A health insurance policy is valid for a fixed time – it may be one year, two years or three years. They need to be renewed on completion of tenures as non–renewal of the same will lead to lapse of the policy. Policyholders will not be able claim any benefit if the policy is allowed to lapse. Also, renewing a policy after the expiry period is as good as buying a fresh policy. In such cases, you also lose all the accumulated benefits such as no–claim bonus and waiting period relaxations. In this article, we will talk about how to renew health insurance.

What is health insurance & how to renew your health insurance?

A health insurance policy is a simple contract between the policyholder and the health insurance company, wherein, the policyholder pays a premium amount to the insurance company. The premium can be monthly, quarterly, or annually; in return the insurer promises to pay for the medical expenses incurred by the insured during the policy period.

A health insurance plan can be renewed both online and offline. To renew your health insurance policy offline, you need to contact your insurance agent and provide him or her all the relevant information. Also, you need to make payment accordingly. You can also visit the insurance company for the same. Or you might opt to do the same online.

How to renew your health insurance online?

Renewal of your existing health insurance policy can be done within minutes if you prefer to do it online.

For this, you have to click on the health insurance renewal section on your insurer’s website. There you have to put your health insurance policy number and registered mobile number. (This process might vary for different companies). Check on the renewal premium and make the payment as instructed on the website.

You must check the terms and conditions minutely while renewing the policy. If you are unable to comprehend any condition, contact the insurance company for clarifications.

Health insurance companies give you a grace period for renewing policies. The grace period is generally 15 days from the due date for renewal. The policyholder needs to renew the plan within this time period or else he or she would lose all the accumulated benefits. As per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the policy shall terminate at the end of the policy period and can be renewed within the grace period to maintain continuity of benefits without break in policy. Coverage is not available during the grace period.

Now that you know how to renew your health insurance, it’s time to note down some important points.

Points to remember while renewing a health insurance policy:

Health insurance companies notify the policyholders about the renewal date 45 days before the policy expires. They also provide details regarding sum insured, no–claim bonus, number of claims, types of claims, etc. Before the renewal of the policy, you must go through all the details regarding the renewal process. Check if it fits your requirement, if not then you can always port your policy to other insurance companies

The IRDAI has a provision that allows the insurer to port his or her policy. For this, the policyholder has to inform the insurance company about the same at least 45 days before the policy expires. This way, even after changing the insurance provider, the insured would be able to retain all the accumulated benefits from the previous insurer.

“The insured person will have the option to port the policy to other insurers by applying to such insurer to port the entire policy along with all the members of the family, if any, at least 45 days before, but not earlier than 60 days from the policy renewal date as per IRDAI guidelines related to portability.

“If such person is presently covered and has been continuously covered without any lapses under any health insurance policy with an Indian General/Health insurer, the proposed insured person will get the accrued continuity benefits in waiting periods as per IRDAI guidelines on portability,” says IRDAI

“Insured Person will have the option to migrate to similar health insurance product available with the company at the time of renewal with all the accrued continuity benefits such as cumulative bonus, waiver of waiting period as per IRDAI guidelines, provided the policy has been maintained without a break,” it adds

In case, you want to revise the sum insured for the existing health insurance policy, have been diagnosed with a condition or add another beneficiary to you family floater plan, you will have to inform the insurance company about them before the renewal

Once you get the policy renewed, it is important to let your family members know about it so that there is no hassle around it during a medical emergency.

Why do you need to renew your health insurance policy before it expires?

There are multiple reasons why you should renew your health insurance policy before it expires, which includes earning benefits like no-claim bonus and retaining the waiting period advantage

Renewing a health plan after the expiry date is as good as buying a new one. You will lose all the accumulated benefits such as no–claim bonus or waiting period benefits, etc. for the policy

The premium for health insurance increases as you grow older. As mentioned above, renewing a policy after the expiry date is as good as buying a new one. In such cases, the premium can be significantly high.

The health insurance policies provide tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. If the policy lapses, you will lose out on this benefit. Medical cover to individuals is not available beyond a certain age. That is another reason for you to renew the existing policy.

Disclaimer:

The above information is indicative in nature. For more details on the risk factor, terms and conditions, please refer to the Sales Brochure and Policy Wordings carefully before concluding a sale.