Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be an AA member to buy life insurance from AA Life?
How much will it cost?
How much cover do I need?
What happens when I die?
How long will it take to get the payment?
What if I already have life insurance with another company?
Why do you need medical information from my doctor?
What’s the difference between the various products?
Do you always pay out?
Is the payout taxed?
Can I cancel my policy?
Can I increase/decrease my cover at anytime?
Can I insure my children?
Can I have a joint policy with my partner?

Do I have to be an AA member to buy life insurance from AA Life?
No. AA Life offers life insurance to all New Zealand residents, both members of the AA and people who aren’t members.

If you are a member of the AA, you’ll get a 5% discount on your premiums plus you'll earn one AA Reward Point for every $10 you spend on your premiums.

How much will it cost?
This can depend on a number of factors:

The kind of life insurance you take out
How much cover you need
Your current health status
Your age
Your gender
If you smoke or not

We can give you an instant online quote, but first you need to decide what kind of life insurance you need.

To find out which of our products best suits your needs click here.
To see our range of life insurances, click here.

How much cover do I need?
That’s up to you. If you just want cover for your funeral, you can choose your own level between $5,000 and $15,000 with our Funeral Cover policy.
Otherwise how much you need depends on your personal situation.

It essentially comes down to:

How much you’ll need to pay off any debts that you wouldn’t want to pass on to anyone else
How much your family will need to live on until they get back on their feet
How much you’d like to leave behind for your offspring

To find out how much you might need, click here.

What happens when I die?
You should have a named person (your administrator) to look after your estate. This person will need to contact us to let us know you have died and provide some details around your death. They will then need to provide the required documentation, including:

A completed claim form
A certified copy of the death certificate (ie, signed by either a Justice of the Peace or a solicitor)
A certified copy of the birth certificate (ie, signed by either a Justice of the Peace or a solicitor)
The original Policy document

We may need other documents too, depending on such factors as how you died, the type of insurance you have, and whether you have a will. Once all the documents are complete and in order we’ll make a payment to your estate or the person you have chosen to receive the payout (the 2nd owner).

How long will it take to get the payment?
The payment will be made to your estate or your 2nd owner within 72 hours of the claim being accepted.

What if I already have life insurance with another company?
No problem, you can still keep it if you want, or we can provide you with a quote if you think you might like to consider moving things across. Buying additional life insurance can be an easy way to top up the total value of your existing life insurance.

Why do you need medical information from my doctor?
It’s normally only for full life insurance that we need this information.
Knowing your current state of health, including any medical conditions and how they are being managed, helps us assess your health against that of other New Zealanders. This may or may not affect your premiums. We may also need information from your doctor as part of the process of assessing a claim.

Be assured that we respect the confidentiality of your medical information and will not divulge it to any other party.

What’s the difference between the various products?
Some life insurance products offer more comprehensive cover than others. Some are designed to payout only if you die as a result of an accident. Some are designed to pay for your funeral while others are intended to help you through critical illness or to recover from an accident. Full life insurance gives you more comprehensive cover for death and will payout for most of the ways you could die such as a natural cause, an illness or an accident. Mortgage Protection Insurance is full life insurance designed to help pay the mortgage in the event of death.

Here's a comparison between our products.

PRODUCT BENEFITS	Funeral Cover	Term Life Insurance	Guaranteed Life Insurance	Accidental Death Insurance	Accident Recovery Insurance
Age eligibility	16-75 years	16-59 years	50-79 years	16-74 years	16-70 years
Cover Levels	$5,000-$15,000	$50,000 - $400,000	Dependant on Premium	$75,000 - $350,000	Standard or Superior
Guaranteed Acceptance	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Immediate cover on acceptance	For accidental death only	Yes	For accidental death only	Yes	Yes
Payout for death as a result of an accident	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Payout for death by natural causes	After 2 years	Yes	After 2 years	No	No
Early payout for Terminal Illness	No	Yes	After 2 years	No	No
Payout for disability or injury	No	No	No	No	Yes
Cash for hospitalisation	No	No	No	No	Yes
Covered while being overseas	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fixed premiums	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fixed cover levels	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

_{The above information is intended to provide summary information as an introduction to the main features of each product. For further information on each product, please download a copy of the policy wording, and/or product benefits. Each policy wording describes in detail the benefits provided, exclusions and how the policy works.}

Do you always pay out?
There are a few instances where a policy may not be paid out, such as:

Suicide within the first 13 months of your policy
Where you have provided information that is not true or where you have withheld relevant information
If you die as a result of something excluded from your policy.

These exclusions might be if you die as a result of:

A dangerous sport
A pre-existing condition
Involvement in committing a criminal act

Is the payout taxed?
The lump sum payments are tax-free (as long as your life insurance is not used for business purposes). However, if the payment goes to an estate you may need to pay tax on any income (eg interest) you make off the estate until it has been wound up.

Can I cancel my policy?
Yes you can cancel your policy at anytime by calling us or stating your wish to cancel in writing. There is no surrender value on your policy.

Can I increase/decrease my cover at anytime?
Yes you can, simply give us call on 0800 808 175

Can I insure my children?
By taking out an insurance policy for yourself you are ensuring your children will be cared for when you are gone. You cannot insure your children under your policy, a person must be 16 or over to take out a life insurance policy.

Can I have a joint policy with my partner?
You cannot have a joint policy but the equivalent is for both you and your partner to take out a policy and name each other as second owners, therefore when the time comes to claim, the money will go straight to the nominated second owner.