Health Insurance Portability: Medical inflation is on the rise, and lifestyle diseases are on the rise too. At such times it becomes necessary to take a health insurance policy. While buying health insurance, it is essential to go through the complete policy details as missing or overlooking even a single feature can lead to an increase in out-of-pocket expenses. However, to ensure that people are not disappointed with their insurer, IRDA introduced portability in 2011 which made it possible for customers to switch their insurance companies. Customers who are not satisfied with the service or coverage offered by their insurer can now port the policy without losing the existing policy benefits. Read on to learn about health insurance portability and how it can be done.
What is health insurance porting?
Health insurance porting refers to switching from one insurer to another without losing the existing policy benefits like no claim bonus benefit, waiting period etc. One can port the policy at the time of renewal due to various reasons such as better benefits, services provided by the new insurer, lower premium, comprehensive coverage, etc. The Sum Assured chosen with the new insurer should be equal to or equal to the sum of the sum insured plus the bonus of the existing policy or more.
Health Insurance Portability Rules prescribed by IRDA
IRDA has given the following rights to the consumers which they should be aware of while porting health insurance
- You can port any individual or family health insurance
- You will get continuation benefit subject to specific illness waiting period and u/w approval on pre-existing diseases.
- You can port your policy from any general and standalone health insurance company.
- With the new insurer, if you opt for a higher SI, you need to get coverage up to the total sum assured plus accrued bonuses as mentioned in the existing policy.
- In case of adverse medical condition the offer of portability may be rejected due to u/w decision.
- The policyholder has to inform the old insurance company in writing about the policy porting at least 45 days before the expiry. Then the existing insurance company has to accept your request within 3 days.
- Insurance companies cannot charge any porting fee.
- The premium may change depending on various factors.
Steps to port health insurance
The first step towards health insurance portability is to fill the IRDA portability form to start the process. This can be done only when the policy is due for renewal. Contact the insurance company with which you need to port the policy. The new insurer will send you the different types of health plans they offer and will also request some documents from you.
Once you fill out the form and submit the required documents to the new insurer, they will reach out to your previous insurer to obtain your medical records. They may also ask you about your past claims history and treatment documents, if applicable.
You will then need to submit an Insurance Portability Form, Proposal Form and Medical Report (if applicable) as requested by the new insurance company. The new insurance company has to accept the offer within 15 days from the date of submission. If the offer is accepted, you will have to pay the premium for the new policy.
Documents required to port health insurance
The new insurer will ask you for the following documents while porting the health cover
- identity proof
- address proof
- Insurance policies of all continuation years (if applicable).
- irda portability form
- Claim History (if applicable)
- Documents related to medical history (if applicable)
- Declaration stating that no claim was made in the previous policy year
Thus health insurance portability is one of the best ways to ensure the health of you and your family with the best products from insurance companies.
Ankit Agarwal is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of InsuranceDekho.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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