Concurrent Periods

What Does Concurrent Periods Mean?

Concurrent periods refer to a time frame during which the policyholder of a temporary disability policy experiences multiple disabilities or injuries simultaneously. This provision allows the insurance company to treat these health issues as a single injury or disability, even if they are unrelated. Consequently, the insurer pays a single disability benefit instead of multiple benefits. The way overlapping conditions get handled is one reason it pays to read the fine print before buying any disability insurance policy, since the rules vary from one contract to another.

Insuranceopedia Explains Concurrent Periods

In other words, the second disability is treated as a continuation or extension of the first, rather than a separate disability claim, unless the employee returns to regular full-time work. The insurance company imposes a cap or maximum duration for which temporary disability benefits can be paid. For instance, if the cap is two months, the total benefits claimed under concurrent periods cannot exceed that two-month limit. If the disability resulted from a workplace injury, workers’ compensation may apply instead, and it has its own rules for handling injuries that happen close together in time.