Thinking to port your health insurance policy? Know how!
As relief for those dissatisfied with their existing insurers, IRDAI has devised a convenient way out, i.e. Health Insurance Portability. With this facility, you can transfer your current health insurance with a new provider.
You can give health insurance portability a thought if you are unhappy with your existing policy or even when your policy’s term is over and you are planning to renew it.
The best thing about this idea is that the insured individuals don’t have to be tensed about losing the accumulated benefits from the current policy.
Common Reasons Why People Port Their Health Insurance Policies
Every policyholder has the right of portability if he/she has maintained previous policy without any claim. Some major reasons why individuals opt to switch to another insurance provider are-
- Poor quality of services
- Co-payment
- Better deals with more offerings from another health insurance provider
- Hiked premium if a claim is made
- Aspiration for a specialised insurer offering personalised services with suitable requirements
- Slow and cumbersome claim settlement
- Room rent limits
- Delay in reimbursements
- Incomplete cover for some health issues in particular
Also read: Porting Health Insurance Policies-All You Need to Know
What Is The Process of Health Insurance Portability?
A health insurance policyholder can opt to port at the time of his/her policy renewal. Once you intimidate your current insurance company about your decision in writing, it will provide you with a portability form and information related to the products it offers. You are then supposed to submit the filled-in forms, medical records and claim history from the current insurer.
The existing insurer has to furnish the details which must be done within 7 working days. All the data is shared through a common portal developed by IRDA. The desired insurance provider will decide on underwriting the policy within 15 days. If not, the insurer will be bound to accept the application.
Some Rules for Health Insurance Portability
1. Permitted policy types- Health insurance policies which are alike only can be ported. For instance, you can opt from one reimbursement plan to a new one reimbursement plan or from a top-up plan to some other top-up plan.
2. Company type- You can port health insurance policies from any general or specialised company to any other general or specialised company.
3. Renewal- Portability is permitted only during renewal time of current policy and not in between. Also, you have to renew your policy with no breaks.
4. Intimation- You have to notify about your decision to port, in writing to the current insurer. Also, mention the company you desire to port to. This must be intimated before 45 days of the due date of policy renewal.
5. Acknowledgement- Acknowledge portability applications within 3 days.
6. Porting charges- There are no charges to port health insurance.
7. Grace period- Applicants get a grace period of 30 days for policy renewal if the process is still under process or the decision is still pending.
8. Premium and bonuses- Premiums are subject to change as the insurance companies are free to levy premiums as per their norms.
9. Sum insured- While porting, policyholders could choose to increase the minimum sum insured.
A health insurance policy can be ported within 45-60 days of the policy expiry where the convenience of portability varies from one insurance provider to another.
Remember, your desired insurance provider is not bound to accept your request to port your insurance. There are several grounds on which your request is liable to get rejected. Some of them are-inadequate information, delay in submission of documents, break in policy renewal, unavailability of documents required, higher age, porting out of a floater cover, unfavourable health history etc.
Also Read
5 Factors to Consider While Buying a Health Insurance Plan
A Comprehensive Brief for the NRIs Seeking Health Insurance in India
For further details, contact us on customersupport@insurancedekho.com or on the toll-free number-1800 1205 698 and get even your minutest doubts cleared by our experts.
