Bangalore: Does your health insurance ask for a hefty premium? Does the policy hold lots of limits? Does the policy feature of another insurer impressing you? Relax; as now you can easily shift your health insurance policy to another insurer devoid of losing the benefits you have accumulated in your existing policy. A policy holder is now permitted to change their insurer as per the instructions by insurance regulators since October, last year. Listed below are certain points by Mydigitalfc.com that can help you decide to port your policy.

Portability is an option accorded to an individual health insurance policy holder to move the credit gained by the insured for pre-existing disease conditions and time-bound exclusions, if the policy holder shifts from one insurer to another or from one plan to another of the same insurer, only if the previous policy has been maintained without breaks. A break in a policy takes place when the premium due on a given policy is unpaid on or before the premium renewal date or within 30 days thereof.

Conditions for Porting

A policyholder can opt for portability at the time of renewal on request, at least 45 days prior to the policy renewal date. If the policy is continuing it has no option to seek portability. The sum insured with the new insurer will be same, as in the old policy. But if you have acquired some bonus from your previous insurer, this will be added to your new policy.

For example, if your cover was for 2,00,000 and you have an increased bonus of 50,000; while porting your policy you will get a cover of 2,50,000 by charging the premium applicable. If by any means the new insurer does not offer that cover, he will offer you the nearest higher slab, say 3,00,000, by charging premium applicable for 3,00,000.

Portability is valid for all individual health insurance policies, group health insurance policy and family floater. However, policyholders covered under a family floater or a group health insurance policy will be permitted to port to an individual health insurance policy or to a family floater policy with the same insurer till end of one year with the existing insurer.