What’s the Shortest Deferred Period I Can Have?

Income Protection Deferred Periods in More Detail…

With the vast majority of insurers the shortest deferred period is 4 weeks. This means that you would need to be off work for at least 4 weeks before your policy would start accumulating benefit (i.e. one days worth of  benefit for each day you are absent from work).

Although we do not usually recommend payment protection plans when covering the risk of accident or sickness, these plans do sometimes have a ‘back-to-day-one’ option, where the insurer will backdate your claim to ‘day-one’ of incapacity after being off work for 4 weeks.

Can I Have a Deferred Period Shorter Than 4 Weeks?

With some long-term salary protection plans it is possible to have a deferred period as short as 7 days or, with one insurer, even as short as 1 day (provided you are out of work for at least three days, in which case the payment is backdated).

These options are only available to cover accident and sickness (i.e. not unemployment) and are particularly popular with self-employed people with little savings.

Glossary: Some insurers call the deferred period an excess period or waiting period (all these terms mean the same).

Speak to an Expert

At Drewberry we come across people who need a short deferred period every day. We can help you find the most suitable policy for your individual circumstances.

Give us a call on 02084327333 or send us an email on help@drewberry.co.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.