Health insurance policy withdrawn? Here's what you need to know

Recently, SBI General Insurance announced the withdrawal of its Arogya Plus health insurance policy. HDFC Ergo, too, withdrew three of its health insurance policies. For those unaware, when a policy is withdrawn, it is discontinued and is not available for new purchases.

Thankfully, as per IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) guidelines, the insurer must notify you at least 90 days before the policy is withdrawn.

So, if your policy is about to be withdrawn, here's what you can do.

Migrate your policy

• Insurance companies will offer a new policy to replace the one being withdrawn. If you wish, you can migrate to that policy. If a family floater policy is being withdrawn, the insurer will either offer another floater policy for the family or individual policies for each family member as a replacement.
  
• Alternatively, you can migrate to an altogether different policy of your choice with the existing insurance company.

Migration generally involves less paperwork and may even allow you to retain benefits like cumulative bonus and reduced waiting period for pre-existing conditions, provided you paid all your premiums on time. For example, if the new policy requires a four-year waiting period for pre-existing conditions and your current policy is already two years old, you would only need to wait an additional two years for coverage.

However, note that in the case of Arogya Plus, SBI General Insurance provides a migration grace period (offered after a policy has expired) within which you can migrate your policy-30 days for yearly, half-yearly, and quarterly premium payments, and 15 days for monthly payments. In the event this period expires before the withdrawal date, you cannot opt for migration.

Moreover, according to IRDAI guidelines, insurers cannot levy any charges exclusively for migration. However, the new policy's features and premiums will apply.

Port your policy

You can also move to a new policy with a different insurer. This may require more paperwork, but the transfer of benefits and reduced waiting period (like in migration) still apply. However, a lapsed policy may prohibit you to port to a new policy. If you decide to port, our guide can help you.

Keep in mind

Apart from the above, these are some key points to consider when your policy is about to be withdrawn.

• Don't wait. Start looking into your options as soon as you are notified about a policy withdrawal.
  
• Review the fine print of the new policy carefully.
  
• Contact the insurer directly if you have any queries or confusion.

Stay informed and proactive, and you can smoothly navigate to the new insurance policy.

Also read: IRDA catches up to common sense