also called qualifying period
A time after a policy starts before certain cover, such as for some conditions, becomes active.
A waiting period is a stretch of time after your policy begins during which some cover is not yet switched on. It is not the same as a pre-existing condition exclusion, which is about your health history; this is simply a clock counting down before certain benefits start. Buy a policy assuming everything works from day one and you can be caught bare during the gap.
You take out health cover the week you arrive somewhere new and need dental work soon after. The claim is refused because that particular benefit only activates after an initial waiting period, and you are still inside it, so the cost falls entirely on you.
Buying insurance and expecting immediate cover for everything can leave you exposed during the wait.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These are the ways cover is limited by your history or the calendar.
A pre-existing condition is something you already had, which insurers often exclude or surcharge, and a policy exclusion is anything the contract simply will not pay for.
A waiting period is a stretch after the policy starts before certain cover switches on, maternity cover is usually an add-on with a long waiting period served before conception, and chronic condition cover is how a policy handles long-term illnesses it often caps or limits.
Chronic condition cover · policy exclusion · Pre-existing condition
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