Now, you won't forget to pay your health insurance premium on time

Paying insurance premiums on time is one of the most basic and important tasks for every policyholder. While most of the insurance companies send renewal notices, the good news is, from June 1, 2021, all insurers have to mandatorily send a renewal notice one month before the expiry of the policy, including the premium amount due.

This is a welcome move as many people in the past complained about missing their premium renewal dates because of no reminders from the insurance companies. But if you forget to renew your policy even after several reminders there is still one more chance to renew your policy without the policy lapsing.

Grace period

If you fail to pay the premium amount, your policy can become redundant with you losing out on continuity benefits. But if you pay the premium amount within a certain time frame the policy can be rescued keeping your policy benefits intact. This is because generally, the insurance company offers a 30-day window in case you fail to renew the policy If a premium is paid within this time, then the policy is not considered active. The continuity benefits such as the no claim bonus (NCB) and waiting period for pre-existing diseases do not change if the policy gets renewed during the grace period.

The only catch is hospitalisation during the grace period is not covered, the coverage is offered for the period for which premium is received.

Lapsed policy

If the grace period expires without paying a premium then the policy is considered as lapsed. This is because as per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) guidelines, nothing can be done to revive a lapsed policy if the 30-day grace period is missed. The only option then is to buy a new health insurance policy, which is not a good situation to be in for a policyholder. Hence, it is advisable to renew your policy before the due date so that the policy remains active.