IRDA makes it easier to renew health insurance

NEW GUIDELINES issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), on Thursday (April 2), made it mandatory for an insurance company to renew a Health Insurance Plans, irrespective of the payments already made out in claims.

These new rules will come in handy for the old and those with medical conditions as they faced a lot of problem while renewing their health policies.The Bill amends three Acts: the Insurance Act, 1938; the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act, 1999.

IRDA has made it clear that delays of up to 15 days from the renewal date will also need to be condoned by the insurers and they have to cover benefits given for pre-existing diseases. The new guidelines shall be applicable from June 1, 2009.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has made it mandatory for an insurance company to renew a health insurance policy, irrespective of the payments already made out in claims. IRDA has made it clear that delays of up to 15 days from the renewal date should be condoned by the insurers and they have to cover benefits given for pre-existing diseases.

Sometimes a policy relapses because you were late by 3 days. You get no reminder from the agent and when you call him up, his excuse is, there were many holidays that week and he was out of town! But, the same guy was happy calling us 5 times a day to sign up. This is the other problem in insurance - the agents lose interest the minute you sign that cheque.

IRDA guidelines issued today also make it clear that the renewal of a health insurance policy cannot be rejected on arbitrary grounds. As per IRDA, the only exception for rejection of a health policy renewal could be fraud or misrepresentation of facts.

IRDA also stated that a customer should not be compelled or forced to shift from one Health Insurance Plans to another insurance product, except where the policy was being upgraded or discontinued with permission from the authority.

It has also asked the insurance companies to provide complete details about terms of renewing a health policy. IRDA said that the purpose of these guidelines was to enable the consumer to take an informed decision.

The regulatory body also told the insurance companies to state in clear terms if there are any changes in the payment of premium by the consumer.

Additional articles about Health Insurance Plans

About the author

This is Merinews Network,its india's first citizen journalism based news website. We have many news articles on Health Insurance Plans and Skin Care Tips.

Please Rate This Article

Select Rating Excellent Very Good Interesting Fair Could Use Improvement

Number of ratings: 0
Rating: 0