Health Insurance Portability in India: How to Switch Insurers Without Losing Benefits

The Short Answer

Health insurance portability lets you move an individual or family floater health policy from one insurer to another at renewal, while carrying across the waiting-period credit you have already earned. Moving to a different policy with the same insurer is called migration, and it carries credits across in the same way.

Portability exists so that a policyholder is not trapped with a poor policy or poor service simply because leaving would reset years of waiting periods. It is a useful right — but the new insurer still decides whether to accept you, so it works best when planned well before renewal.

Portability protects the time you have served, not the policy you had. The new insurer’s terms, price and wording are what you will live with.

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What Carries Over

What health insurance portability transfers — and what it doesn’t

Under IRDAI’s Master Circular on Health Insurance Business (May 2024), credits move with you to the extent of your previous sum insured. That one phrase explains most of the rules.

Item	Does it carry over?	What to watch
Waiting period for pre-existing diseases	Yes — time already served counts	Applies only to conditions you declared; credit is limited to the old sum insured
Specific-disease waiting periods	Yes — time already served counts	Same limit: credit up to the old sum insured
No-claim / cumulative bonus	Yes, as credit	How the new insurer shows it varies — get it in writing before paying
Moratorium (60 months of continuous cover)	Yes — ported years count towards it	Any increase in sum insured starts its own five-year count
Premium	No	The new insurer prices you afresh on its own rates
Policy features and wording	No	Room-rent limits, co-pays, sub-limits and exclusions are the new policy’s

The moratorium matters more than it sounds. After 60 months of continuous cover, an insurer cannot contest a claim for non-disclosure or misrepresentation except in proven fraud. Because ported years count towards those 60 months, a well-timed port does not reset that protection.

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A Worked Example

How waiting-period credit works when you raise cover

Say you have held a ₹5 lakh policy for three years and have a declared pre-existing condition. The pre-existing disease waiting period on your policy is three years, so you have just served it. You port to a new insurer and, at the same time, raise your cover to ₹15 lakh.

• The first ₹5 lakh carries your full credit: the pre-existing condition is covered up to ₹5 lakh straight away.
• The extra ₹10 lakh is new cover, so the waiting periods start afresh on that portion only.
• The no-claim bonus you built up comes across as credit, shown in whichever way the new insurer’s policy handles bonuses.

This is why raising cover is often still worth doing when you port — you lose nothing on the old amount, and the new amount simply starts its own clock. Our guide to how much health insurance you need explains how to size that new figure.

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Should You Port?

When porting makes sense — and when to stay

Good reasons to port

• Your policy has a room-rent cap, disease sub-limits or a co-pay that would shrink a large claim
• Your insurer’s claim experience or service has been poor — slow cashless approvals, unexplained deductions
• You need a much larger cover and your current insurer will not offer it on reasonable terms
• Premiums have risen sharply without any improvement in the policy

Reasons to think twice

• You have a recent claim or a new diagnosis. The new insurer underwrites you afresh and may load the premium, add exclusions or decline. Your current policy has to renew you regardless.
• You only need more cover. Adding a super top-up to your existing policy may be simpler than porting the whole thing.
• The new policy is cheaper because it covers less. Compare the wording line by line, not just the premium.

The features checklist in our choosing guide is the right yardstick for comparing your current policy with the one you are considering.

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Step By Step

The portability process and its timelines

1. Start about two months before renewal. Compare policies and shortlist one. IRDAI’s rules ask you to apply at least 30 days, and no earlier than 60 days, before your renewal date. Insurers may still consider later requests, but leaving it late risks a gap.
2. Apply to the new insurer. Fill in its portability form and proposal form, and disclose every pre-existing condition and past claim. Non-disclosure is the most common reason ported claims are later disputed.
3. Your old insurer shares your history. Under the 2024 rules, it must provide your policy and claim details to the new insurer within 72 hours of the request, through the Insurance Information Bureau.
4. The new insurer decides. It must communicate its decision on your proposal within five days. It may accept, accept with conditions such as a loading or exclusion, or decline with reasons.
5. Pay the new premium only after acceptance, and check the schedule shows your credits — waiting periods served and bonus — before the old policy ends.
6. Never let the old policy lapse while you wait. If the decision is not in hand by your renewal date, renew the existing policy. A break in cover is what destroys your credits.

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Three Ways To Move

Portability vs migration vs a fresh policy

Option	What it means	Waiting-period credit
Portability	Moving to a different insurer at renewal	Carried across, up to the old sum insured
Migration	Moving to another policy with the same insurer, including from a group policy to an individual one	Carried across, up to the old sum insured
Fresh policy	Buying a new policy with no link to the old one	None — all waiting periods start from zero

Leaving a job with employer cover

Employer group cover ends when you leave. If you have a condition that would face a fresh waiting period, ask the group insurer about migrating to an individual policy before your last working day, so there is no break. Group-to-individual migration is allowed under the rules, but the terms are set by the insurer and it has to happen while you are still covered.

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Frequently asked questions

Can I port my health insurance at any time?

Only at renewal. The rules ask you to apply between 60 and 30 days before your renewal date. You cannot port in the middle of a policy year.

Will I lose my waiting period if I port?

No, as long as there is no break in cover. Time you have served on pre-existing and specific-disease waiting periods is credited by the new insurer, up to your previous sum insured.

Can the new insurer reject my portability request?

Yes. Portability carries your credits, but the new insurer still underwrites you under its own policy. It can accept, accept with a loading or exclusion, or decline with reasons. If it declines, renew your existing policy so your cover continues.

Can I increase my sum insured when I port?

Usually, subject to the new insurer’s underwriting. Credits apply to the old sum insured; the increased portion has its own fresh waiting periods and its own five-year moratorium.

Does my no-claim bonus transfer when I port?

Yes, the bonus is carried as credit. How it appears — added to the sum insured or reflected another way — depends on the new policy, so confirm it on the schedule before you pay.

Can I port my employer’s group health policy?

A group policy can be migrated to an individual policy, usually with the same insurer, which carries your credits across. Ask about it before your employment ends, because the move has to happen while you are still covered.