FAQs

A.M Best rates Pinnacle Life Limited 'B+' financial strength (Good) and a bbb- issuer credit rating (outlook 'stable') at 1 May 2024. Our financial strength rating is important because it lets you know whether you can rely on us to be there when you need us. 

You may also want to know that Pinnacle Life is reinsured by Hannover Life Re of Australasia Ltd, which is part of the global group Hannover Re, one of the five largest reinsurance groups in the world. Reinsurance is important because it allows insurance companies to spread risk, meaning they are unlikely to get overwhelmed if claims are unusually high. Hannover Re’s financial strength rating can be found here.

You can find our terms and conditions here and our privacy policy here.

For Life Insurance

• if you apply online you can get cover from $100,000 to $1,500,000.
• If you’d like to apply for cover of under $100,000 or up to $2 million contact our office (there will be some extra medical check requirements for the higher cover levels).

For Income Protection 

• Your Income Protection Cover amount cannot exceed 75% of your monthly income or $15,000 per month.
• There are also limits depending on the age of the life insured :
  • When covering 40% of the insured person’s monthly income, our cover limit is: 
    • $8,000 per month if the insured person is aged 20 to 50,
    • $6,670 per month if they are aged 51 to 54 and 
    • $5,340 per month if they’re aged 55 to 65. 
  • When covering 60% of the insured person’s monthly income, our cover limit is:
    • $12,000 per month if the insured person is aged 20 to 50, 
    • $10,000 per month if they are aged 51 to 54
    • $8,000 per month if they’re aged 55 to 65. 
  • When covering 75% of the insured person’s monthly income, our cover limit is:
    • $15,000 per month if the insured person is aged 20 to 50, 
    • $12,500 per month if they are aged 51 to 54 and $
    • 10,000 per month if they are aged 55 to 65.

We offer cover to people aged between 18 and 75. Specifically, the age limits are:

For Life Insurance

• you can apply online if you are aged 20-69
• or by talking to us if you are 18-74.
• You can be living in NZ, Australia, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong or Singapore.

For Income Protection

• you can apply if you are 20-59 and,
• living and working in NZ.

For Critical Conditions (note you can only apply for Critical Conditions at the same time that you apply for life insurance)

• You can apply online if you are age 20-59

For Disability Cover (note you can only apply for Disability Cover at the same time that you apply for life insurance)

• You can apply online if you are age 20-59

No. You can have as many policies as you like with as many companies as you like.

Yes, they simply need to apply. Note that it's the person getting insured who must provide the answers to the health questions on the application form and complete the declaration. When the policy is issued, the insured person will also be the policy owner. If they want to change that, they will need to request an update using the 'change of ownership' form included in the policy.

Premiums are calculated based on several factors, including your age, gender, smoking status, medical history, some lifestyle factors, and how much cover you need. Actuaries work out the likelihood of you needing to make a claim based on all these factors and set the premiums accordingly. There are some things you can do to control what you pay, including not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and not undertaking risky activities, like sky diving or rock climbing. The amount of cover you choose also affects your premium, more cover will cost more.