This is the amount of time you must wait before your payments start.
Most income protection policies offer a waiting period between 14 days and 2 years. You must be unable to work as a result of your illness or injury at the end of the waiting period to be eligible for payments.
For example, a 30 day waiting period requires Nathan to wait 30 days before he can make a claim and, if he recovers in that time, he won't be eligible to make a claim. After the claim is made and accepted, insurers will typically make the first payment 1 month later.
This means with that with a 30 day waiting period, it can take 60 days before a benefit payment is received.
In general, the longer the waiting period, the cheaper the policy. When you're choosing the waiting period, think about how much you have in sick and annual leave, savings and emergency funds.
Find out more at ASIC MoneySmart.