Do you need a new health declaration to reinstate a lapsed policy?

If you miss a life insurance payment, the policy will usually end, leaving you without cover. The good news is that it can usually be restarted if you act within 13 months, but you will normally have to catch up the missed premiums and go through a new medical underwriting assessment¹. That means your health now, not your health when you first took the policy out, is what the insurer will look at.

Waiver of premium is a different thing entirely. It is a benefit that keeps your cover going when you cannot pay because you are off work ill, rather than a way of reviving a policy that has already stopped. If your plan includes it, the insurer covers your premiums for you and you do not lose the cover². It usually costs extra³.

The two get confused because both involve premiums and both involve illness. But one is about restarting something that has stopped, and the other is about stopping payments temporarily while the policy stays alive. This page sets out how each works, what the waiting periods are, and what happens if you tell your insurer late.

Waiver of premium: keeping cover going when you cannot pay

Waiver of premium is a feature on a personal pension plan or life insurance plan that guarantees your contributions will be paid for a period of time, usually by the insurer, if you are ill or lose your job³. On a life insurance policy, if you are struggling to pay your premiums because you are currently off work ill, and your plan includes waiver of premium, your insurer will cover your premiums for you and you will not lose the cover².

The benefit is not automatic on every policy. Some products include it as standard. With one insurer's income protection, waiver of premium is automatically included¹¹. On life insurance it is more often an optional extra chosen when the policy is set up, which is why it usually costs extra³.

If you are struggling to pay and your plan does not include waiver of premium, there may still be options. Insurers may be able to grant a payment holiday or a repayment plan, and the guidance is to speak to your insurer before deciding⁷. The key point is that a payment holiday is an arrangement you agree with the insurer, not something you can simply take. Stopping payments without agreement is what causes a policy to lapse in the first place.

It is worth knowing that once a policy is in place, the premiums cannot be increased¹². So if you develop a health condition after taking the policy out, the insurer cannot put your premium up because of it. As long as you make full and honest disclosures on your application and continue paying the premiums, the policy cannot be cancelled¹². That protection only holds while the premiums are actually being paid.

How waiver of premium works if you are off work ill

If you are sick or injured and unable to work, the benefit lets you temporarily stop paying premiums. In most cases, a waiting or deferred period applies first¹. The insurer is not simply paying your premiums from day one of your illness; there is a gap you have to get through.

One insurer's premium benefit waiver waives all or part of your premiums if you are unable to work for a period of six months, with nothing to pay until you return to work. It is only valid if you are unable to work before the age of 65¹⁴. Another waives premiums for up to 6 months for maternity or paternity leave or if you involuntarily lose your job¹⁵.

Where an income protection claim is already in payment, premiums are usually waived during the time benefits are paid monthly, though this will be confirmed in your terms and conditions¹⁶. If the insurer decides the benefit should be applied, it will stop taking your insurance premiums and refund any that you have overpaid¹⁷.

The practical effect is that waiver of premium protects the policy, not your income. It stops the cover from lapsing while you are ill, so that a claim later, whether for death or for a critical illness, is still valid. It does not put money in your bank account. For that, you would be looking at income protection, which pays out after a waiting period of 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks, with payouts monthly in arrears¹⁸.

Waiting periods: usually 13 or 26 weeks before the insurer pays

The waiting period on waiver of premium is usually 13 or 26 weeks, depending on the terms agreed at the start of the policy⁴. This is the gap between the date of the injury or illness and when the benefit starts¹⁹. It is fixed when you take the policy out, not negotiated later.

That range sits alongside the wider market for income protection, where the default deferral period is typically 13 or 26 weeks, but it can be as short as four weeks²⁰. Income protection generally has a minimum waiting period of four weeks, though payments can start up to two years after you stop work²¹. The longer the waiting period you choose, the less the cover tends to cost, because the insurer is taking on less risk.

The waiting period is not the same as the notification deadline. You have to tell the insurer about your incapacity within a set time, and the waiting period then runs from the point the insurer treats the incapacity as having started. Getting the notification wrong can push the whole timeline back.

Tell your insurer within 16 weeks of becoming unable to work

The terms on one policy require you to let the insurer know about the life insured's incapacity within 16 weeks of it starting⁵. If you notify later than that, the incapacity is deemed to start 16 weeks before the date you actually told them⁵. So a late notification does not just cause a delay; it resets the clock.

The effect is that a waiting period which would have been nearly over by the time you called may only just be beginning. If you notify 20 weeks after becoming unable to work, the insurer treats the incapacity as having started 4 weeks before your call, and the 13 or 26 week waiting period runs from there.

This is a common feature of insurance deadlines rather than something unusual to waiver of premium. Benefit claims have their own timescales: a Disability Living Allowance renewal form gives you 6 weeks to complete and return it, and you could miss out on payments if you return it after the end date²². A statutory redundancy pay claim must be made within 4 weeks of your last non-working day in the 4 or 6-week period²³. The pattern is the same: the deadline is real, and missing it costs money.

What waiver of premium costs and where it applies

Waiver of premium usually costs extra³. It is priced into the policy at the outset, and because it is normally chosen when the policy is set up rather than added later, the cost is fixed along with the rest of the premium. On a decreasing life insurance policy, premiums are guaranteed throughout the length of the policy unless you alter your policy²⁴. Life insurance premiums generally reflect the age and medical history of the life assured, as well as the type of policy and total cover, among other relevant factors²⁵.

There is a tax point worth knowing. Life insurance and most other long term insurance is exempt from Insurance Premium Tax²⁶. So the extra you pay for waiver of premium is not inflated by that tax. Separately, if you pay life insurance premiums yourself, HMRC treats them as a lifetime gift, usually covered by the annual £3,000 exemption or the gifts out of normal income exemption²⁷.

Where waiver of premium applies is defined by the policy terms, and residency is one of the limits. One insurer's conditions say cover ceases after more than 13 consecutive weeks outside the Home Countries or Designated Countries in any 12-month period, and after 26 consecutive weeks within the Designated Countries. Cover resumes 39 consecutive weeks after returning to the Home Countries, or 26 consecutive weeks after returning from the Designated Countries⁶. Life insurance itself may cover death overseas, but this depends on the policy terms, including any exclusions or limitations²⁹.

Will my insurer pay my premiums if I lose my job?

Usually not through waiver of premium, which is built around being unable to work through sickness or injury. Redundancy is a different risk. Some policies do extend to it: one combined life and critical illness policy waives premiums for up to 6 months for maternity or paternity leave or if you involuntarily lose your job¹⁵.

Payment protection insurance is the product that covers your repayments if you lose your job, become ill or if you die³⁰. That is a separate type of cover from waiver of premium, and it is worth checking which one a policy actually provides before assuming a job loss is covered.

If you are off work ill and your plan includes waiver of premium, the insurer covers your premiums and you do not lose the cover². If you lose your job and the policy does not cover involuntary unemployment, the premiums remain yours to pay, and missing them is what starts the lapse process described above.

Can I reinstate a life insurance policy that has lapsed?

Often yes, within limits. If you miss a payment, the policy will usually end, leaving you without cover. It can usually be re-started if you act within 13 months, with missed premiums caught up and likely a new medical underwriting assessment¹. The catch is the underwriting. Your health at the point of reinstatement is what the insurer assesses, so a policy taken out when you were well may not be restarted on the same terms if your health has changed.

Not every policy can be reinstated. Pension term assurance is a closed product: the law around those contracts has changed, so you cannot begin a new contract or reinstate one that has lapsed¹. If you are dealing with an older policy of that type, reinstatement is not an option.

There is a grace period to be aware of before a policy lapses at all. Many life insurance policies come with a grace period, usually around 30 days³¹. That is the window in which a missed payment does not yet end the cover. Missing a payment inside the grace period is recoverable; missing it beyond that is what triggers the lapse and the reinstatement process.

If you are weighing up whether to restart an old policy or take out a new one, the missed premiums and lapsed cover page sets out the options, and changing your cover explains how waiver of premium and other options fit into a policy.

How do I know if my policy includes waiver of premium?

Check the policy schedule and the terms and conditions. Waiver of premium appears as a named benefit if it applies, and the documents state the waiting period, usually 13 or 26 weeks depending on what was agreed at the start⁴. If it is not listed, it is not included.

Some products make this easier. With one insurer's income protection, waiver of premium is automatically included¹¹. On life insurance it is more often an optional extra, which is why the policy documents are the place to look rather than an assumption.

If you cannot find it, ask the insurer directly. The terms also set out the residency limits and the notification deadline, so the same document answers most of the practical questions about how the benefit would work⁵.

Can I add waiver of premium after my policy has started?

Generally no. Once a policy is in place the premiums cannot be increased¹². Adding waiver of premium later would mean changing the terms and the premium, which most insurers do not allow on an existing policy. The benefit is normally chosen when the policy is set up.

There is one narrow exception in the wider market, though not for waiver of premium itself. A few insurers enable you to sign a declaration that you have given up smoking after a period, and will reduce your premiums. However, most insurers will not discount an existing policy¹². That is a reduction, not an addition, and it is the exception rather than the rule.

If you want waiver of premium and do not have it, the usual route is a new policy, subject to underwriting. That means answering medical questions again, and the outcome depends on your health at that point. The applying and underwriting page explains what that involves.

Where to get help

If you are struggling to pay premiums, the first step is to speak to your insurer before deciding what to do⁷. Insurers may be able to grant a payment holiday or a repayment plan, and those options are only available if you ask.

For free, impartial guidance on protection insurance and what your options are, MoneyHelper is the government-backed service. Citizens Advice can help with income protection questions and with benefits you may be entitled to if you cannot work²¹. If a dispute with an insurer cannot be resolved, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it.

If you are dealing with a policy that has already lapsed, the missed premiums and lapsed cover page covers reinstatement in more detail, and what is waiver of premium and when does it start explains the benefit itself.