The Ultimate Guide to Porting Your Health Insurance Plan

Last updated: January 26th, 2025

What Are The Most Important Things To Keep In Mind Before Buying A Health  Insurance Policy? - Trust Life

With the constant rise in healthcare expenses, the need for health insurance keeps growing, making it a necessity in today’s world. 

In addition to securing financial stability through term life insurance, single individuals should also consider the potential risks associated with property damage, such as those caused by smoke. Understanding how to navigate these claims can be crucial in protecting one’s assets and ensuring peace of mind. For those who own property, being prepared for unexpected events can complement the benefits of term life insurance, offering a comprehensive approach to personal financial security. To learn more about handling smoke property damage claims and safeguarding your investments, explore more on this topic. By staying informed, single individuals can better manage their financial future and mitigate unforeseen challenges.

However, despite taking care to select the right medical policy, over time, the policy may become less befitting based on your changing lifestyle or other important reasons. This is where you can use the option of porting your health plan.

The following guide will explain what porting of mediclaim policy is all about and how you can port a health policy the right way. 

When to Consider Porting of Health Insurance 

While it may appear to be a daunting task, porting a health insurance policy can be beneficial in the following situations: 

  • When You Need Extra Cover – If you buy health insurance and find out that it does not offer protection in certain scenarios, like providing coverage for critical illness or you require additional coverage, you can switch to a new insurer.
  • In Case of Price Difference – In the highly competitive market of insurance it is possible that you will come across new policies with more benefits at lower premium rates, which may drive you to change your insurer. 
  • When There are Issues with Claim Settlements – if your current insurer has a low claim settlement ratio or you are facing issues in settling your claims, you may want to shift to a more reputable and reliable insurer like TATA AIG. 

IRDA Guidelines for Porting Your Health Insurance Policy 

  • You are allowed to port a health plan only during policy renewal.
  • Porting is possible for individual and family floater health plans.
  • If you have covered the waiting period up to a certain extent under the previous health plan then that amount of time will be deducted from your new health plan’s waiting period. If you have completed your waiting period, you will get coverage from the moment you start using your new health policy.
  • You have to ensure that your existing policy has not lapsed when you are porting to another insurer.
  • You must apply for porting at least 45 days before your existing policy expires, and you must also inform your existing insurance company about it.
  • Only policies of similar types are allowed to be ported.

How to Port a Health Insurance Policy? 

  1. The first step in mediclaim portability online is applying for portability 45 days before the expiry of your existing health policy. 
  2. Complete your proposal and portability forms and assemble all the necessary documents.
  3. Your new insurance company will evaluate all the details you have provided and process your porting request within 7 days.
  4. Your existing insurance company will provide your data to the IRDAI.
  5. Your new insurance company will frame a new proposal according to their norms. 
  6. Your portability request must be approved within 15 days, failing which, your new insurance company has to approve the porting request. 

Conclusion 

Now that you know the rules and the steps of mediclaim portability online, you can take your time and prepare for policy porting by following the correct procedure. Missing out on any of the guidelines can result in your policy porting request being rejected or denied. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

  1. How to port your health insurance online?

To port your health insurance policy you have to begin by applying for porting 45 days before the expiry of your existing policy. Choose your new insurance provider and fill out the proposal and portability forms they provide. 

Once the new insurer goes through your documents and decides whether or not to accept your request within a timeframe of 15 days. 

  1. What is the IRDA rule for porting?

The IRDA lays down guidelines for porting health policy, which include applying for porting policy 45 days before policy expiry, policy renewal should take place without any break, and the new insurer has the right to decide all the terms of the new policy, among others. 

  1. What are the disadvantages of porting health insurance?

Disadvantages of porting health policy include losing loyalty benefits, change in the premium amount, limited options in coverage and the ability to port to only similar health plans. 

  1. How does portability work in health insurance?

Portability of health plans allows the insured individual to switch from one insurance company to another while keeping benefits such as no claim bonus and waiting period credits.

Leave a Comment