Overseas travel, residence and underwriting

There are two separate questions here and they get confused. The first is whether an application can be assessed and a policy issued while travel is planned or under way. The second is what happens to a policy you already hold if you move overseas. They have different answers and different consequences.

On the first, insurers ask about planned travel because destination and duration change the risk and also change their ability to obtain evidence. A holiday is rarely relevant. An extended stay, work in a higher-risk location, or an indefinite move commonly produces a deferral until you are back and assessable.

On the second, an existing policy generally continues when you move — but the policy wording governs how long benefits are payable while you are outside New Zealand, and that is a term worth reading before you go rather than after.

The questions cover both current plans and residency.

• Whether you have travel booked, where to, and for how long.
• Whether the travel is for work, and what work.
• Whether you intend to live outside New Zealand, and where.
• Your residency and visa status in New Zealand.
• How long you have been in New Zealand, where relevant.
• Whether you have received medical treatment overseas.

What usually happens

• Ordinary holiday travel is generally not an issue.
• Extended stays or work in some countries can produce a deferral until you return.
• Most insurers require New Zealand residency to issue a policy, with definitions that differ.
• An existing policy generally continues if you move, subject to the wording on overseas benefits.

The practical constraint that catches people is evidence. Underwriting requires GP reports, nurse visits and blood tests, and all of those are harder to arrange from outside New Zealand. Applications made while abroad frequently stall for months for that reason alone, which is why the usual advice is to complete cover before you leave rather than after you arrive.

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

• That an extended overseas stay can produce a deferral even where nothing else in the file is an issue.
• That residency definitions differ between insurers and can decide who will write your cover.
• How long income protection benefits are payable while you are outside New Zealand.
• That an existing policy is usually worth keeping rather than cancelling on departure.
• That underwriting evidence is much harder to obtain from overseas, so timing matters.

Every New Zealand insurer writes applications involving overseas travel or residence 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.

• Residency requirements differ between insurers, and knowing which will write your situation saves a wasted application.
• An adviser can advise on sequencing so cover is in place before you leave.
• An adviser can check the overseas benefit limits in each wording before you commit.
• For returning New Zealanders and new migrants, an adviser knows which insurers apply the shortest qualifying periods.

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.