Claims, tax, estates and ACC
What happens when a claim is made, why claims get declined, how a payout is taxed, who actually receives it — and where ACC stops and your own cover has to start.
32 guides in this section
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How life insurance claims actually work
Almost nothing is published about what actually happens after someone dies and a policy has to be claimed on. This is the walkthrough: who contacts the insurer, what paperwork gets asked for, what the assessor does with it, and why two claims of the same size can settle three months apart.
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ACC vs income protection: the gap nobody explains
New Zealanders are told from childhood that ACC has them covered. It does — for injury caused by accident. It does not cover cancer, heart disease, mental illness or most degenerative conditions. That single distinction is the whole argument for income protection.
Making a claim
- How life insurance claims actually workA step-by-step walkthrough of a NZ life insurance claim — who lodges it, the documents needed, what the insurer does, and how long each stage takes.
- How long does a life insurance payout take?What really controls the timing of a New Zealand life insurance payout — beneficiary nominations, probate, medical records and early-policy reviews.
- What documents are needed to claim life insuranceThe document checklist for a NZ life insurance claim — death certificate, identity, claim form, medical authority, and probate where the estate claims.
- Who gets the money when a life insurance policy pays outWho receives a NZ life insurance payout — nominated beneficiary, policy owner or estate — and why the difference decides how fast the money arrives.
- Why life insurance claims get declinedThe real reasons New Zealand life, trauma and TPD claims are declined, ranked — non-disclosure, policy definitions, exclusions, lapse and the 13-month clause.
- Non-disclosure and what it does to a claimWhat non-disclosure means for a NZ life insurance claim, how innocent and deliberate omissions differ, and what to do if something was missed.
- How to dispute a declined claimHow to challenge a declined life insurance claim in New Zealand — the written complaint, the deadlock letter, and escalating free to IFSO, FSCL or FDRS.
- Dispute resolution schemes: IFSO, FSCL and FDRSHow New Zealand’s free insurance dispute resolution schemes work — IFSO, FSCL and FDRS — what they can and cannot do, and how many disputes they handle.
- Life insurance claim statistics, and what they hideWhat NZ life insurance claim statistics do and do not tell you, the published figures worth knowing, and how to read a claims-paid percentage.
- How a trauma insurance claim is assessedHow a New Zealand trauma insurance claim is assessed — the medical definition test, the evidence required, partial payments and typical timeframes.
- How an income protection claim worksHow a New Zealand income protection claim works — the waiting period, proving loss of earnings, ongoing reviews, offsets and returning to work.
- How a TPD claim is assessedHow a total and permanent disability claim is assessed in NZ — the waiting period, the own-occupation and any-occupation tests, and the evidence required.
ACC and the illness gap
- ACC vs income protection: the gap nobody explainsACC covers injury by accident, not illness. What that single distinction means for working New Zealanders, and how income protection fills the gap.
- What ACC does not coverIllness, gradual process conditions and degeneration all sit largely outside ACC. What that means, and why the injury-or-degeneration question is fought over.
- CoverPlus Extra explainedHow ACC CoverPlus Extra works for the self-employed — agreeing a cover level in advance instead of proving past earnings after an accident.
- ACC levies and the self-employedHow ACC levies are set for self-employed New Zealanders — classification units, earnings, the levy components, and what to check each year.
- How ACC payments workHow ACC weekly compensation is calculated and paid in New Zealand, when it starts and stops, and how it interacts with sick leave and private income protection.
Tax treatment
- Is a life insurance payout taxable?How a NZ life insurance payout is generally treated for tax — why a lump sum to a personal beneficiary is capital, and why premiums are not deductible.
- Income protection and taxHow income protection is generally taxed in NZ — the symmetry between deductible premiums and taxable benefits, and why structure changes your real cost.
- Tax on trauma and TPD payoutsHow trauma and TPD lump sums are generally treated for tax in NZ, why personal premiums are not deductible, and where business ownership changes it.
- Tax treatment of business-owned insuranceHow business-owned life and key person cover is generally taxed in NZ — the revenue versus capital purpose test, and why documentation decides it.
- FBT and employer-paid insurance premiumsHow fringe benefit tax generally applies when a New Zealand employer pays life, trauma or health insurance premiums for an employee, and what to check.
Estates, wills and beneficiaries
- Beneficiaries explainedHow beneficiary nominations work on New Zealand life insurance, why a nomination can bypass the estate, and the mistakes that send money to the wrong person.
- Policy ownership: who should own the policyWho should own a New Zealand life insurance policy — self-ownership, cross-ownership, company and trust ownership, and what each choice does at claim time.
- Life insurance and your willHow a NZ life insurance payout interacts with a will — when it forms part of the estate, when it does not, and why both must be reviewed together.
- Life insurance and family trustsWhy life cover is sometimes owned by a New Zealand family trust, what it achieves, and the administrative trade-offs that come with trust ownership.
- Probate, estates and life insuranceWhat probate is in New Zealand, when a life insurance claim needs it, how small estates avoid it, and why it is usually the longest stage of a claim.
- Life insurance and relationship propertyHow life, trauma and income protection policies are generally treated on separation in New Zealand, and what to do with cover when a relationship ends.
- Enduring power of attorney and your insuranceHow an enduring power of attorney interacts with managing life insurance in NZ if someone loses capacity — what an attorney can do, and what they cannot.
- What happens to KiwiSaver when you dieWhat happens to a KiwiSaver balance when someone dies in NZ — why it forms part of the estate, how it is claimed, and why it is not a substitute for life cover.
- What happens to your debt when you dieWhat happens to a mortgage, credit cards, a student loan, joint debt and a personal guarantee when someone dies in New Zealand, and how life cover fits.
- Dying without a willWhat intestacy means in NZ, who inherits when there is no will, and why it makes a life insurance beneficiary nomination more valuable, not less.
Not sure what cover you actually need?
That is the question an adviser is there to answer. Tell us your situation and a licensed New Zealand adviser will compare the market and come back with a written recommendation — including where you can cut cover you do not need.
No cost to you and no obligation. General information only — not personalised financial advice.
Whole-of-market comparison
Advisers quote across the major New Zealand insurers rather than one product range.
Registered advisers
Your enquiry goes to Registered Financial Service Providers, not to a call centre.
No cost to you
The insurer pays the adviser. You pay the same premium either way.
Cover sized to your life
A good adviser will tell you when you are over-insured, not just sell you more.