Getting a health insurance policy is one of the important investments that one needs to make as a part of modern life. There are many benefits of having a health insurance policy with sufficient coverage. It can protect you and your family from incurring heavy hospitalization and treatment charges in case of an illness or accident. This can also help you get cashless treatment which can be nothing short of a blessing in case of a medical emergency. Despite many benefits, your health insurance can be rendered useless if your health policy expires and you do not carry out the mediclaim policy renewal within due time. While an expired health policy leaves you exposed to the risk of incurring unforeseen medical expenses, there are several benefits of renewing your health insurance policy. Let us take a closer look at some of these benefits.
- No waiting period – Most health insurance policies come with a 30 day waiting period ou get the is over, can the policyholder submit the claims. This can be a challenge in case you have any medical expenses that are incurred during this time. Even if you have an active health insurance policy, once it expires and you take a new policy, you may have to abide by the wait time. The wait time can be avoided by renewing the health insurance policy so that you do not have to wait to take the plan benefits.
- Continuous protection – Just like wait time, another factor that you need to consider is the continuous protection offered by the health insurance plan. Once your policy has expired, you can not submit any claims or get any of the benefits of your policy. Till the time your new policy comes to effect, you are therefore exposed to get charges for any health-related emergency that you may come across. With timely policy renewal, you can enjoy the continuous benefits of the plan.
- No age-based restriction – In modern times, many policies can only be offered to a policyholder if he or she is within a certain age range. This means that policyholders can be denied a policy if they have certain pre-existing health conditions or are above a certain age. This is however not the case when renewing your existing health insurance policy. Usually, insurers are much lenient with eligibility in case it is not a new policy but only a renewal of the old policy.
- No changes in Premium amount – In the case of policy renewal, you also get a chance to continue your existing health insurance plan with the same premium amount. You can negotiate for the best available offers with the insurance company to see if they can offer a higher sum assured for the same premium amount. It is also pollable that the current insurer offers you a No Claim Bonus (NCB) that can help you reduce your premium amount making the policy all the more affordable.
- Tax benefits – Many policyholders use their health insurance policy premium as a way to reduce their income tax liability as well. The premiums paid for the health insurance policy can be claimed as deductions under section 80D of the Income Tax Act. The longer the policy stays lapsed, the lesser the premium you pay through the year, and the lesser the deduction that you can claim.
These are just some of the points that can justify why going for an insurance plan renewal is a useful idea. If you want to know more about health insurance, renewal, surrender, or just compare various health insurance policies, you can visit the IIFL website and read the helpful information presented there. This will help you make up your mind regarding the important decisions concerning your health insurance.