Is Your Health Insurance about to Expire? Consider These Things before its Renewal

Health is wealth – there is no denial in this saying! However, if the health deteriorates due to any reason, its huge expenses can take a toll on your wealth. Considering the rapidly increasing pollution and cropping up of many new diseases and viruses, covering your and your loved ones’ health has become the need of the hour today.

That is the reason why more and more people are Buying Health Insurance Policy nowadays. It offers coverage for a range of medical expenses that are incurred by the insured during a policy term like hospitalization cost, domiciliary hospitalization, day-care procedures, pre and post-hospitalization expenses, etc.

If you have already bought a Health Insurance, you would be aware that like Life Insurance or Vehicle Insurance, Health Insurance too needs to be renewed. By renewing your insurance policy, you can continue to enjoy the coverage.

You can either renew your Health Insurance online through the website of the insurance company or offline, by visiting insurer’s nearest branch office.

However, before you go for policy’s renewal, consider the things mentioned below. They can help you make the right decision:

Important Things to Keep in Mind When Renewing Health Insurance Policy

 1. Have You Checked the Renewal Terms?

The insurance company will send a renewal reminder to you few weeks prior to its due renewal date, which will also contain policy details including the sum assured, claims made, no-claim bonus, etc. It is advised to be diligent and inform the insurance company about discrepancy (if any) mentioned in the policy details reminder mail.

 2. Have You Checked Out Other Available Options?

The best thing about Health Insurance policy is the flexibility for policyholders to transfer their Health Insurance from one insurer to another. If your existing policy isn’t satisfactory, you may utilize this option at the time of policy renewal and look out for various other options providing additional benefits.

Another benefit of Health Insurance portability is that you will not lose the existing policy benefits like a waiting period, no-claim bonus, etc. when transferring it to another insurer. To avail this benefit, you will have to initiate the process around 2 months prior to the expiry date of the policy.

 3. Do You Know Your Needs?

With constantly increasing healthcare cost, it is next to impossible to get sufficient health cover with an existing policy. When selecting the sum insured, it is important to take inflation into account and assess your present and future healthcare needs. Also, when renewing your policy, choose a sum insured depending on those needs.

Also, keep following tips in mind when renewing your insurance policy:

• Renew your policy on time. Although there is a grace period of 15-30 days to pay the premium dues; if you fail to make the payment within the grace period, the policy will lapse. Therefore, keep your policy renewal date in the notice and renew it on or before its due date.
• Health insurance policies may come with tax benefits. Don’t forget to claim deductions on premiums paid. On renewal, change the policy to get tax benefits if your existing policy doesn’t provide any.
• Don’t forget to add riders during the renewal of your policy, keeping your growing age, illnesses, and an addition of new family member (spouse or baby) in your mind.
• If there is any new illness that occurred recently, it’s advised to disclose it at the time of renewal to avoid any hassle during claim to be made in future.
• Read the policy guidelines pertaining to the claim, renewal of policy, inclusions and exclusions clauses to avoid hurdles later on.

The rules and tips mentioned above can help you extract maximum benefits from your Health Insurance Policy. For more information regarding insurance products, visit mymoneymantra, India’s leading online financial services provider, having an association with over 60+ leading banks and NBFCs.