The Buyt Desk
With rising medical expenses an unforeseen medical expenditure can play havoc with your finances. This is why health insurance is the most important part of your financial planning. But with so many companies and so many health insurances plans more than often consumer gets confused and ends up with a wrong product.
When you discover that you are holding a policy with features which does not serve your need you can always change your insurer by opting for health insurance portability. Changing your insurance company is called porting your insurance. The Insurance Regulatory and Development of India ( IRDAI) has mandated the companies to allow this change without consumer losing out on accumulated benefits from the previous policy. In the past, if the policyholder moved to another company he/she had to forego the benefits like waiting period or coverage of pre-existing ailments. But not anymore, IRDAI has given the ‘Right to Port’ to every consumer.
As per the IRDAI guidelines, the new insurer will have to allow the credit gained by the insured for pr-existing conditions in terms of the waiting period. The policyholder can port any individual or family floater policies. Both the insurance companies must complete the procedure of porting as per the prescribed timelines of the insurance regulator.
Rules of Porting
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A policyholder can port the policy only at the juncture of renewal. A health insurance policy (health insurance plan) is only allowed to be ported close to the time of renewal. Therefore, when the existing health plan has 45-60 days to renew, then only one can apply to another insurance company to get it ported.
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The policyholder will continue to get the benefit of the waiting period and pre-existing disease coverage. If the policyholder has completed his waiting period duration of 24 months(or as specified by the insurance company) he/she need not again spend that waiting period with the new insurer to avail the policy benefit.
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When there are 45 days left for the renewal of your policy you must inform your old insurance company about the shift and renew your policy with the new company without giving the policy any breaks.
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The policyholder must give a copy of the previous policy to the new company alongside a proposal form.
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After applying, the new company will take your medical history and claim information from your previous insurer. The new insurance company will decide on the port according to the situation.
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Within 15 days of giving all the information, the insurance company will have to inform you whether they have approved your application or not.
Keep in mind that while porting, a decision will be taken according to your current health condition. Accordingly, your premium can increase in the new Health Insurance Plan.
