Why Should You Never Miss Renewing Your Health Insurance Policy

A health insurance policy, taken for a year, offers coverage to the insured members against the stress of financial burden arising from medical expenses. The health insurance can cover medical costs such as hospitalization costs, domiciliary hospitalization, ambulance expenses, cost of day-care procedures, pre, and post-hospitalization costs, etc., depending on the policy coverage. While it is essential to buy a health I surance policy, renewing the same is just as important to enjoy continuous policy coverage.

Forgetting to renew your health insurance on time may result in the lapse of coverage and benefits, which should be avoided at all costs. You can still get the grace period that gives you a few days to renew your policy in case you missed your policy expiry date. You can restart the plan by paying the renewal premium during the grace period. You can easily renew your health insurance policy online through the insurer's website.

What are some of the disadvantages of not renewing your health insurance policy?

Loss of No Claim Bonus:

Losing your No Claim Bonus (NCB) is one of the significant disadvantages if you miss renewing your health insurance cover. It is not always important that if you have bought health insurance coverage, you will make a claim every year and for every no-claim or claim-free year, the insurer awards you with a no-claim bonus. NCB in health insurance is a reward that the policyholder receives for every claim-free year that is added to the sum insured. You can only avail of the benefits of the no-claim bonus at the time of renewal however if you fail to renew the policy within the given period, you cannot take advantage of the NCB benefits.

Loss of coverage:

If you miss renewing your health insurance policy, the first thing that happens is you lose your protective insurance cover against an unforeseen medical emergency. As long as your health insurance policy is active, the insurer provides you with adequate coverage that shields you financially against hospitalization expenses for the treatment of any ailment. However, upon failure to renew your health insurance on the renewal date, the policy becomes inactive along with all the services attached to it. If you file a claim while the policy is inactive, the insurer can reject it on the ground of non-renewal of the policy.

Loss of waiting period benefit:

When you purchase a new health insurance policy, you cannot file a claim until a compulsory waiting period is completed. This waiting period is different for different types of ailments, for pre-existing ailments, and other common conditions like maternity cover, Knee Replacement Surgery, Cataract and many more, the waiting period is mostly between 2 – 4 years. Now, when you miss renewing your policy on the renewal date or even during the grace period, your health cover will lapse, leaving you with no choice but a new health insurance policy. However, under a new health insurance policy, you will need to serve the waiting period for different conditions again.

For all the above reasons, you should never miss renewing your health insurance policy.

If you are looking for buying or renewing a health insurance plan, choose from myriads of health insurance options and choose the one suitable for you with Zurich Kotak General Insurance.

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