Waiting period and deferred period

Purpose

Both the waiting period and the deferred period limit the time during which an insurer would already be collecting premium but not yet owe a full benefit. The waiting period runs from policy inception and is intended to deter people from taking out cover only once a need is foreseeable or has already arisen (anti-selection). The deferred period, by contrast, relates to an individual claim and fixes the day from which benefit for incapacity or disability actually begins.

Effect and limits

During the general waiting period after inception – typically three to eight months in health and daily sickness benefits insurance – there is generally no entitlement to benefit for newly arising claims; this waiting period is frequently waived for accidents. The deferred period within an existing contract instead sets the chosen benefit start date, for example from the 15th, 43rd, or 91st day of incapacity, and directly affects the premium: a longer deferred period lowers the premium but shifts the risk of the first weeks onto the insured person or their employer’s continued salary payments.

Negotiation and practice

When choosing a plan, the deferred period should be aligned with the employer’s actual period of continued salary payment to avoid coverage gaps or unnecessarily expensive over-insurance. Waiting periods can often be credited or waived under group schemes or when switching from a prior policy with unbroken cover. In disability insurance, the deferred period is usually described as the “minimum duration of disability” and should be distinguished from the waiting period.

Only the maximum waiting period in substitutive health insurance is set by statute in Germany (Section 197 VVG); in Switzerland and Austria, and for the deferred period in disability insurance generally, the matter is purely one of market practice under the relevant policy conditions.