How to Port an Existing Health Insurance

The sub-limits for varying medical procedures of his medical insurance had been troubling Delhi-based Praful Sharma for a long time. Praful’s six-year-old health insurance policy was suggested to him by his uncle. After much comprehension, Praful was convinced that he wanted to port his health insurance plan worth a sum insured of Rs 5 lacs, which came with a cumulative No-claim Bonus of Rs 1 lakh. He now wanted to switch to a different insurer for hassle-free service and a better deal.

After some conclusive research, Praful successfully located and switched to an insurer who could provide him with an increased sum insured. He was able to retain all the formerly collected benefits with his previous insurer and continue the policy with his new insurer. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) allows customers to port an ongoing health insurance policy in case it doesn’t meet their demands.

However, porting requests go through underwriting guidelines and their acceptance or rejection depends upon the insurer’s prerogative.

Why Port To a Different Insurer?

The need for porting your health insurance generally stems from a point where your requirements start outgrowing the coverage of your plan. That is what made Praful feel the need for porting to a new insurer with better service as his six-year-old health insurance could no more fit his medicare needs. Insurance products tend to evolve very quickly and there could be new products with better features and benefits.

Insurers nowadays understand the pain points of consumers better and they don’t require filling of complex forms for porting. To request for porting, the insured only needs access to previous policy copy and need to provide a declaration of good health, pre-existing conditions and claims history. Since shifting to a new insurer is based on the premise of moving to a better policy, it’s essential to be completely transparent regarding one’s medical history. This helps the insurer assess your case better and provide holistic cover. Once the new insurer verifies these details, the policy is issued with continuity benefits.

No fresh waiting period has to be served at the time of porting a policy. For instance, Mr Rahul Sharma has a 3 years waiting period on diabetes in his health insurance plan and he has served 2 years. When he ports to a new policy, he won’t have to serve a 3 years waiting period again. He would have to serve only a 1 year waiting period as he had already served two years waiting period in his previous policy. This makes sure that the benefit is carried forward to the policy and the customer is not at a loss here.

How To Go About It?

Customers can port their policy at the time of renewal. You need to approach the new insurer at least 45 days before the expiry of your existing policy. Once you submit a request, you will have to fill out a porting form which includes details of your old policy, claim history, pre-existing diseases and supporting documents. After this, the new insurer will get in touch with your old insurer and perform a background check for more information on your medical history and your claims history. As the new insurer gathers the details about you, it decides within the next 15 days about your porting request.

Therefore, customers looking forward to better features than what their current insurer is providing should definitely consider porting their health insurance. Be sure to look out for benefits like a wider network of hospitals, the inclusion of chronic diseases of your family members, hassle-free reimbursements, etc. Having such a policy will only help you be ready for any emergency, and will enable you to protect yourself and your loved ones.