Why Can Your Insurer Decline Porting of Health Insurance?

IRDAI allows all policyholders to port health insurance policy, depending on the individual policy and policy terms. If a policyholder is not satisfied with the policy benefits, they have the option to port, without losing their no-claim bonus. Porting to a new policy can offer lower premiums, wider coverage, and even better services. But on the other hand, there are several reasons why your insurer can cancel your porting decision. Insurance companies are allowed to assess your profile before accepting a request for a port. Let’s find out what the actual reasons are that lead insurers to decline porting requests.

Major Reasons For Cancellation of Porting Request

Here are the most common cases of insurers declining porting requests.

High Underwriting Risk

When you port health insurance to a new policy, your insurer first assesses your request to understand future claim risk. Your insurer will consider factors such as:

• Pre-existing diseases
• History of any critical illness
• Long-term and chronic treatments
• Any recent diagnosis
• Previous claims history
• Your current age

If your insurer finds any of the above factors risky, they may cancel your porting request.

Lack of Health Details Disclosure

Your insurer can cancel your request if you submit incorrect or dishonest health reports. When you consider porting, you have to submit true and honest reports. In insurance, this is called the principle of utmost good faith, where both the insured and the insurer decide to be transparent and supply honest information.

Not Requesting Within 45 Days

When you are looking for how to port health insurance online, you must first know the eligibility criteria for porting. A major reason why your porting decision may get cancelled is if your request does not comply with the porting standards. For example, you have to request porting at least 45 days before your existing policy’s renewal date.

Outstanding Insurance Premium

If your insurance premium is due on the current policy, then it's very likely that you cannot port to a new policy. Insurers prohibit anyone to port health insurance policy with the due premium amount. The wise step is to consult your insurer and check whether your current policy has any outstanding dues.

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Claim History

Insurers verify the authenticity of porting requests by first checking the background of the insured. In case you have a poor history of claims or too many rejected requests for claims, your porting request may get rejected. For example, outstanding surgeries or frequent hospital visits can raise suspicion and impact your porting process negatively.

Raising Porting Request Before Next Renewal

Many policyholders face an early rejection when submitting their request to port health insurance. This is because they raise the claims much before the renewal of their existing policy. To state simply, if you request your insurer or your employer to port your employee wellness policy mid-way, your request will face denial.

Break Ins

A break in typically means that you have failed to pay your premium on time, exceeding the grace period. Insurers need time to evaluate your documents and check if you have paid the premium on time before accepting a porting request.

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How To Avoid Cancellation Of Healthy Insurance Porting?

We have covered how to port health insurance in a different article, while here, let’s talk about how to avoid your porting request getting cancelled.

Initiate The Request Within 45 Days

Always request at least 45 days before your next policy renewal. Most insurers offer an online porting option where you can quickly submit porting requests and also check your porting status. You can also personally visit your insurer’s office or contact them to raise a porting request before 45 days to your next policy renewal.

Disclose Medical And Claim History

Always disclose your medical condition to the insurer. In insurance, the principle of good faith applies. This means that it is assumed that both the insurer and the insured will disclose actual information to each other, with transparency. If you have had a minor surgery or any preventive health checkup, you should mention them, too.

Inquire About Insurer

Before choosing how to port health insurance, always compare the policies. You need to check the inclusions, coverage, and exclusions too. It is advisable to connect with the insurer and communicate about their porting process. Also, always review the claim settlement ratios and network hospitals of the insurer.

Check For Suitable Time

Porting to a new insurer can be challenging when you are aged beyond 65, have chronic diseases, and have recovered from a serious illness. If you have raised a health claim with your current insurer or have recovered from an illness recently, avoid porting during that time. For salaried employees moving out of jobs, the best time to port into a new health policy is at least 2 months before leaving.

Also read how to port from corporate health insurance into an individual health policy.

Main Benefits of Health Insurance Porting

Retention of No Claim Bonus

When you port to a new policy, you have the right to retain your no-claim bonus. When you migrate to a different health cover, your no-claim bonus gets forwarded with it.

Choose Higher Coverage

You have the independence to choose better coverage while porting to a new health insurance policy. For example, you can choose additional health riders too, before choosing to port.

Conclusion

IRDAI grants any policyholder the right to port health insurance policy to their preferred policy, both on an individual and family floater basis. But based on certain criteria, your porting request can get cancelled. We have explained all of these factors in detail in this blog, and we have also suggested ways in which you can avoid cancellation. Remember that porting your request is dependent on approval and is not always guaranteed. Most of the time, insurers decide to cancel porting requests because of insufficient paperwork or incomplete disclosure.

If you're a small business or a startup that is always onboarding fresh talent, you need to know when your porting request can get cancelled. The best way to avoid porting cancellation is to always plan early and be transparent to the insurer.

Building a culture of trust, commitment, and reliance starts when you care about your team. Covrzy’s employee wellness plans are designed to suit your team's needs, so that health and illness cannot slow you down. Book a 1-1 consultation with our IRDAI-licensed experts, or call us at 9354963947. We would be happy to assist you immediately!