Cornerstone Insurance Limited · NZBN 9429049123425 · FSP1004360
Financial advice provided under the licence held by NZ Financial Services Group (FSP286965)
English and Mandarin · families across New Zealand
We arrange personal insurance only: life, health, trauma, income protection, total and permanent disablement, and mortgage protection. More cover is not better cover — we work from your household's income, debts and existing policies to establish which risks need transferring first, then compare wordings and premiums across the insurers we are appointed with. The detail on each, and when it applies, is on the services page.
Pays a lump sum to nominated beneficiaries on death or terminal diagnosis. The sum insured is generally set to clear the mortgage balance and then fund the household’s living and education costs until the children are financially independent. Premium structure — stepped or level — determines the long-term cost of holding the policy and is decided alongside the sum itself.
Covers private surgery, hospital admission, specialist consultations and diagnostic imaging, with your own choice of surgeon and hospital and no public waiting list. The wordings differ most on non-Pharmac drug limits, the conditions attached to overseas treatment, whether specialist consultations sit within base cover, and how the excess and any co-payment are triggered.
Pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a condition named in the policy — cancer, heart attack, stroke and others — with no restriction on how the benefit is used. Insurers define those conditions differently; early-stage diagnoses and partial payment clauses are where the wordings diverge and where claims are most often disputed, so they are compared line by line.
Replaces income monthly while illness or injury prevents you working, usually capped at about 75% of pre-tax earnings. The wait period (four weeks to two years) and benefit period (two years, five years or to age 65) are set against your emergency reserves and fixed outgoings. Accidents are covered by ACC; this policy covers what falls outside ACC’s scope.
Pays a lump sum where illness or injury permanently removes the ability to work. It complements the monthly benefit of income protection, meeting the large one-off costs — home modification, a suitable vehicle, long-term care. Whether “unable to work” is defined by own occupation or any occupation sets the claim threshold and must be established before cover is placed.
Sum insured and term track the mortgage balance: monthly payments cover the repayments while you cannot work, or a lump sum clears the balance on death or total disablement. Because the benefit is measured against the loan rather than income, underwriting is often more accessible than for income protection, and the monthly benefit can be received alongside ACC.
Licensed financial adviser · English and Mandarin
Master’s degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Provides needs analysis, comparison of options, applications and underwriting, and claims support — professional, tailored cover and a claims service that stays with you. Has been interviewed by RNZ on the cost of insurance for the Parent Boost visa.
FSPR 629629 · amy.tao@cornerstonefs.co.nz
Administration
Runs the day-to-day admin, paperwork and follow-ups with insurers so the advisers can spend their time with clients.
admin@cornerstonefs.co.nz
No star ratings and no review site — just screenshots of what clients have written to us on WeChat. Tap one to read it full size.
Twelve screenshots, scroll sideways for the rest. The messages are in Chinese.
Five appointments means we can compare wordings and premiums side by side instead of selling whatever one company happens to offer. We're paid commission by the insurer, so there's no separate fee to you.
Wording comparisons, how claims actually run, and the places underwriting catches people out — the questions clients ask most.
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