Health Insurance Renewal After Expiry
Health Insurance Renewal After Expiry
Considering the steep medical inflation rates in the country, it is best to purchase a befitting health plan for better finance management. However, you must note that most health insurance policies remain valid for one year and need to be renewed yearly for uninterrupted coverage.
Subsequent renewal of your existing plan offers you the exclusive benefit of altering the coverage span, adding or altering the riders, or even changing the amount of the sum insured. However, if you fail to renew your plan on time, your existing health plan will lapse.
This article highlights, how to proceed under such circumstances to ensure uninterrupted coverage and protection of your existing health plan.
What happens if you do not renew your health insurance policy on time?
After considering the current inflation in the medical industry, maintaining a proper health plan has become a necessity. It acts as a protective shield and manages your finances well despite deftly handling medical contingencies. However, one of the basic facts that you need to note is that most health plans are valid for a single year and require yearly renewal.
To maintain the height of market competition, most insurers nowadays send you reminders regarding the renewal of your plan. Moreover, most insurance providers also offer an additional grace period of 15-30 days after the due date during which you can enjoy the coverage benefits of your existing plan. However, it is your responsibility to keep track of the date and proceed accordingly.
However, if you fail to renew your plan even within the grace period, your policy stands null and void. If this happens, you lose several benefits of plan continuation, like waiting periods, NCB, etc. So, it is very crucial to remember the date and renew your health plan punctually.
What does policy lapse mean?
Every health insurance policy maintains a stipulated time frame, post which you need to renew your plan to continue enjoying the policy benefits. However, your policy will be automatically terminated if you fail to pay the premium amount for the next term within the due date. This is technically termed policy lapse.
Every insurance provider maintains a grace period ranging between 15 and 30 days after the due date, during which you can still avail of your existing plan benefits. However, your plan will stand non-existent once this grace period is over. If unfortunately, any medical emergency arises, during this time, you will have to bear all the medical expenses.
6 disadvantages of not renewing your health insurance on time
Some of the most significant disadvantages of not renewing your existing health plan on time include the following:
1. Coverage interruption
Your health plan becomes inactive if you fail your yearly premium payment. This implies that any claim raised between the expiry and the renewal time frame will be rejected. Once your existing health plan lapses, you need to purchase a fresh health cover anew. If any medical expenses are incurred during this time, you have to bear all the costs out of your pocket.
2. More waiting period
If you fail to renew your existing health coverage on time. Your policy will automatically lapse, taking all the benefits like waiting periods along with it. If you are purchasing a new health plan, you have to serve the waiting period anew for maternity coverage, PEDs, etc., right from the beginning.
3. Loss of cumulative bonus
For every claim-free year, you are awarded a special benefit of a cumulative bonus upon policy renewal. This happens as your insurance provider enhances your sum insured amount for raising no claims during the policy term without any additional cost.
However, if you fail to renew your plan on time, you will lose this exclusive opportunity to obtain this bonus.
4. Dearer premiums
If you fail to renew your existing health policy within the stipulated time frame, you need to purchase a fresh policy. Under such circumstances, you return to square one in terms of premium calculation. Because of the lapsed plan and your increased age, you have a high chance of paying a higher premium compared to your renewed plan. This makes it clear lapsing your existing plan will eventually become quite expensive.
5. Health check-ups might be needed
If you lapse your health plan and need to buy it again, you might need to undergo certain specific health check-ups, before your insurer approves your application. This might prove to be quite a time-consuming procedure, thereby delaying your insurance benefits. Moreover, these health check-ups might reveal certain health conditions that may enhance your premium.
6. Losing the income tax benefits
Your premium paid towards health insurance premium is eligible for income tax benefits u/s 80D of the IT Act. If you fail policy renewal, you tend to lose these tax benefits for that particular year.
What is the premium for health plan renewal?
This is the designated amount you pay to continue with your existing health insurance plan to enjoy undisturbed coverage for the following policy term. This is a predetermined amount that you pay to your respective insurance provider to maintain the active status of your plan(s). it is generally an annual affair.
The premium amount depends on several factors and may vary accordingly. Some significant determinants of the premium amount include the age of the policyholder, the riders chosen, the amount of sum insured, the plan type, past medical history, PEDs, etc.
If you do not pay the premium within the due date, there is a provision for a grace period, usually ranging between 15 and 30 days. However, failing that will make your plan stand null and void, leading to a loss of several benefits of plan continuity.
The premium for renewal might differ from the original amount depending on the additions and alterations in the healthcare sector, the terms and conditions of the plan concerned, etc.
Tips to avoid lapse of health insurance policy
From the above discussion, it is clear that missing the renewal of your existing health plan might lead to significant financial damage and losses. Therefore it is essential to be punctual in this respect. Here is a list of some handy tips that will ensure to keep you on track and maintain the calendar well so that you do not miss the due date of your health plan:
1. You can easily set a reminder on your laptop or smartphone to ensure proper tracking of the expiry date and the renewal date of your active health plan
2. If you decide to stick to your current policy, you can opt for the auto-payment option, where the premium due will be directly deducted from your registered bank account on the designated due date. This is a more or less foolproof method to continue with your existing health plan without failing the due date.
3. Check your emails and SMSs including your spam folder to see if the insurance company has sent any reminders regarding policy renewal
4. Nowadays with technological advancement, paying a premium is no big deal. You can easily download the designated app of your insurance provider if applicable and complete the policy renewal procedure anytime anywhere at your convenience.
Is it possible to renew an expired policy?
Once you have failed your policy renewal date as well as the grace period, your plan stands inactive. This means that if you raise any claim during this period, the insurer will reject it, as you do not possess any active health plan as per the books of your insurer.
Under normal circumstances, you need to purchase a separate health cover afresh from the beginning. Although certain insurance providers offer you the opportunity to revive your lost plan, it is not very common. It entirely depends on the discretion of the concerned insurance provider and is never guaranteed.
What is the Grace Period for health insurance renewal?
Most standard insurance providers generally offer a short grace period ranging between 7 and 30 days after the policy expiry date, to renew the existing plan without any additional cost. This grace period acts as a window for policy plan renewal and to enjoy continuity benefits like waiting periods, NCB, etc.
However, you must remember that once your plan expires, you are not permitted to enjoy any policy benefits unless you renew the plan. This means that if any medical emergency arises during this period, and you file for claim settlement, it will be rejected, as your plan stands inactive. You have to settle all the dues out of your pocket unless you revive your plan.
What can you do if your health policy has expired?
1. Consider the grace period
In case you miss the plan renewal date due to unavoidable circumstances, the primary thing that you must consider is the grace period. Depending on the terms of your concerned insurance provider, this may range between 7 days and 30 days from the expiry date.
During this period you can pay the premium dues and renew it to continue with the existing plan benefits. However, you cannot file any claim against that plan during the grace period. You must note that this grace period might include both business as well as non-business days, depending on the terms of your insurer. So, you must proceed accordingly while calculating the last day of this designated grace period.
Regarding the grace period clause, you must consider 3 essential factors:
○ The tenure of the grace period varies from one insurer to another and there is no standard rule for this. Therefore, you must check with your respective insurance provider beforehand to avoid any misunderstanding.
○ You cannot avail of any of the policy benefits during any medical emergency during the grace period. You have to settle expenses on your own.
○ If you wait until the grace period for policy renewal, the waiting period may restart all over, depending on the terms of the insurer concerned.
2. Policy revival
If you have missed the policy renewal date and paid it during the grace period, depending on the terms and conditions of your respective insurance provider, you might need to pay certain additional charges as penalties and interest. All these charges along with the designated premium amount must reach the insurer within a specific tenure for hassle-free policy renewal, keeping all your continuation benefits intact.
3. Lapsed plan revival
A lapsed plan is one where the premium remains due even during the grace period. Under such circumstances, moat insurers generally terminate your plan. However, certain insurers allow you to revive the lapsed plan under certain conditions:
○ You are eligible to revive the lapsed plan within 6 months if you clear all the dues including the premium amount, the penalties and any other interests. Some insurance companies need another health check-up before this revival while others do not. You need to clarify the specific details beforehand.
○ Any non-medical ground policy revival implies that your amount of sum assured might be reduced than the original amount that you paid during the original plan purchase
○ Any medical ground plan revival implies a new health check-up. The sum assured amount is decided depending on the outcome of the check-ups and may be reduced accordingly.
You must remember that you will lose all the accumulated benefits of your existing plan if you fail to clear the necessary dues even within the grace period. For aged individuals, the facility of lifetime plan renewability is exclusively available if the plan continues uninterruptedly. A single fail might lead to a mandatory health check-up for plan renewal.
Importance of renewing your health insurance before it expires
Some of the major benefits of renewing your existing health plan before the expiry date include the following:
1. Uninterrupted health coverage
As medical emergencies may arise at any time, you never know when to file and raise a claim. It might occur when your health plan stands inactive and you will have to settle it on your own. So, to avoid such unfavourable circumstances, it is better to continue with your health plan uninterruptedly.
2. Zero lapse in plan
A single policy lapse might raise the premium amount. You can avoid this financial drainage by clearing your dues punctually and maintaining the designated calendar.
3. Intact NCB
NCB or NO Claim Bonus is exclusively awarded by the insurer for raising no claims in a policy tenure. It is awarded in the form of an enhanced sum insured amount at no additional cost. As this is only a renewal discount, you will miss it if you fail the renewal date. Punctual renewals ensure the retention of an undisturbed NCB cycle.
4. Waiting period completion
The waiting period is only considered concerning the active plan years. In the case of a lapsed plan scenario, it will take an indefinite amount of time to complete the waiting period cycle afresh. Therefore, punctual health plan renewal ensures the waiting period gets completed according to the terms of the chosen plan.
How to renew health insurance policy (acko)?
Online Renewal
1. Look for any intimation from the designated insurance provider regarding policy expiry and renewal
2. The reminder email will feature a designated link to continue with your existing plan by clearing the premium dues
3. Click on the link and enter the relevant details
4. Make the payment using any reliable online mode
5. Your plan will get renewed automatically within 24 hours after making the payment
Offline Renewal
1. Contact the customer care executive of your insurance company
2. Share the relevant details and clearly understand all the available plans
3. Make your final choice and proceed accordingly
4. Make the payment and complete the formalities to renew your plan
5. You will receive the policy documents soon after making the payment
Documents needed for buying health policy online
The list of essential documents that you require while purchasing a health plan online includes:
1. Identity proof like an Aadhaar card, passport, DL, voter ID, etc.
2. Age proof like Aadhaar card, 10th/12th pass certificate, voter ID, etc.
3. Address proof like ration cards, utility bills, etc.
4. Previous plan documents (for renewal)
5. Recent passport-size photographs
6. Medical reports (if necessary and applicable)
Things to keep in mind while renewing your health insurance policy
Certain crucial factors that you need to keep in mind and consider while renewing your existing health insurance plan include:
1. Understand all the details of the plan terms and conditions
Your insurance company may update the terms and conditions of your chosen health plan with which you need to remain at par. Read and understand all the terms and conditions of your chosen plan before making the payment. You must clear any doubts any ambiguities in this respect to avoid any future misunderstanding.
2. Ensure a healthier lifestyle
You are prone to fall sick and raise claims if you lead an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle. Ensuring a healthy lifestyle keeps you in better form and leads to fewer health insurance claims.
3. Adding useful riders
You can always choose to enhance the scope of your chosen plan and cater exclusively to your necessities, by adding suitable riders to your basic plan. Your necessities may alter over time. So considering the developments you can make your choice accordingly.
4. Including additional members
In the case of family floater health plan renewal, you might consider adding more family members to the existing plan during renewal. You can even remove some other member(s) according to the altering situations and extend the coverage accordingly.
5. Notifying the legal heir
After the renewal of your health plan, you must ensure that all the covered members and the legal heir(s) are duly notified about the plan updations. Keep the policy documents handy but in a secure place and always make a copy readily available for tax filing.
Tips to renew your health insurance online
1. Plan review: Before renewal, you must take a step back to review your plan. Clearly understand its coverage limits, restrictions, inclusions, exclusions, etc. and assess if it sufficiently suits your familial requirements. Any change on the family front like marriage or having children will alter the medical needs and your health plan must be competent enough the meet them deftly.
2. Comparison: You must do thorough research and compare different plans to know the best deal. Consider the coverage, premiums, claim settlement ratio, inclusions, exclusions, etc. among other different plans to ensure what works best for you.
3. Utilise portability: Portability is a handy option that helps you to change your insurer whenever you feel. It implies that you can transfer your existing plan along with all the accrued benefits like NCB, waiting period, etc. to another insurer. If you can discover a better suite plan you can explore this opportunity, ensuring you understand and fulfil all the associated porting terms and conditions.
4. Updated medical history: You must inform your respective insurer about any developments regarding your health since your last plan renewal. This ensures transparency leading to claim rejection risk in future.
5. Check available discounts: Several insurance companies offer special discounts on online or early renewal. This can save your resources on the premium payout. You can navigate to explore such opportunities of availing discounts.
6. Consider the riders: Depending on your financial goals and health conditions, you might consider adding befitting riders allowing additional coverage often customised according to your needs.
7. Familiarise with the renewal process: Knowing and understanding the online plan renewal procedure keeps it error and hassle-free. While doing it, you must always keep all the necessary plan details handy.
8. Updation of personal information: You must always ensure to keep your personal information updated with your insurer to ensure smooth communication.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, purchasing or renewing a health insurance plan is a matter of choice and is not mandatory as per the existing laws in India. However, considering the steep medical inflation, it is better to maintain an active health plan to ensure financial protection despite medical emergencies, without compromising the quality of treatment.
Yes, you sure can do it, considering the terms of practice. However, experts opine that it is not a very plausible idea. It reduces the scope to shift to any better option if available and applicable according to your changing lifestyle and requirements.
Yes, sometimes older age leads to premium enhancement. This may occur if you are selecting any plan belonging to a specific age bracket. You must clarify the specific details with your respective insurance provider before proceeding.
The exact list of documents essential for renewing an expired health plan may differ from one insurer to another. However, the standard list of documents under such circumstances includes identity proof, address proof, last policy details, recent passport-size photograph and documentation of previous medical history.
Most health plans span for a tenure of one year. Therefore, you have to renew your plan annually to enjoy uninterrupted coverage and keep all the accrued benefits intact.
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