Shifting insurance providers? Improve your policy by porting — Here's why you should consider it and what steps to take

Health insurance portability allows insurance customers to shift from existing company to another with better benefits without losing most accumulated renewal benefits, according to a Paizabazaar report. Thus, policyholders who are due for a renewal are in prime position to avail health insurance portability to leverage change or upgrade in benefits for their existing insurance policy through portability.

What is Health Insurance Portability?

Health insurance portability is the process of moving from your existing insurance policy from one provider to another without losing accrued benefits such as free medical check-up, no claim bonus (NCB) or waiting period credit, the report added.

This is helpful for policyholders to negotiate better or improved services, broader coverage, transfer or carry-forward of benefits, lower insurance premiums (especially for senior citizens) from insurance companies.

You will need to submit address and identity proof, self-declaration by the policyholder in case of no claim, and the following from your existing insurer — previous years' policy certificates, the latest renewal notice with a clear mention of continuity in coverage, documents like discharge summary, investigation report, etc. if any claims have been filed.

What are the steps to apply for health insurance portability?

• You can complete the process online by sending a portability request to your insurance company at least 45 days before renewal of your health policy is due.
• The company will likely respond with a proposal to retain your policy, various options available to you, and the portability forms.
• If you are convinced of shifting insurance providers, fill and submit the filled portability and proposal form to the new company.

• The new insurer will check claim history, medical records and other details with the previous provider and regulator IRDAI.
• Your existing insurer must provide requested details through the IRDAI website within seven working days, pending which the new insurer can keep your request on hold.
• However, once all documents are received, the new company has 15 days to accept or reject your portability request — in case of delay, your application is automatically accepted.

Health Insurance Portability: What are the rules?

Insurance sector regulator IRDAI has laid down rules as follows:

Health Insurance Portability: Key things to consider

As with any key financial decision, it is important to weigh the pros and cons based on your specific requirements and long-term goals:

• Keep in mind that portability is only available at time of policy renewal and cannot be undertaken when the existing health insurance policy is due for renewal and not throughout the policy year.
• You can only shift between similar plans or policies and not all options in the market are available as choice for you.
• You may have to pay higher premiums for the additional coverage and benefits under the new insurer or lose some benefits if shifting from group insurance to individual policy.

• The insurance company you apply to could reject your portability request based on their scrutiny. In such cases, you will have to be prepared to continue with the existing provider.
• Some reasons your portability request may be denied include inadequate information, delay in document submission, multiple recent claims, major differences between current policy and requested upgrade, inability to submit required documents, age (especially senior citizens), and poor medical history, etc.
• When choosing a new provider check the Incurred Claims Ratio (ICR) and the Claims Settlement Ratio (CSR) of the new company.
• Also ensure that the terms and conditions of your new policy are favourable and do no impose waiting periods or exclusions.
• Plan your shift between providers well before the 45-day timeline in order to give yourself enough time when making decisions.

Properly read and check the underwriting norms, terms and conditions before shifting from one insurance company to another.

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.