Blog
Wording comparisons, how claims actually run, and the places underwriting catches people out — the questions clients ask most.
Are Dental and Optical Add-Ons Worth It? Twenty-One Is the Dividing Line
For adults over 21 I usually do not recommend the dental and optical add-on. For children and teenagers under 21 I strongly recommend it. Same reason both ti...
Health Cover Too Expensive? Who Cancer-Only Cover Actually Suits
If comprehensive health cover has become unaffordable, cancelling is not the only alternative. Cancer-only cover insures the single most dangerous and most e...
Nine Benefits Hiding in Your Policy That You Don't Have to Get Sick to Use
Insurance is not only for the year something terrible happens. Every wording has benefits you can use without a serious claim — health check allowances, ster...
Comparing Four NZ Health Insurance Policies (checked September 2026): Surgery, Hospital, Non-Subsidised Drugs, Overseas Treatment
A line-by-line comparison of the current wordings from nib, AIA, Partners Life and Southern Cross: surgical and hospital limits, major diagnostics, specialis...
Why Insurance Claims Get Declined in New Zealand — and What Happens If You Forgot to Disclose Something
The overwhelming majority of claims are paid. Of the ones that are declined, more than 90% come down to what was or was not disclosed at application. Here is...
Does New Zealand Insurance Pay Anything Back If You Never Claim?
Mainstream life, trauma and health cover in New Zealand is pure protection — no surrender value, no cash value, nothing returned if you never claim. There is...
Who Should You Insure First? Most Families Get the Order Backwards
The right order is life cover on the household's main earner, then trauma cover for the adults, then the children. A health policy is usually enough for a ch...
Why Health Insurance Premiums Are Rising So Fast in New Zealand
Base premium increases in the 2024/25 round ran from 16% at UniMed to 33.6% at nib. It is not that you picked the wrong insurer — medical costs and claims ha...
Does Claiming Push Your Premium Up Next Year?
Health insurance premiums rise every year, but not because of your personal claims history. Rates are set on your age, medical inflation and the insurer's ov...
Health Insurance Excess: Three Things Most People Get Wrong
An excess is not charged every time you use your policy, and not every time you see a doctor. On most products specialist visits and diagnostics are paid in ...
Health Insurance vs ACC: What Each One Actually Covers
ACC covers accidents and pays 80% of your wages. It does not cover illness. Public healthcare covers illness but decides the timing and the specialist for yo...
Income Protection vs Trauma Cover: Which One Should Come First?
These two covers solve different problems. Trauma cover pays a lump sum for what you are diagnosed with. Income protection pays monthly for as long as you ca...
ED or Urgent Care? And Why Health Insurance Doesn't Cover Emergencies
Health insurance in New Zealand does not cover emergencies — emergencies belong to the public hospital system, and that system handles them well. What insura...
Can You Claim Right After Buying Cover? What Waiting Periods Actually Mean
Health insurance in New Zealand generally has no general waiting period — cover starts and new conditions are claimable, provided you disclosed honestly. Tra...
Already Have a Health Condition? You Still Have Options
Most people already have some history by the time they buy insurance. That does not mean cover is pointless. Exclusions can sometimes be reviewed and removed...
Buying Insurance From Your Bank vs Through an Adviser: Three Real Differences
Most insurance sold by a bank is not the bank's own product — they act for one insurer. Compared with buying through an adviser there are three differences: ...
Private vs Public Hospital in New Zealand: What the Difference Looked Like for My Daughter
My daughter had her adenoids removed at a private hospital, claimed through insurance. Specialist appointment in under a week, two independent opinions, my c...