What is a survival period and why is it required?

A survival period is the minimum time you must survive after being diagnosed with or suffering a covered condition before trauma insurance will pay a benefit. Most standalone trauma policies have a survival period of at least 14 days, meaning you must live for 14 days after the diagnosis or medical event to receive the payout. This requirement exists for several important reasons: it ensures the condition is genuinely serious and not immediately fatal, allows time for proper medical diagnosis and confirmation, prevents claims for very short-term events, and gives the insurer time to verify medical evidence. The survival period applies to the date of diagnosis or when the condition first occurred, not from when you lodge the claim. If you unfortunately pass away within the survival period, your beneficiaries would not receive the trauma insurance payout, though they may be eligible for a life insurance payout if you also held that cover. Some conditions may have different survival periods, so it's important to check your specific policy terms in the Product Disclosure Statement.