Know Why Your Health Insurance Porting Request gets Rejected
Bimal (31-years-old) lives in Ahmedabad with his wife (26-years-old) and a daughter (3-years-old). He purchased a health insurance policy 6 years ago. But now, his policy is not offering him sufficient coverage against his growing needs. Bimal talked to his insurer several times that he wants to enhance his coverage so that everyone in his family can get adequate coverage. But the insurer hardly paid any attention to his request. Bimal is not satisfied with the service and policy coverage of his present insurer. So, he decided to port his plan to another insurer for better coverage and service. He initiated a porting request and submitted the documents. But unfortunately, his new insurer rejected his porting request. Now, Bimal doesn’t have much idea why this new insurance company declined his porting life insurance application.
Not only Bimal but so many others like him have faced rejection while they initiated a porting request. So, here we will discuss some of the main reasons for the refusal of your health insurance porting request.
What is Health Insurance Portability?
Health insurance portability is a common facility that permits policyholders to port their existing health insurance policy from the current insurer to a different one.
Why do Insurance Companies deny Coverage?
If a policyholder can’t submit the relevant documents on time, the company will certainly decline the porting request and not offer any coverage. Other popular reasons for porting request declination are insufficient information, poor claim history, and non-renewal of the policy on time. In addition, though you want to migrate to a better insurance company, the new insurer didn’t accept your proposal. Thus, experts always recommend you should keep all the documents properly, including your identity proofs, medical history, etc., for a hale-free porting process.
Can an insurance company refuse to insure you?
In the case of porting, if you don’t submit all your relevant documents properly or try to hide any information, the insurer will not accept your portability and refuse to insure you for any coverage.
Top Reasons for Health Insurance Porting request Rejection
Underwriting Risk
If you plan to switch to another insurer, the portability request and a new application are essentially the same for a new or potential insurance company. If the customer’s medical condition is not resonating properly with this prescribed underwriting risk or risk acceptance, there is a chance of rejection.
Evading, distorting info
Always disclose your complete medical history precisely to the new insurer. Any non-disclosure in the porting process may lead to rejection from the insurer. For example, if there is any incongruity between the medical conditions stated by the policy buyer in his/her proposal form and that observed in his/her actual condition during the medical check-ups may lead to declination by the new company. Similarly, suppose the claims history that the previous insurance company states are not the same as that mentioned in the form by the customer. In that case, the new insurer has every right to reject it.
Because of Age
If the policyholder belongs to a high age group (above 70 years), then there is a high chance of rejection of your portability request. This is another pivotal reason for the rejection of portability by the new insurer. People who fall in the group of 60-70 still have some chances of portability, but the applications from people above 70 years may face high chances of rejection. Several insurance companies apply stringent underwriting rules, charge higher premiums, and even try to incorporate a co-pay clause to portability requests from senior people. If a policy buyer’s age doesn’t fall within the specified age bracket, the company will decline his/her porting request.
Technicalities and Timelines
If you disobey the porting timeline, your application form may be rejected by the insurer. If you don’t bother to pick up calls from the new insurance company or are not present at the time of medical check-up, and so on, then the insurer will never accept your porting request. Submit all relevant documents within stipulated dates and never miss deadlines.
Let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of portability.
Benefits of porting to a new health insurance company
- Customize The Policy: Now, you can customize the policy as per your growing requirements. You can change/alter your policy that goes well with your existing demands from a health insurance policy.
- No Claim Bonus: if you didn’t make any claim to your existing insurer, your” no claim bonus” will also be calculated by the new insurance company. Based on your “no claim bonus” discounts, the insurer will calculate the premium amount or sum insured for your new policy. By choosing a healthy lifestyle, you can avail yourself of the benefits of a “no claim bonus.”
- Health Insurance Benefits: Along with no claim bonus, your other benefits will remain intact even after making a switch.
- Premium: In this steep-competitive era, every insurance company is vying with each other to grab the customers’ attention. Every company wants policyholders to purchase a health insurance plan from them. So, your premium may go lower if you choose to port.
Disadvantages of Porting Health Insurance Policy
Let’s consider some disadvantages of porting to a new health insurance provider.
- Porting on renewal: you can port only at the time of renewal. A policyholder is not permitted to port the policy when the renewal date is very far.
- Changes in Plans: You can’t change your health insurance plan drastically. Though you can alter/change coverage, you can’t change the entire policy completely.
- Extra Coverage: If you want to incorporate some additional coverage into your plan, you may need to pay higher premiums.
Now, you have adequate knowledge about portability and how portability will offer you to get added advantages and services without changing your premium. Also, submit all pertinent documents and form carefully so that the insurer can’t reject your porting request at any cost.
