What is the survival period in critical illness health cover?

However, getting a lump sum payment by the insurer is not an easy deal. You cannot claim the lump sum amount under the policy unless you have survived for a certain period of time after suffering a critical illness. Therefore, the length of survival is an essential aspect of a critical illness plan.

Importance of Survival Period: health insuranceCritical illness plans, especially, do not provide you with death benefit coverage. Therefore, you must understand the concept of survival period. Mayank Kale, CEO and Founder, Loop Health said, “If the insured person dies due to critical illness, the insurance company will not pay any amount immediately. In addition, they do not provide death benefits to the heirs. Also, paying a larger sum of money to all the policyholders at once if they are diagnosed with a critical illness will put more liability on the insurance company. Hence, companies have added survival period clause.”

So, in this way, when you are diagnosed with a critical illness, the health insurer makes a lump sum payment under the critical illness insurance plan, if you survive for a certain period of time.

Kale said, “Survival period is the amount of time an insured must survive after being diagnosed with a critical condition like cancer, heart disease, etc. Survival period is a necessary clause in a critical illness insurance policy as the insurance company can provide this period. Will not pay the coverage amount till the insured survives. Depending on the plan, the survival period can range from 14 to 30 days.”

Survival period is not the same as waiting period: The first major difference between the two is that, while all health insurance policies include a waiting period, not all have a survival period. The waiting time of health insurance will be valid irrespective of the illness or disease of the policyholder. It is influenced by pre-existing diseases and disease-specific waiting periods. Survival time, however, only applies to individuals suffering from any life-threatening serious illness. The length of the waiting period is generally longer than the survival period. Unlike the survival period, the waiting period is when the policyholder must wait before his or her insurance policy is valid to make a claim.

what should you do: It would be best if you prefer to opt for a critical illness plan with a shorter survival period. Kale said choosing a critical insurance plan with a shorter survival time allows you to get the coverage amount of the policy earlier and reduce the financial burden that comes with longer survival.

“Critical illness insurance plans generally do not offer return on premium option if the insured dies during the survival period,” he said. Return on premium option means to return the total premiums paid by the insured before his untimely death.

Thus, you should first compare the survival period of the plan and then buy it after taking the help of a learned financial advisor.