Where policy wordings actually differ

New Zealand insurers publish their full policy wordings and almost nobody reads them. That is understandable — they run to dozens of pages of defined terms — but it means most people buy a contract on the strength of a two-page summary with no legal effect.

You do not have to read the whole thing. The differences cluster in a small number of clauses, and once you know which, comparing two wordings takes about forty minutes rather than a weekend.

Understand the structure too. There is a standard wording applying to everyone holding that product, and there is your schedule, setting out your sum insured, your premium and any exclusions or loadings applied to you personally. The schedule is where your policy differs from everyone else’s, and it is shorter. Read it first.

1. 1Your schedule. Sum insured, premium structure, expiry age, benefit list and any endorsements. An exclusion for a specific condition appears here and nowhere else. Check it says what you were told it says.
2. 2The terminal illness definition. Look for the life expectancy threshold — 12 months or 24 months — who must certify it, and whether the payment reduces the death benefit or is additional to it.
3. 3The trauma definitions for cancer, heart attack, stroke and coronary artery surgery. Look at the thresholds, then look for severity-based partial payments.
4. 4The TPD definition. Own or any occupation, the classes eligible, the waiting period before permanence is assessed, and the age the definition converts.
5. 5The income protection disability definition and the offset clause. How disability is defined, how partial disability is measured, and exactly what income is offset against the benefit — including ACC.
6. 6Guaranteed renewability and repricing. Can the insurer decline renewal, or reprice a class of policies — on what notice, and does that right reach level premiums?
7. 7Future insurability. Which events trigger an increase without medical evidence, the cap per event and in total, and the age the benefit ends.
8. 8Pass-back. Whether later improvements to the wording apply to your policy, and whether that is a commitment or a discretion.
9. 9The general exclusions. Suicide within the first period, war, and any activity or travel exclusions.
10. 10The claims clause. What notice is required, what evidence the insurer can demand, and whether it can require examination by its own doctor.

Words that change everything

• “Permanent” — in TPD, whether the test is permanent inability or unlikely ever to return, which is a different evidential bar.
• “Own occupation” — whether it means the specific role you performed or the broader occupation category.
• “Total disability” — whether it requires inability to perform all duties, or the important duties, or a stated proportion of them.
• “Pre-existing” — how far back the wording looks, and whether it captures symptoms you had not had diagnosed.
• “Income” — for indemnity income protection, exactly which earnings count, particularly for the self-employed.
• “Diagnosis” — whether a benefit is triggered by diagnosis or by treatment or procedure.

These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.

• Any endorsement on your schedule that was not explained to you before you accepted the policy.
• Whether the wording you are reading is the current one or the one that applied when your policy was issued — for an existing policy, the latter governs.
• Whether a benefit expires at an earlier age than the policy itself.
• Whether the insurer can require you to be examined by a doctor of its choosing, and at whose cost.
• Time limits for notifying a claim, which can be short and are occasionally strict.
• Whether the insurer’s repricing right extends to level premium policies, and on what notice.

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.

• Comparing two wordings clause by clause is a technical exercise advisers do every week and most consumers do once.
• An adviser can tell you which differences are material for your circumstances rather than listing every one.
• Where an exclusion has been applied to your schedule, an adviser can negotiate its wording or test the same history with another insurer.
• An adviser keeps a record of the wording that applied when your policy was issued, which matters years later.
• At claim, an adviser argues the claim against the definition, which is a different skill from filling in a form.

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.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.