Effective 1 April 2026
These terms and conditions ("Terms") describe the relationship between Hato Hone St John ("we", "us") and you ("you") as a St John Ambulance Membership ("Membership") holder ("member").
Important Summary
- An Ambulance Membership is an Annual prepaid plan that covers a member’s ambulance Part Charge in medical emergencies.
- Membership fees are not refundable if you cancel part way through the year.
- You must be an active Member at the time of the medical emergency.
- Membership benefits are not backdated.
- Membership does not guarantee an ambulance will be dispatched, does not provide priority over other 111 callers and does not cover nonemergency transport.
- Some accident-related attendances are already funded by ACC and may not attract a Part Charge regardless of Membership.
- Membership may have little or no additional benefit if you are a Medical
- Alarm customer or live in certain aged care facilities.
- Due to the nature of our service, we may issue you a Part Charge invoice. It is important that you contact us as soon as possible if you believe you are not required to pay the Part Charge.
- You must renew your Membership before it expires to avoid any gap in cover, and while you can renew within 35 days before expiry to keep continuous cover, any renewal after the expiry date will start a new term from the date we receive payment.
- A Bill Payer has primary responsibility for payment.
1. Definitions
1.1 "Medical Emergency" means an acute event requiring urgent assessment and / or transport as determined by us in our clinical judgement.
1.2 "Part Charge" means the standard patient contribution that is charged for ambulance treatment or transport where public funding (such as from Health New Zealand or ACC) does not fully cover the cost of the service. The Part Charge is not the full cost for the ambulance service. The amount of the Part Charge is listed on our charges page.
1.3 "ACC criteria" refers to statutory criteria governing accident-related funding under the Accident Compensation Act.
1.4 "Primary Member" means the individual in whose name the Membership is held. If there is no separate Bill Payer, the Primary Member is responsible for ensuring that all Membership information is accurate, and will receive the billing notices, renewal notices and any rate-change notices as per these Terms.
1.5 "Bill Payer" means the person nominated to pay the Membership fees where this is someone other than the Primary Member. The Bill Payer is responsible for ensuring that all Membership information is accurate, will receive the billing notices, renewal notices and any rate-change notices as per these Terms.
2. Background
By purchasing a Membership, you are helping support our services. Membership removes the Part Charge that would otherwise apply in certain situations, but only as described in these Terms.
3. Part Charges
3.1 Under our contract with Health New Zealand and ACC, a Part Charge may be payable by patients for ambulance treatment or transport, where funding does not fully apply, including where the attendance relates to:
a) a Medical Emergency (such as a collapse, asthma attack or heart attack), or
b) an accident which happened more than 24 hours ago and does not meet ACC funding criteria.
3.2 The current Part Charges are published at www.stjohn.org.nz/part-charges.
4. Membership Benefits
Membership benefits apply only while you are a named active member at the time of service and are not backdated.
4.1 Medical Emergencies
Membership means you will not be charged the Part Charge if we treat or transport you for a medical emergency, unless an exclusion in sections 6, 7 or 8 applies.
4.2 Accident-related injuries
If we treat you for:
a) an accident-related injury more than 24 hours old, or
b) an injury that does not meet ACC criteria,
Membership means you will not be charged the Part Charge. If your injury meets ACC criteria and we attend within 24 hours of the accident, ACC funding usually applies, meaning no Part Charge applies regardless of Membership.
4.3 Other Payers & Hato Hone St John Medical Alarm Customers
a) Another organisation may be responsible for paying your Part Charge, for example if you have an MSD accredited medical alarm provider, or you live in an aged-care facility that provides this service on site. If this applies to you, we recommend you consider whether a Membership is right for you. See section 8 for more information.
b) Membership is not suitable for Hato Hone St John Medical Alarm Customers because the cost of emergency ambulance call outs (whether because of an alarm activation or not) is already covered by us.
4.4 What your Membership does not include:
a) Priority response over other 111 callers.
b) A guarantee that an ambulance will be dispatched – we will organise you the most appropriate help if you call 111. This could be an ambulance, paramedic, another emergency service or advice.
c) Transport where no clinical assessment or treatment is required.
d) Transport that is not related to an emergency: including transport to / from appointments, inter hospital transfers, private ambulance transfers and transport following discharge from hospital.
5. Your obligations
5.1 Payment - You must pay the annual Membership fee in full in one payment. We do not offer or accept part payments.
5.2 Responsibility for Payment - Payment for Membership is due in full prior to the commencement of the Membership period. While the Bill Payer is responsible for the initial transaction, there is no contractual obligation to renew. Failure to renew will result in the expiration of Membership benefits
5.3 Types of Membership
a) Membership may be Individual, Joint, or Household. Named members must live permanently at the same address. To make any changes to, or to cancel your Membership, please call us on 0800 785 646.
b) Adding Members - Existing members may be retained while additional members are added. If adding members changes the Membership type, an upgrade fee may apply. Any person added to a Membership (whether by replacement or addition) receives Membership benefits 24 hours after the change is processed. Benefits are not retrospective.
c) Removing and Replacing Members - Named members can be removed from a Membership and replaced with another person without changing the Membership type. This changes the recipients of Membership benefits but does not extend or reset the Membership term. Benefits for the former member will immediately cease once a replacement or removal is requested.
5.4 Household Members - Only listed members are covered, except for new-born babies living permanently in the same household as the Primary Member for the remainder of the Membership year. When purchasing a Joint or Household Membership, the Bill Payer must advise who is the Primary Member, if different from themselves. A maximum of 10 members (including the Primary Member) applies to a Household Membership.
5.5 Up to date contact details - You must notify us of changes to your contact information or listed members as soon as known.
6. Rates and Payment
6.1 Current Membership rates are available at www.stjohn.org.nz/support-us/join-ambulance-membership.
6.2 Membership Rate Change - We will give the Bill Payer at least 30 days’ notice of any change to the Membership rate before your current Membership expires. If you chose not to renew at the new rate, Membership will automatically end on the expiry date.
6.3 Your Membership begins when we receive full payment and runs for 12 months.
6.4 Maintaining a Continuous Membership - To maintain continuous Membership cover, you will need to renew your Membership before it expires. We will send you a Membership renewal reminder ahead of time. You can renew anytime in the 35 days before your Membership ends. If you renew within this period, your new 12month Membership term will start the day after your current one ends, so you will not lose any days of cover. If you do not renew before the expiry date, your cover will end on the expiry date, and any later renewal will start a new 12-month Membership term from the date we receive your payment.
6.5 If adding members changes your Membership type, an Upgrade fee may apply. Revised payment amounts will be advised to you before you commit.
6.6 Part Charge Invoices – When Issued and What to do if you Receive one
We may issue you a Part Charge invoice in certain situations, including where:
a) your Membership details cannot be matched at the time of attendance; or
b) another Organisation is responsible for payment; or
c) an exclusion in Sections 6, 7 or 8 applies.
6.7 If you believe you have received a Part Charge invoice in error, you should contact us as soon as possible. It is your responsibility to either pay the invoice or advise us if you do not believe you are required to pay the Part Charge.
6.8 Changes to our Terms - We may make changes to these Terms during your Membership term. If any change materially affects your rights or increases your costs, we will give you at least 30 days’ notice. You may cancel your Membership at any time before the change takes effect. If you do not cancel, the updated Terms will apply from the effective date stated in the notice.
7. Ending Your Membership
7.1 You may end your Membership at any time by calling us. Your Membership will be inactivated immediately upon your advice to end. No refund of Membership fees will be provided, and all Membership benefits will end. Before cancelling, you may wish to consider replacing or removing a Member as an alternative as detailed in clause 5.
7.2 We may end your Membership or decline a Membership renewal if:
a) You have unpaid amounts owing to us; or
b) We reasonably determine that you are misusing the Membership or not complying with these Terms; or
c) The Membership was applied for or renewed without the authority of the Primary Member.
7.3 If we end your Membership under this clause, the Membership will be inactivated immediately. No refund of Membership fees will be provided, and you will no longer be eligible for any Membership benefits from the time of cancellation.
7.4 We may decline your Membership Application if:
a) You, or another proposed Member, have previously misused our service.
b) Misuse includes, but is not limited to, making frequent or inappropriate calls to 111 when your situation is not life-threatening, providing false or misleading information, or otherwise acting in a manner that places unnecessary demand on emergency resources.
8. Eligibility and Exclusions
a) We do not provide emergency ambulance services in Wellington or Wairarapa.
b) Eligibility - To purchase a Membership or be a Primary or Secondary contact, you must be 18 years or over, and eligible to receive subsidised ambulance services in New Zealand. in accordance with government policy. NOTE: Generally, only NZ citizens and permanent residents are eligible for subsidised ambulance service and will benefit from holding a Membership. Australian citizens are not eligible for subsided ambulance services for Medical Emergencies.
c) Medical Alarm Customers - Membership is not suitable for Hato Hone St John Medical Alarm Customers because the cost of emergency ambulance call outs, whether because of an alarm activation or not, are already covered by us for those Customers.
d) Medical Alarm Customers & Aged-Care Residents
If you are:
a customer of a medical alarm service accredited by the Ministry of Social Development (other than Hato Hone St John), or
living in a retirement village or rest-home (that covers the Part Charge)
we may still issue you a Part Charge Invoice directly to you or your provider.
Many providers pay this cost, and you should check with them to understand in what situations they will pay, and whether an Ambulance Membership is right for you.
9. Privacy
We collect and use your personal and health information to administer your Membership and provide ambulance services. We handle your personal and health information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020. Our Privacy Notice is available at www.stjohn.org.nz/contact-us/privacy-notice which details how we collect, store, use and disclose personal and health information.
10. Promocode terms and conditions ("Promocode Terms")
- These Promocode Terms apply in addition to these Membership Terms.
- Promocodes apply to new Memberships only, for the first 12-months, unless stated otherwise.
- The Promocode discount value, timeframe, eligibility and any conditions (such as online use only, one code per Membership, non-transferable) will be stated with the Promocode offer.
- Promocodes are valid for a limited time only. We reserve the right to modify or cancel at any time.
- Promocodes must be entered during checkout online to apply.
- Promocodes cannot be combined with other offers unless stated.
- We may cancel or void a transaction that uses a Promocode if the use of that Promocode is unlawful, fraudulent or contrary to specific conditions of the offer or Promocode Terms. We reserve the right to update
- Promocode Terms without prior notice.
- Use of a Promocode deems acceptance of these Promocode Terms.
