What is the Grace Period in Health Insurance Plans, Nothing would like to fall sick, but that’s not in our hands. Utmost people need medical care at some point in life and have to fall back on health insurance covers. So, it’s essential to stay ensured all the time and renew your policy on or before the due date.
Utmost health insurance programs are valid for one time, and the policyholder is needed to renew them for another time at the end of the policy period. To those, who fail to renew their medical or health insurance policy in time, the health insurance companies give an alternate chance, known as a grace period for renewal of health insurance. So, the medical renewal grace period is the redundant time policyholders get to pay the decoration and continue enjoying the benefits of their health insurance content without a break.
Grace period for health insurance renewal generally varies anywhere from a week to 30 days. The grace period for the health insurance policy is like a lifeline and must be used as such. However, your policy expires, and you lose all the benefits along with the boons and fidelity points you must have earned over some time If you fail to pay the decoration within the grace period.
The health insurance grace period shouldn’t be confused with the staying period. The staying period is when new policyholders have to stay before getting benefits from the health insurance policy. The claims filed during this period are rejected.
Benefits and boons you could lose
You’re without cover
The most significant disadvantage of not renewing your health policy during the health insurance grace period is that you’re without cover. The lapsed policy doesn’t give you any insurance cover, and indeed if you apply for a new approach, it may take days before you get one. Given the costs of medical treatment and hospitalization, it isn’t wise to remain without an insurance policy indeed for a day.
You’ll lose a no-claim perk
no- claim perk is one of the most seductive features of health insurance programs. It’s an incitement that the insurance companies give to their guests who don’t claim in a time. It’s given either as an accretive perk or a reduction in decoration. An accretive perk means your content quantum for the coming time will increase, depending on the perk, while the decoration will remain the same.However, for not making any claim in a given time, your policy’s content quantum will go up to Rs 4, If you have a health policy of Rs 4 lakh and your company gives you a perk of25.25 lakh coming time.
Alternately, you could get a reduction on the decoration for the ensuing time.
What is the Grace Period in Health Insurance Plans!
Portability of policy
Still, you lose the installation of porting it to a new health insurer, If you allow your policy to lapse. You’re needed to request porting a plan at least 45-60 days before a policy’s expiry date.
The new policy is bound to be precious
A new policy will bring you more because health insurance costs keep rising. Plus, you would be a time aged, another factor that leads to advanced decorations.
Longer staying period
Health insurance plans have a staying period of 24-48 months applicable to certain-existing conditions and motherliness benefits. With the new plan, you’ll have to stay another couple of times before you can start using these installations.
Health check-up again
You may have to go for a detailed health check-up to get the new policy. This medical test is a time-consuming process; besides, what if you fail the medical examination? You aren’t needed to go for a medical test for the renewal of a health policy.
Lifelong renewability. Some insurance programs have a provision for life-long renewability, and if you allow your plan to lapse, you lose this honor.
Conclusion
Remaining uninsured is no option. It’s not prudent to remain without health insurance indeed for a day. Suppose you aren’t satisfied with your current health insurance plan or company. In that case, you have the option of switching over to a new health insurance company without losing the benefits, boons, or perk points of your current policy or plan. According to the IRDA (Protection of Policyholders’ Interests) Regulations, your new insurer must ensure that the benefits you enjoyed and boons you earned with your former insurer are retained when you switch over. So, you keep the credit relating to the staying period for pre-existing conditions whenever you harborage your policy.
You can indeed switch over from one plan to another with the same insurer. Still, you have to follow certain conditions if you want to harborage your policy. You can harborage the policy only towards the near to the renewal period so that by the time your coming insurance period starts, you’ll have joined the new company. You have to write to your current insurer about your desire to shift your insurance plan at least 45 days before your renewal is due.
This way, you’ll be suitable to renew your policy without a break as you get a grace period in health insurance plans of 30 days if porting is under process.