What are Waiting Periods?
A waiting period is the time after your policy starts that you have to wait before you can claim.
Different benefits have different waiting periods. There is no general waiting period.
Waiting periods can range from
- Immediate cover for accident events
- 1-3 months for frequently used low-risk benefits like doctors and medication
- 6-12 months for benefits that are not used that often or that have a higher risk factor like Critical Illnesses.
You can find the specific waiting periods on our website for each benefit.
Summary of the Waiting Periods
Below is a summary of the benefit waiting periods that will apply if no Condition Specific waiting periods are added.
Day-to-Day Benefits
1 month waiting periods are applied to:
3 month waiting periods are applied to:
6 month waiting periods are applied to:
12 month waiting periods are applied to:
Hospital Benefits
Immediate cover with no waiting period is available for:
1 month waiting periods apply to:
3 month waiting periods apply to:
- Illness Hospitalisation (except for the stated conditions)
- Intensive Care Units
12 month waiting periods apply to
- Stated conditions of the Illness Hospital benefit (except hysterectomy)
- Maternity
- Dread Disease / Critical Illness
24 month waiting periods apply to:
- Hysterectomy as a stated condition on level 3 of the Illness Hospital benefit
What are Condition Specific Waiting Periods?
When you join a health insurance policy, you have to disclose your recent medical history. Any pre-existing medical conditions may result in endorsements on the policy that could add Condition Specific waiting periods to the policy.
A Condition Specific Waiting Period applies to the member that has the endorsement applied. It is a waiting period outside of the normal benefit waiting periods that applies to the specific condition. It can be a 12-24 month waiting period for claims related to that specific condition. They may also result in an exclusion for claims relating to that pre-existing condition.
For example, if you have had a serious leg operation before joining a policy, the endorsement may state that any claims relating to that leg operation could have a 12-24 month waiting period. However, other claims will have the normal waiting periods described in the benefit.
Why do Condition Specific Waiting Periods exist?
Health Insurance is an insurance product. It insures you against future medical events that may arise. It can't pay out for previous medical events that arose when you didn't have cover without having a significant increase in the premium.
To use a simple analogy, you can't crash a car, take out insurance for it and then make a claim for a new car...
