Premium waiver on disability
Once disability is recognised, the insurer takes over the ongoing premiums for the main policy and, where applicable, attached riders.
- Clause type
- Extension
- Origin/Market
- DACH – statutory
- Favours
- Insured
- Negotiability
- Negotiable
Standard wordings
- Section 1 BB-BUZ (model conditions for supplementary disability insurance)
Purpose
The premium waiver is designed to stop a person already suffering financially from disability from also having to fund ongoing insurance premiums to keep the policy in force. Once the agreed degree of disability is reached, the insurer takes over premium payments for the duration of the recognised disability, so cover continues undiminished.
Effect and limits
The waiver typically requires medically documented disability of at least six months, or an equivalent prognosis, and often applies retroactively from the date disability began, even if formal recognition comes later. Premiums already paid for the retroactive period are usually refunded or offset in practice. If disability ends before the agreed benefit period expires, the obligation to pay premiums resumes. The waiver generally applies only to the policy to which the rider is attached.
Negotiation and practice
When comparing offers, it is worth checking the waiting period before recognition, the evidentiary requirements, and whether existing add-ons such as accident or long-term care riders are also covered by the waiver. In advisory practice, the premium waiver is usually built in automatically as an integral part of standalone disability policies, but for riders attached to a life policy it may need to be agreed separately.
The premium waiver has no direct statutory basis anywhere in the DACH region; in all three countries it follows the relevant insurers’ model conditions, which are structurally very similar.