Health insurance portability in India: how to switch insurers without losing your waiting periods

What is health insurance portability?

Portability is your right, under IRDAI rules, to move from one health insurer to another, or from one plan to another with the same insurer, while keeping the continuity benefits you have built up. The most valuable of these is waiting-period credit. If you have completed three of a four-year pre-existing disease waiting period, the new insurer must recognise those three years, so you only serve the remaining one, not a fresh four. This is what stops a bad experience with one insurer from trapping you, because leaving no longer means losing years of earned credit.

When and how do you port a policy?

Portability happens only at renewal, not in the middle of a policy year. Apply to the new insurer at least 45 days before your current renewal date. You fill a portability form, and the new insurer requests your history from the old one through the IRDAI portability portal. They then underwrite you afresh, which means they can accept, load the premium, or decline based on your health, so approval is not automatic. Keep paying and do not let the old policy lapse until the new one is confirmed, because a gap can reset your continuity benefits.

• Apply to the new insurer at least 45 days before renewal.
• You keep earned waiting-period and pre-existing disease credit.
• The new insurer still underwrites you, so acceptance is not guaranteed.
• Never let the old policy lapse before the new one is issued.

When is porting worth it, and when is it not?

Port when there is a real reason: your insurer's claims experience has been poor, your preferred hospital left the network, or another plan genuinely offers better room-rent terms, restoration or lower co-payment. Do not port just for a slightly lower premium, because the new insurer can impose fresh underwriting and your health may have changed since you first bought. If you have developed conditions, staying put and keeping your continuity is often safer than restarting the relationship elsewhere.

Porting is one of those decisions where an honest second opinion saves money and stress. Send us your current policy and your reason for wanting to switch, and Maaxus will tell you plainly whether porting helps or whether you are better off staying, and handle the paperwork if you go ahead. Free, from an IRDAI-registered agency in Muvattupuzha.