote from another company, we are happy to look to see if we can match it.

Can I put my premiums on hold?

Get in touch by email or phone, and we can see what we can do. During the time your premiums are on hold, you won’t be able to make a claim.

If you miss three payments within 24 months without catching them up, your policy will end the next time you miss a payment. The three payments don’t need to be consecutive.

What if I forgot to declare something on my application?

You need to let us know as soon as possible. The additional information you provide may or may not affect your policy. Your policy may be placed on hold while we work through the assessment process, alternatively we may need to void your policy and issue you with a new policy once we have completed our assessment. If you are unsure whether you disclosed something on your application, please contact us and we will send you a copy of your application to review.

What if I miss a payment?

Don't worry; we understand this can happen. If you

  • Miss one payment it might mean that you aren't covered for a month, but it won't cause your policy to lapse.
  • If you miss four payments within 24 months, then your policy will lapse, and you'll need to reapply.
  • If you miss your first payment, due within 14 days of taking out your policy, we'll be in touch letting you know we haven't received it and what this means for your cover.

If you know you're not going to be able to make a payment on your set date, you can reschedule your payment by getting in touch.

Can I make changes to my policy?

Yes, you can make changes to your policy. You can

- increase your cover

- decrease your cover

- make a special event increase which means you may be able to increase your cover without asking for updated health information such as if you've gotten married, entered a civil union, divorced, or become a parent in the last six months of your policy.

To make any of these changes and others go to our Customer Support Section. Otherwise contact our customer service team on 0800 22 22 23.

How do I change a default owner once my policy is in place?

When you first take out your policy, the policy owner is the same person as the life insured. The policy owner is the only person who can make changes or cancel the policy, which is why it often makes sense for the life insured person to also be the owner, but we understand that sometimes that’s not the case. To change the owner of your policy you just need to complete our ‘change of ownership’ form. To own a life insurance policy you must be 18 years old.

If I change jobs do I need to let you know?

With income protection, you don’t need to let us know if you have changed employment. However, if changing employment has changed your pre-tax income, contact us to ensure that your level of cover is appropriate for your new income levels.

What if my income changes?

If you have income protection, we suggest you let us know when your income changes, so that you can change your level of cover accordingly. If you let us know within 60 days of your income increasing we can usually increase your cover without requiring any further medical information. We recommend you review your level of cover regularly, but particularly when you have significant changes to your income levels.

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.

What do I need to do to cancel my policy?

Depending on your policy, we’ll either need the owners to send us a signed request to cancel the policy, or send us an email with some security details. To find out which applies to your policy contact our Customer Services Team.

Do I get money back if I cancel?

No, you don’t. You can cancel this policy at any time; however, your payments are not refundable. The only exception is where you have paid either for six or 12 months in advance; in this case, we’ll refund the amount you have pre-paid. The same as for your typical car, contents and health insurance policies.

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When can I claim?

When your policy is claimable varies from policy to policy.

If you have life insurance with us you’ll be able to claim if:

  • you are diagnosed with a Terminal Illness (definitions in the policy document), and
  • in the event of your death.

If you have Income Protection insurance with us, you’ll be able to claim if:

  • you are unable to work for a longer period than your waiting period (the period you nominated when you applied for the policy).

Other policies can be quite varied, so if you want details, please call the Pinnacle team, and we can go through your policy with you.

Who gets paid?

For most policies the claim payment will be made to the policy owner, or if the policy owner has died to their estate. For a mortgage, income protection or funeral cover policy any payment will be made to the nominated beneficiary.

How does the insurer know if I’ve died?

Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing you have died unless someone tells us. That’s why it’s important that if you have cover with us, someone knows about it. To make a claim, the policy owner or someone acting for them simply needs to contact us by phone or email, we’ll then take a few details and advise all the information required for your claim.

How does someone claim?

Information about making a claim can be found here.

What percentage of claims gets paid out?

Pinnacle Life has paid out 96.2%* of all life insurance claims received since 1998 (*as of 14th February 2024).

Does getting the Covid-19 vaccine affect my policy?

Not at all. Whether you’ve been vaccinated, or not, your policy will still cover you in the event of your death or illness as per the wording in your policy document. The vaccine has been approved by Medsafe and therefore has no impact on existing policies or new applications.

​Am I covered for Covid-19? Are there any exclusions for Covid-19 or other pandemics?

If you have an existing policy with us already then yes, you are covered. Our policies have no specific exclusions for a pandemic or COVID-19 so once you have cover, if you get Covid-19 and the worst happens, you'll be covered.

​Can I apply for Life Insurance now? Will Covid-19 be covered?

The best thing to do is apply and we will ask you some questions that will help us assess your situation. Make sure you answer all the application questions truthfully, just like at any other time. As an example, our underwriting questions currently include:

Have you ever been diagnosed with a breathing or lung problem including Covid-19, asthma, emphysema, chronic obstructive airways disease, TB, cystic fibrosis or sleep apnoea?

Do you have plans to travel outside New Zealand, within the next 12 months?

Are you currently in self-isolation or quarantine due to having or being in contact with Covid-19 or any other illness?

You can also let us know at the end of your application that there are some things you can’t confirm and that you want someone to get in touch. We’ll then follow up with you. You will be covered for Covid-19 whether you take out a policy today or whether you started it 10 years ago as long as you answer truthfully.

​If I’m sick from Covid-19 can I claim under my Critical Illness cover?

Covid-19 is not one of the conditions covered by Critical Illness so you cannot claim on your Critical Illness policy.

​Can I make a claim for Income Protection relating to COVID-19 due to being away from work because of self-isolation, even though I have not been diagnosed with this illness?

Unfortunately, no. To make a claim for Income Protection, you need to show that you are unable to work because of an illness or injury.

​Can I make a claim for Income Protection due to being stood down or where my employment was terminated?

Unfortunately, no. Income Protection does not cover unemployment. To make a claim for Income Protection, you need to show that you are unable to work because of an illness or injury.

​Can I make a claim for Income Protection if my salary/wages have been cut as a result of COVID-19?

You cannot claim on your Income Protection policy because your salary or wages have been reduced or you have been made redundant due to the COVID-19 lockdown or at any other time. You can only claim on your Income Protection policy if you can't work due to illness or injury.

However, if you are made redundant we can waive your premiums for up to 6 months while you're looking for another job.

​What if I get COVID-19 and can't work because I'm sick?

You could claim on your Income Protection policy if you are ill from COVID-19 for longer than your waiting period.

The minimum waiting period for Income Protection (how long you wait for your first payment) is 30 days; this can be longer, depending on what you chose when you took out your policy, for example, 60 or 90 days.

If you are off work because you are ill for longer than your waiting period, you'll be able to make a claim, but we expect most people will have recovered by the time the waiting period is up.

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Life Insurance - the basics in 5 minutes

Download the PDF

Pinnacle Life - What is Life Insurance?

Pinnacle Life explain why Life Insurance is important and some of the things you need to know. Life Insurance provides for those you leave behind if you were to die or become terminally ill. It’s pretty simple. You pay money to an insurance company (that’s premiums) so that in the event of your death your loved ones will be paid a tax-free lump sum of cash, this is your sum insured. When the money is paid out, this is called ‘making a claim’. The money can be used for anything your family needs. Such as their rent or mortgage, bills, groceries, funeral costs, school fees, or a holiday! At Pinnacle Life it’s easy to work out how much you need and to get a quote. You can even buy your policy online. It takes around 10 minutes, which means you will be covered straight away, no waiting. Visit pinnaclelife.co.nz.

Pinnacle Life - How much Life Insurance do I need?

Pinnacle Life explain how to work out how much Life Insurance you need. Life Insurance provides for those you leave behind if you were to die. When thinking about how much cover you should have, consider what your family would need to live on if you weren’t there to provide for them. Would they need to pay rent or a mortgage? Do you have any savings they could live off? How many more years will there be children at home? Do you have any other dependents, such as elderly relatives, who depend on you? You should also think about how much you can afford to pay in premiums on an ongoing basis. Our calculator may help you decide the amount that's right for you and you’ll be able to get a quote straight away. Visit pinnaclelife.co.nz.

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