Benefits and process of porting from group to individual cover

The Health Regulations of 2016 include portability guidelines for changing from group to individual health insurance policies. Members covered under a group health insurance policy can port/migrate to an individual policy with the same insurer. Let’s look into the benefits and process of porting from group to individual insurance cover.

Benefits of porting

The insurer may ask for a declaration of good health or medical tests when you port from group medical insurance policies to individual ones. To that extent, they have the right to underwrite your health before deciding to give you insurance. In some cases, if you have been a member of the group for a long time, the insurer may waive the requirement for a medical test. The most significant benefit of porting from a group health insurance policy to an individual one is that the time spent in the group insurance is adjusted against the waiting period in the new insurance. Other benefits include being able to continue total coverage and a higher sum insured.

How to move from group to individual insurance

To move from a group mediclaim policy to an individual one, you can take the following steps.

1. Intimate the insurer at least 45 days prior to your exit from the group or the expiry of the existing group policy.
2. Select the right policy from among the multiple policies that your insurer offers. While selecting, take into consideration the sum insured, benefits, terms and conditions, and exclusions.
3. Fill the application form to port from group to personal cover. You will have to provide details of the existing policy, age proof, claim history, pre-existing disease (PED) declaration, etc.
4. Undergo a medical check-up if your insurer asks for it. In most cases, a medical check-up happens after the insurer receives the premium for the individual policy. However, this may change depending on the insurer’s policy issuance process. Also, the insurer could waive the requirement for a medical test. Insurers waive this requirement if you have been a member of the group for a long time and have not made a claim.
5. Settle down to wait because once the insurer has received your application and conducted medical tests, issuing insurance could take roughly a week. The insurer has the full right to decide on the new policy’s terms and conditions and the premium amount.
6. Read through the insurance document once you receive it, to understand the provisions.