Page 24 - Insurance Times July 2016

4. This credit (in terms of waiting period) would be limited
to the sum assured (including bonus) under the previ-
ous policy.
5. The insurers shall strictly comply with Regulation 4(6)
of IRDA (Protection of policyholders' interests) Regula-
tions, 2002 in accepting the proposals when the policy-
holder is switching from one insurer to other.
6. If the policy results into discontinuance because of any
delay by the insurer in accepting the proposal, the in-
surer shall not treat the policy as discontinuance and
shall allow portability.
7. Insurers shall clearly draw the attention of the policy-
holder in the policy contract and the promotional ma-
terial like prospectus, sales literature etc that:
i. All health insurance policies are portable;
ii. Policyholder should initiate action to approach an-
other insurer, to take advantage of portability, well
before the renewal date to avoid any break in the
policy coverage due to delays in acceptance of the
proposal by the other insurer.
8. All insurers are hereby directed that the entire data-
base including the claim details of the policies, where
the policyholders has opted for portability, shall be
shared with their counterparts, if requested by the
counterpart within seven working days of such request
by the counterpart.
9. All applications for the portability shall be acknowledged
by the insurers within three working days.
10. This had been applicable for all existing contracts and
new contracts with effect from 1st July 2011.
Rights of the Insured in relation to portability
issues of Health Policies are as given in details
below:-
1) You can port your policy from and to any general insur-
ance company or specialised health insurance company;
2) You can port any individual/ family policies;
3) Your new insurer has to give you the credit relating to
waiting period for pre-existing conditions that you have
gained with the old insurer;
4) Your new insurer has to insure you at least up to the
sum insured under the old policy;
5) The two insurers should complete the porting as per the
timelines prescribed in the IRDA (Protection of Policy-
holders' Interests) Regulations and guidelines;
24 The Insurance Times, July 2016
Conditions applicable in case of portability of
Health Policies:-
1) You can port the policy only at the juncture of renewal.
That is, the new insurance period will be with the new
insurance company;
2) Apart from the waiting period credit, all other terms of
the new policy including the premium are at the dis-
cretion of the new insurance company;
3) At least 45 days before your renewal is due you have
to;
4) Write to your old insurance company requesting a shift;
5) Specify company to which you want to shift the policy;
6) Renew your policy without a break (there is a 30 day
grace period if porting is under process).
5) Guidelines on insurance repositories
and electronic issuance of insurance
policies:
As per the Circular Ref. IRDA/ ADMN/ GDL/ GLD/ 080/ 04/
2011 dated 29th April, 2011 had given the 'Guidelines on
Insurance repositories and electronic issuance of insurance
policies' which stipulates as below:
1. Exclusive maintenance with insurance repositories:
(1) Where an insurer issues and maintains 'e insurance
policies', he shall mandatorily do so by utilizing the
services of an insurance repository granted certifi-
cate of registration by the Authority under these
Guidelines. All such insurance policies in electronic
form shall be treated as valid insurance contracts.
(2) Every insurer shall enter into service level agree-
ments with all insurance repositories that have been
granted a certificate of registration by the Author-
ity for issuing and maintenance of e insurance poli-
cies.
2. Eligibility norms for setting up an Insurance Repository:
(1) The Authority shall not consider an application for
insurance repository, unless the applicant belongs
to one of the following categories, namely:-
a. A public limited company registered under the
Companies Act, 1956 with a minimum share
capital of Rs 5 lakhs;
b. A public financial institution as defined in sec-
tion 4A of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
c. A wholly owned subsidiary of an existing de-
pository registered with Securities and Ex-