Waiting period
A waiting period is the time between the start of a policy and the date when certain benefits become available. During the waiting period, claims for specified conditions or events are not covered. Waiting periods are common in health, income protection, and life insurance. Also called a deferred period or elimination period.
Waiting periods by insurance type
Income protection
The deferred period is how long you must be off work before payments begin — typically 4, 8, 13, 26, or 52 weeks. A longer deferred period reduces the premium but means you need more savings to cover the gap.
Private medical insurance
Many PMI policies exclude pre-existing conditions for an initial period (often 2 years). Some apply a general waiting period of 1–3 months for non-acute conditions to prevent people joining solely to claim.
Travel insurance
Annual policies purchased mid-year may apply a 24–72 hour waiting period before new trips can be claimed. Pandemic-related delays sometimes had bespoke waiting rules applied across the market.
Home insurance
Some specialist covers (subsidence, flooding in high-risk areas) include a waiting period of 7–90 days. Standard peril claims (fire, theft) generally have no waiting period once the policy is in force.
Choosing a deferred period
For income protection, the deferred period is a key design choice. Match it to how long your employer continues to pay you when ill — most employers pay full salary for 1–3 months, then statutory sick pay. Set the deferred period to begin when employer support ends so the policy fills the gap rather than duplicating it.
For health cover, declare all pre-existing conditions accurately at application. Failure to do so can allow an insurer to apply a retrospective exclusion or void the policy. See our guide to five parts of every policy for how waiting periods appear in policy documents, and exclusions for related policy limitations.