Change or cancel insurance after a death

We can support you to manage or update a deceased person’s policies. Find out how to notify us and next steps.

We’re here to help

Our dedicated Bereavement Team are here to guide you through changing or cancelling a policy, and protecting assets.

Who should contact us

We usually work with the following people to make changes to policies:

  • executor or administrator of the estate (assets or property)
  • legal representative (solicitor or trust Company) acting on behalf of the estate
  • other policyholders on jointly held policies.

We’re unable to manage policies through a Power of Attorney (PoA), as a PoA ends when someone dies.

Steps to cancel or update a policy

1 

Let us know

Complete our online form

You can notify us of the death of a policyholder using our online bereavement form. Including documents is optional at this stage. After you submit the form, our Bereavement Team will contact you within 5 working days.

Bereavement form

Call us

If you prefer to speak to someone, contact the Bereavement Team directly, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (excluding public holidays).

Call 0800 141 603

Use myTrove to update multiple organisations at once

Or, you can use myTrove to notify multiple organisations, including us, about a death. They’re a private company who work closely with AMI and other insurance companies, as well as banks, utilities, and government agencies. After being notified by them, we’ll contact you within 5 working days.

myTrove
2

Provide documents

You can provide documents using our online form or give them to us later. You don’t need to give us certified copies.

For all policies

To manage the deceased’s policies, we need a copy of their death certificate.

For Home policies

For Home insurance without other policyholders, we may need additional documents to show who the property passes to. This could be:

  • probate — if there's a will
  • letters of administration — if there’s no will.

Find out how to get these documents on the New Zealand government website.

Wills, probates and estates
Get a death certificate
3

We make policy updates

Once we receive the correct documents, we’ll work with the authorised person to:

  • cancel a policy if it’s no longer needed (excluding joint policies)
  • convert a joint policy into the other policyholder’s name
  • change the policy into a new name. 
Who should contact us
4

We refund any premiums owed

We refund any premiums owed to the estate of the deceased policyholder.

During this process

Making claims

The executor, administrator or legal representative of the estate can still make a claim while the estate is being settled, as long as the policy is still in place.

Claims in progress

If the policyholder has passed away with a claim underway, we’ll continue to process that claim and will contact the executor, administrator or legal representative if we need more details.

During probate

While we wait for probate to be granted, we can update how premium payments are made to make sure the policy stays current. 

We can also update contact details to make sure the person managing the estate gets all communications.

Financial support

If your finances have been impacted after the loss of a family member, we can provide confidential assistance and a range of payment options to ensure that insurance cover remains in place.

Call 0800 695 000

General guidance

The New Zealand government offers guidance on funerals, managing wills, probate, and estates, getting a death certificate and more.

Death and bereavement – New Zealand Government