Getting cover
Life insurance with no medical
“No medical” almost always means no nurse visit and no blood test at the point of application. It does not mean no health questions. Full disclosure is still required, and it is still the thing your claim depends on.
Last reviewed 4 September 2026 · Written and checked by the Best Life Insurance editorial team · How we get paid
In short
- Most life applications are decided on a health questionnaire alone, with no physical examination.
- That is not the same as “no health questions”. You must still answer everything asked, fully and honestly.
- Insurers set evidence limits: sums insured below a threshold are usually assessed on the questionnaire alone.
- Above that threshold, or above certain ages, medical evidence is requested — bloods, an ECG, or a GP report.
- Evidence limits fall as you get older, so the same sum insured that needs no tests at 30 may need them at 55.
- Non-disclosure is the most common reason a life claim is declined. No medical does not reduce that risk — it increases it.
What this is, plainly
There is a genuine, widely available product behind this search, and it is worth being precise about what it is. For most applicants, at ordinary sums insured, a New Zealand life insurance application is decided on the answers you give in a health questionnaire and nothing else. No nurse comes to your house. No blood is taken. That is what the industry means by “no medical”.
What is not true — and what a great deal of marketing copy allows people to believe — is that no medical means no health questions. It does not. You will be asked about your medical history, your family history, your height and weight, your alcohol and tobacco use, your occupation and your pastimes. Your obligation to answer those questions fully is the same whether or not anyone examines you.
If anything, the obligation matters more. When an insurer accepts you on your word rather than on a blood test, your word is the whole file. If a claim is made and the file turns out to be wrong on something material, the insurer is entitled to look at what it would have done had it known. That is where declined claims come from.
Evidence limits, and what triggers a medical
Every insurer runs a grid. Down one axis is your age; across the other is the sum insured you have applied for. Where you land on the grid decides how much evidence the insurer wants before it makes a decision. The thresholds are called evidence limits, they differ between insurers, and they are reviewed periodically — so no page can honestly publish the numbers.
What is consistent is the shape. Evidence limits are generous at younger ages and tighten steadily as you get older. Applying for a very large sum insured, or applying at an older age, moves you up the grid. So does disclosing a condition that the insurer wants to see current readings for.
| What is being assessed | What the insurer usually asks for |
|---|---|
| Ordinary sum insured, younger applicant, clean history | The health questionnaire alone. Often a phone interview to clarify answers. |
| Sum insured above the insurer’s evidence limit | Blood and urine screening, sometimes with a nurse visit for height, weight and blood pressure. |
| Older applicant, or a very large sum insured | The above plus an ECG or exercise ECG, and occasionally a medical examination by a doctor. |
| A disclosed condition the insurer wants current readings on | A targeted report — recent blood results, a specialist letter, or a report from your GP. |
| A history the insurer cannot assess from the questionnaire | A full copy of your GP notes, which is the most common cause of delay in an application. |
Indicative of common New Zealand practice. Actual evidence limits are set by each insurer, differ between them, and change. Your adviser can tell you which insurer’s limits suit the sum insured you want.
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.
- The phrase “no medical” in marketing usually describes the process, not the disclosure obligation.
- Tele-underwriting — a recorded phone interview with an underwriter — counts as no medical, and your answers are on the file.
- If you decline to complete requested medical evidence, the insurer will simply not offer terms.
- A no-medical application can still come back with a loading or an exclusion based on what you disclosed.
- Cover accepted on limited questions is often underwritten at claim instead, which is the worst time to find out.
- Increasing your sum insured later can push you over an evidence limit and trigger tests you avoided the first time.
Where an adviser makes a difference
Every New Zealand insurer writes how underwriting works 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.
- Evidence limits differ between insurers, so an adviser can find the one where your sum insured sits below the threshold.
- They can pre-assess a health history with an underwriter informally, before any application exists on your record.
- They know which insurers will accept a nurse-collected sample versus requiring a doctor’s examination, which affects timing.
- They make sure the disclosure is complete, which is the single most valuable thing anyone does for you at application.
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
Can I get life insurance in NZ without a blood test?
Frequently, yes. Most applications at ordinary sums insured are decided on the health questionnaire alone. Whether tests are required depends on your age and the amount of cover against the insurer’s evidence limits, and on whether anything you disclose needs current readings.
Does no medical mean I do not have to declare my health history?
No, and this is the point on which people lose claims. Your duty to disclose everything asked is unchanged. No medical describes the absence of a physical examination, not the absence of questions.
What are evidence limits?
They are the thresholds each insurer sets, by age and sum insured, above which it requires medical evidence rather than accepting the questionnaire alone. They tighten as you get older. Every insurer sets its own and they are reviewed from time to time, so an adviser checks the current grid rather than relying on a published figure.
What happens in the phone interview after I apply?
An underwriter or a trained interviewer goes through your answers, clarifies anything ambiguous and asks follow-up questions on anything disclosed. It is recorded and it forms part of your application. Answer it as carefully as you would a written form, and take your time.
If I apply for less cover, can I avoid medical tests?
Sometimes, because a lower sum insured may fall under the insurer’s evidence limit. That is a reasonable thing to plan for, but do not let it drive you into buying less cover than you need. Cover that is too small is a more common problem than a blood test is.
Will a nurse visit find something I do not know about?
Occasionally screening picks up something — raised blood pressure or a blood result outside the normal range. The insurer will tell you the result, and it may affect the terms offered. That is a reason to apply while you are well, not a reason to avoid applying.