How to port your health insurance policy

Neeta Kapoor, 40, a Delhi-based businessman, recently ported his family health insurance policy to increase the sum insured under the policy. The unrelenting health crises due to the pandemic made him reconsider his health care portfolio to effectively deal with a crisis. Besides more sum insured, he also got the advantage of low premium. "I ported the policy with the primary objective of increasing the sum insured. It also helped me in lowering my premium rates for the same amount of coverage," said Kapoor.

There are a majority of people who are mulling over porting their insurance plans to a new insurance service provider in order to get the extra coverage and additional benefits. The policyholder can also think about the insurance portability in case of an unsatisfactory response is experienced by the policyholder at the time of a claim which forces them to take an extreme step to change their insurance service provider.

Insurance portability is a process when a policyholder switches its insurance policy from one service provider to another without losing out its benefits gained in the existing policy. If you are also thinking to port your policy here is a lowdown on how to port your health insurance policy.

How to port a health insurance policy 

Naval Goel, Founder and CEO, PolicyX.com explains that policyholder has to formally intimate the new health insurance company with the duly filled form 45 days prior to the renewal of the existing health insurance plan, as the portability can be done at the time of health insurance renewal. The policyholder has to select a suitable health insurance plan and fill out the proposal form and submit it for portability form.

Once the portability form is received, then within 5 days the new insurance company shall seek necessary details from the existing insurance company and work on the process, as per the new IRDAI guideline. Once the new insurance company receives all the information, they have the right to decide on accepting or rejecting the policy within the given duration. If the decision is not taken within this period, they will have to accept the portability application.

Things to keep in mind while porting a policy 

There are several factors to keep in mind at the time of portability to ensure that the policyholder is getting benefits from portability. "It is highly important to thoroughly check out all the limits, sub-limits, or any restrictions based on age, disease, or hospital when a person opts for portability as each company has its own guidelines. Thus the person should check these points to make a calculative approach," says Goel.

Another factor to consider is the features of the new policy as at the time of portability, only the waiting period, bonus credits or pre-existing diseases are taken forward wherein the features of the new policy are applicable. Always disclose the illness during the active and running policy before porting. Also, make sure that your plan should not have the co-payment clause in the policy.

"Make sure that since we are going through a global pandemic phase, those policies that have the domiciliary treatment will work as icing over the cake. Last but not least, KYC must be filled properly to avoid any disconnect in the name, date of birth or relationship at the time of claims," says Ankit Agarwal, managing director, Alankit.

Many people tend to port their health insurance policies to seek a lower premium. "In this scenario, the chances are that the insurance company might reduce the coverage and benefits, and hence, in the long run, the insured might end up paying more for their needs. Thus, while porting, give equal importance to the premium and coverage," says Goel.

Also read: Things to know before buying a health insurance policy 

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