One of the issues facing reporters considering the move to IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts concerns recognition and de-recognition. But before some of the concepts are explained we need to explain how insurance contracts behave.

Generally speaking, an insurance contract will have a signing or inception date. In general the interpretation of this is the date on which the insurer agrees that it will cover the client for a risk during the cover period. Of course, there could be a waiting period agreed when premiums are due. All this could be very confusing and dependent on which insurance contract and what the conditions are.