The cost of $750,000 of life insurance

$750,000 is rarely the amount anyone starts with. It is the amount people arrive at after adding the mortgage to a few years of income and subtracting what they already hold — which is a good sign, because it means the number came from a calculation rather than from a round figure.

In practical terms, $750,000 against a $550,000 mortgage clears the debt and leaves $200,000. Against a $400,000 mortgage it leaves $350,000, which is several years of household costs for most families. Either way the survivor has both the house and time, which is the combination that keeps a household intact.

We do not have published pricing at this exact amount. What we can show you is the bracket it sits inside.

The published New Zealand comparisons quote $500,000 and $1 million. A $750,000 premium sits between them, closer to the midpoint than to either end but not precisely halfway, because the fixed policy fee does not scale and some insurers apply volume discounts above a threshold.

Compare those against the same insurers’ $500,000 figures — $30.92, $35.98 and $87.08 with Pinnacle Life at 30, 40 and 50 — and you can see that doubling the sum insured does not double the premium. That is the policy fee being spread over more cover, and it is why stepping up from $500,000 to $750,000 usually costs less than a straight 50% more.

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

• Whether the amount came from a calculation or from rounding up until it felt sufficient.
• Whether financial underwriting will support it on your income, which it usually will for a working adult but not always.
• Whether the premium is affordable under level as well as stepped, since a sum insured this size compounds sharply under stepped.
• Whether both partners are covered, or only one, in a household that needs two incomes.
• Whether indexation will push the sum insured past what you actually need over time.

Every premium figure on this page is a published market example, not a quote we have generated. Here is exactly what they are.

• Annual figures: MoneyHub’s life insurance comparison, page updated 11 June 2026, for $500,000 of life cover on the profile named in each caption.
• Monthly figures: Quashed Market Scan data, page updated 15 May 2026, for an employed non-smoker with no health issues, across three insurers only.
• Both exclude every discount — healthy-lifestyle, membership, multi-benefit and first-year — and both assume a clean health history with no loading applied.
• Neither reflects policy fee treatment, CPI indexation or the cost of riders, and published rates change between updates.

Your own number comes from an insurer in writing, after underwriting. Treat these figures as the shape of the market rather than as your price.

Every New Zealand insurer writes what life insurance costs in nz 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.

• At this level the difference between insurers in dollar terms is large enough to be worth real comparison work.
• Volume discount thresholds differ by insurer, so one insurer may price $750,000 disproportionately well.
• Financial evidence requirements start to bite around this level and differ between insurers.
• An adviser can split the cover — part level, part stepped — so the essential layer survives if budgets tighten.

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.