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Partners Life vs Chubb Life
Both write the core personal risk range. One thing to establish before you start: Chubb Life underwrites Southern Cross Life & Living, so it may already be on your shortlist under a different brand.
Last reviewed 4 September 2026 · Written and checked by the Best Life Insurance editorial team · How we get paid
In short
- Both operate across life, trauma, TPD and income protection.
- Chubb Life underwrites Southern Cross Life & Living Insurance, so two brands on your shortlist can be one underwriter.
- Cigna’s New Zealand life business became Chubb Life, so older Cigna policies now sit with this insurer.
- If you hold a legacy policy, compare its wording against a current one before considering any replacement.
- Definitions and offset clauses decide claims. Compare those before comparing monthly price.
- Underwriting appetite differs, is unpublished, and moves as reinsurance treaties are renegotiated.
What this is, plainly
Partners Life and Chubb Life both operate as licensed life insurers in New Zealand with the core personal risk range. Before comparing them, settle one structural point: Chubb Life is the underwriter behind Southern Cross Life & Living Insurance. If Southern Cross Life is also on your shortlist, you are not looking at three independent options — you are looking at two underwriters and three brands.
The second point applies if you already hold cover. Cigna’s New Zealand life business became Chubb Life, so a policy issued under the older brand is now administered by this insurer on its original terms. A change of brand does not change a contract, and your schedule and wording remain the reference point.
With that settled, the comparison is the ordinary one: definitions, offsets, premium structure options and underwriting appetite, read from the wordings rather than the brochures.
The six things that actually differ
These are the six that carry the money. Ask both insurers, and record the answers rather than the impressions.
| What differs | What to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Underwriter overlap | Which licensed insurer underwrites each policy on my shortlist, and does any of them appear twice under different brands? | Two brands backed by one underwriter give you less real choice than the shortlist suggests. |
| Terminal illness | Is the trigger a certified life expectancy under 12 months or under 24 months, and does the payment reduce the death benefit? | It decides whether the money arrives while you can still direct how it is used. |
| Trauma definitions | How are cancer, heart attack and stroke defined, and does stroke require permanent neurological deficit? | These four conditions produce most trauma claims, so their thresholds are the product. |
| TPD conversion age | At what age does own-occupation convert to any-occupation or to an activities-of-daily-living test? | Permanent disability becomes more likely with age, which is exactly when many policies narrow. |
| Income protection offsets | How is ACC weekly compensation offset, is there an offset-free threshold, and is a booster benefit available? | Most New Zealanders are covered by ACC for injury and not illness, so the offset clause shapes the real benefit. |
| Dispute scheme | Which dispute resolution scheme does each insurer belong to, and what does its internal review process look like? | This is the free, independent escalation route you would use if a claim were declined. |
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.
What to watch for
These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.
- Whether a brand on your shortlist is a distribution name rather than the licensed insurer carrying the risk.
- Whether an older policy you already hold has better terms than a current product — legacy wordings sometimes do.
- Whether any exclusion recorded on an existing schedule is time-limited or open to review.
- Whether the trauma cover quoted is standalone or accelerated on each side.
- Whether both quotes use the same waiting period, benefit period and indexation setting.
Where an adviser makes a difference
Every New Zealand insurer writes life and living cover to its own wording, and the words are where the money is. Two policies that look identical on price can pay very differently when it matters. Closing that gap is the entire job of an adviser.
- An adviser quotes both insurers on matched terms — same sum insured, same structure, same waiting and benefit periods — which is the only way the numbers mean anything.
- Where a health history is not straightforward, an adviser can pre-assess it anonymously with both insurers before any formal application exists, so an unfavourable answer never lands on your record.
- Policy fees and multi-benefit discounts mean the cheaper per-benefit rate is often not the cheaper household total. An adviser models the total.
- An adviser knows when two brands share an underwriter and will not present them as independent alternatives.
- For an existing legacy policy, an adviser can read the old wording against the new and tell you whether replacing loses you ground.
There are three ways to buy life cover in New Zealand, and they are not equivalent. You can buy direct from one insurer, which means you see one product range and one underwriting appetite. You can buy through your bank, which usually means a single insurer’s product sold under the bank’s brand, often with narrower definitions. Or you can go through an adviser, who quotes several insurers at once and is required to put your interests first.
The premium you pay is the same either way. Insurers build adviser commission into their pricing whether or not an adviser is involved, so going direct does not get you a discount — it just removes the person whose job is to argue your corner at application and at claim time.
- An adviser can see which insurer is currently taking your health history on standard terms, and which one will load or exclude it.
- An adviser can structure cover across two insurers if that produces a better outcome than putting everything with one.
- An adviser handles the underwriting back-and-forth, and is the person who chases the claim when a family is least able to.
- An adviser has to document why the recommendation suits you, which is a written record you can hold them to.
What happens if you get in touch
We are a referral service, not an insurer. We do not quote premiums and we do not sell policies. What we do is put you in front of one licensed New Zealand adviser who can compare the market properly.
- 1
You tell us what you are looking at
The form takes about a minute. Nobody asks for your medical history on a web form — that conversation happens with the adviser, properly, and only once you have decided to proceed.
- 2
An adviser calls you
A licensed New Zealand adviser talks through your situation: who depends on you, what you owe, what you already have in place, and what you are actually worried about.
- 3
They compare the market
The adviser quotes across the major insurers, checks which of them will take your health history on the best terms, and puts the options side by side in writing.
- 4
You decide, in your own time
There is no obligation and no cost to you. If the answer is that you already have enough cover, a good adviser will tell you that.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chubb Life the same insurer as Southern Cross Life?
They are different brands with a specific relationship: Southern Cross Life & Living Insurance is sold under the Southern Cross brand and underwritten by Chubb Life. If both appear on a shortlist alongside Partners Life, you have two licensed underwriters rather than three, which is worth knowing before you treat one as a fallback for the other.
My policy says Cigna — how does that compare with Partners Life now?
Cigna’s New Zealand life business became Chubb Life, so your policy is administered by Chubb Life on its original terms. Compare it against a Partners Life product the same way you would compare any two wordings: terminal illness definition, trauma definitions, TPD conversion age and income protection offsets. Do not assume the newer product is better — legacy wordings are sometimes more generous.
Do Partners Life and Chubb Life assess claims differently?
Every insurer assesses claims against its own policy wording, so differences in outcome usually trace back to differences in the definitions rather than to a difference in attitude. New Zealand does not publish comparable per-insurer claims data, so anyone offering you a ranking on claims behaviour is not working from a common dataset.
Which insurer should I choose if I already hold cover with one of them?
Start by comparing your existing wording against what is currently offered, rather than starting from price. Replacing cover means being re-underwritten at your current age and health, so anything diagnosed since your original application can be loaded or excluded. Never cancel existing cover until replacement cover is issued and accepted in writing.
How do I find out which company underwrites a policy I am being offered?
It is stated in the policy wording and on the schedule, usually on the first page or in the definitions. If you cannot find it, ask in writing for the name of the licensed insurer carrying the risk and the dispute resolution scheme it belongs to. Both matter at claim time and you are entitled to know them.