Health insurance is a necessity for all. It not only helps you keep your hard-earned savings intact by covering the medical expenses but also enables you to avail of the best services without worrying about high costs. While you think you have the best health insurance policy, are you really satisfied with the existing plan?
The chances are that you are not happy with your current policy because the insurer is charging you a higher premium and providing lesser benefits than some other insurer. What do you do in such a situation? Do you remain stuck with your policy? or do you switch to a new insurer? Is it even possible to switch your insurance cover without losing the benefits?
Yes, you can port your policy from your current insurer to any other insurance company of your choice. In 2011, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) introduced a provision to allow the insurance policyholders to port their policy without losing the accumulated benefits like waiting period, no-claim bonus, etc.
If you want to port your health insurance policy, here are a few rules that you must be aware of.
- You can port only similar kinds of health insurance policies. For example, if you currently hold a reimbursement plan, you can port out to another reimbursement plan only offered by the new insurer. Also, all individual and family floater health care plans can be ported.
- You can port your health insurance policy only during the renewal; porting in-between is not permissible. Also, you must renew your policies diligently on time without any breaks.
- You must inform the current insurer about your decision to port in writing at least 45 days before the renewal date. Also, you must file a portability request with the new insurance company 45 days before the policy expiry. If there is a delay in the intimation process, the insurer may reject your port application.
- As per the IRDA mandate, you need not pay any porting charge to switch your policy from one insurer to another.
Now that you know the rules for porting your health insurance policy, it would help you understand the porting process.
- Inform the current insurer about your decision to port in writing 45 days before the renewal date. Simultaneously inform the new insurer about portability.
- After receiving your port request, the new insurance company will provide you with a proposal and portability form. They will also provide details of the various insurance plans they offer.
- You must review the different plans, choose a suitable policy, and submit the portability and proposal form to the new insurer along with the KYC documents.
- After the new insurer receives your form, they approach the previous insurance company or use the IRDA portability portal to verify your details like medical records, past claims, NCB, etc.
- Your current insurance company must provide all the necessary information through the IRDA portal within seven days. If there is a delay in data sharing, the insurer may withhold your porting request.
- Once the new insurance company receives all the information, they decide on the underwriting terms for the new policy within 15 days and send you the new policy documents.
Final Word
Health insurance portability is an excellent feature that protects your interest and helps you get maximum benefits from your policy.
