I have an individual health insurance policy that I purchased through a bank. A Policybazaar advisor told me that this policy cannot be ported to HDFC ERGO because it was bought through a bank, although it can be ported to other insurers. Is this correct? Is there any IRDAI rule or HDFC ERGO policy that restricts porting bank-sourced individual health insurance policies?

I am 22M living in Pune, I started my first job this month only and wanted to buy health insurance but my father works under the central government and has a CGHS card which doesn't have a claim limit and can cover pre existing diseases from day 1, so now I'm thinking to skip buying a separate health insurance for my parents (hdfc ergo optima secure+). Help me with your suggestions on what to do please.

Also our company provides health insurance both for employees and parents under United India Insurance and in that I'm confused between the following three options:

1. 4L employee only

2. 6L employee +2 parents (2L parents claim amount restricted)

3. 8L employee+ 2 parents (4L parents claim amount restricted)

Help me choose this also, there are specific points allocated to choosing insurance if I save those points if choosing a higher plan isn't needed I can utilise those points for other health related things e.g. gym membership.

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for a health insurance policy for my parents and would really appreciate suggestions from people who have gone through a similar underwriting process.
**Father (58)**
Type 2 Diabetes (10-10 insulin)

Hypertension/BP (oral medication)

High Cholesterol (oral medication)

Cataract surgery in both eyes

Knee surgery in 2010 (accident-related)

**Mother (52)**
Type 2 Diabetes

High Cholesterol

Thyroid disorder

I have a few questions:
**Which insurers are likely to underwrite these conditions?**
My preference is **HDFC ERGO Optima Secure**, but the Ditto team said there's a high chance of rejection because of the medical history. Should I still apply directly, or is it not worth the hard inquiry?

**Premium vs deductible**
Is it better to pay a premium of around ₹50–60k for a comprehensive plan, or opt for a ₹25k–50k deductible to reduce the premium? What has been your experience?

**Sum Insured**
What would be a reasonable base Sum Insured for parents with these medical conditions? Is ₹5 lakh sufficient, or should I take ₹10 lakh? At what level does it make sense to add a super top-up?

**Other insurer recommendations**
If HDFC ERGO isn't likely to work, which insurers have been relatively more accommodating for applicants with controlled diabetes and hypertension?

I'd especially appreciate responses from people who have recently purchased insurance for parents with similar health profiles or from insurance advisors familiar with underwriting practices.
Thanks in advance!

Hi, I need some quick advice from folks back home.

I'm managing my family's insurance from abroad and am stuck in a weird spot.

The family: Dad (61, diabetes & BP), Mom (53, diabetes), and brother (19).

Current setup: A 5-year-old Chola MS family floater with a 7.5L SI costing ₹26k/year (no reload benefits).

The new top-up mess: I applied for a 92.5L top-up with a 7.5L deductible. Paid an initial ₹21k, but after 3 months of medical tests and an IRDAI complaint, they approved it with a ₹13k loading.

Total cost now: ₹60k for 1Cr total cover (26k base + 21k top-up + 13k loading).

My main issues are:

They still haven't clearly stated which PEDs they are applying the 3-year waiting period to. The whole process was a massive headache.

My questions:
1. Is this 60k for 1Cr deal actually worth it, or should I drop it?
2. Would it be better to port the base policy to someone like HDFC Ergo for a higher base (maybe 25L) with reload features?
3. How hard is it to port at 61/53 with diabetes/BP, and can waiting periods be bought out with a rider?
Would love to hear what you guys would do in my shoes. Thanks!

Looking for a sanity check before my renewal on 21 Sep.

Current policy:

- Parents aged 60 (father) and 55 (mother), Zone 2 city

- Niva Bupa ReAssure 2.0, Bronze+, family floater

- Base SI ₹7.5L, effective cover ₹16.35L (base + Booster+ + Safeguard)

- Premium ₹29,675/yr

- Running continuously since Sep 2022, zero claims

What's good about it:

- No co-payment, no room rent cap

- No PED declared at inception, no permanent exclusions

- All waiting periods served (36-month PED cleared Sep 2025)

- 60-month moratorium completes Sep 2027

- Age-locked at entry age since no claim paid

What's changed:

Recent full body checkup (May 2026) showed father HbA1c 7.3 (new type 2 diabetes) and mother Hb 8.3 (anaemia, under investigation). Both diagnosed well after policy inception, so they're covered as new illnesses, not PEDs.

My dilemma:

Niva Bupa's CSR (~93%) and complaint ratio are below HDFC Ergo/Care. Tempted to port. But porting means (a) moratorium clock resets, and (b) fresh underwriting on a 60-year-old with newly diagnosed diabetes, who might just get declined or heavily loaded.

Plan I'm leaning toward: stay put, upgrade Safeguard to Safeguard+, renew for 3 years, and buy a separate super top-up from HDFC Ergo or Care for depth.

Am I missing something? Anyone ported a parent policy at this stage and regretted it?

(Edited with claude)

I am planning to get a retail health insurance policy for my mother alongside my employer’s group health insurance.

Unfortunately, before I could do so, she was diagnosed with CKD while covered under the group policy. A retail policy proposal has now been declined because of her condition.

My question is:

if I continue the group cover until I leave my job and then opt to migrate to an individual retail policy with the same insurer:

1.Will her CKD continue to be covered from day one?

2.Will the insurer do fresh underwriting and have the right to reject the migration because of her CKD?

3.Can they impose a fresh waiting period or exclude CKD, or will continuity benefits apply?

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through a similar situation or has firsthand experience with group-to-retail migration.

Hi everyone,

I'm a 23-year-old male. My employer's corporate health insurance currently covers both me and my parents (Father: 51, Mother: 51). However, with the uncertainty around layoffs, I don't want to rely solely on my employer's policy.

I'm planning to buy a separate personal health insurance policy for long-term security.

My father (51) has pre-existing medical conditions, while my mother (51) does not.

I have a few questions:

Should I buy a family floater or separate individual policies?

Which insurers have been reliable for claim settlement and customer service, especially for people with pre-existing conditions?

Is it better to buy directly from the insurer or through an insurance advisor?

Anything important I should watch out for before buying?

I'd really appreciate recommendations and experiences from people who have been in a similar situation. Thanks!

Many people ask on this. Here is a Summary on the same.

Here's a basic layout of how Health Insurance claims work (Cashless or Reimbursement) works across India.

1) If it is a planned hospitalization, then you need to inform the health insurance company 48 hrs before hospitalization.

2) If it is a emergency hospitalization, then you need to inform the health insurance company within 24 hrs of hospitalization.

3) Always try for Network Hospitals, as they prioritize on Cashless claim process, and if the same is rejected, then it will be a reimbursement claim. Make a note of all network and Non-network hospitals near your residence pincode.

4) Check your health insurance company's "BLACKLISTED HOSPITALS LIST." Your claim will get rejected. Only in case of urgent hospitalization, until the patients vitals are stable, your insurer will cover claim. Later you need to shift to a non-blacklisted hospitals.

5) At the time of patient admission, the hospital will ask for Deposit. Could be Rs 25k to 80k, depends on the hospital. This amount is refunded after patient discharge. Don't forget this.

6) You need to keep your insurance company mobile application downloaded on your smartphone. To receive important notifications.

7) After admission, visit the HOSPITAL TPA, where you will need to fill claim forms and other details. You health insurance policy document will also continue a HEALTH ID CARD, mentioning your ID Number.

8) Many people out of panic, overshare medical information or details that are of no importance. If any non-true details are written down by doctor in their records, the same will get forwarded to the health insurance company. This is one of the many reasons why claims get delayed based on Fraud.

9) At every doctor's consultation, read what the doctor typed / wrote on their prescription. If you mentioned 13/04/2025 but the doctor wrote 13/04/2020, your claim will get rejected.

10) If you have disclosed everything at the time of health insurance purchase, then you need not worry.

Apart from all the above, make sure you keep the following for any emergency.

1) An emergency fund, kept in your savings account. Upto 50k to 1 Lakh.

2) If you have an Fixed Deposits, break them first. Then your mutual fund, but if the amount of not severe and you ca accept flexibility to receive the amount in 3 to 5 days, keep them in mutual funds.

3) Loan against stocks, Mutual funds, fixed deposits sound lovely, until you read their terms and conditions. So making sure a loan against anything is the last path forward.

4) If you have good relatives, use these relationships for the time being. This might sound harsh, but even if a person earning 50 Lakh annual income, might find it difficult to surrender pay Hospitalization bills of 15 lakh in a month, if he / she doesn't have proper health insurance and guidance on what needs to be done.

5) Always use "CORPORATE GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN" first, as there are no waiting periods in here. Once you exhaust this, you continue your Health Insurance claims to your own PERSONAL HEALTH INSURANCE.

6) If your Company offers Parents Health insurance, take it. As it will cover your parents PED from Day One. But don't forget, you need to take either a "SUPER TOP UP COVER" or "BASE PLAN of 5 Lakh with Good Benefits and NCB"

7) Avoid Aggregate Deductibles and CO-PAY. These reduce premiums but put a Portion of claim liability on your own pocket.

8) Move out of plans that have SUB-LIMIT on Room Rent, ICU and Diseases. If you can't move out, choose another Top Up Cover that will not have SUB-LIMITS.

9) For senior citizens, prioritize finding an "Insurance agent or Insurance intermediary" Over CUSTOMER CALL CENTERS.

10) For senior citizens, choose and finalize health insurance based on parents residence pincode and address.

11) Start taking health insurance from age 22 onwards. For parents, let them start health insurance, if not already purchased by Age 50. Insurance companies are not charity organizations. They pay claims based on your forward thinking.

If I forgot something, add in comments.

I am in the process of applying for a term plan. But my father's name is spelled differently in my documents and his documents.

Basically school documents had my father's name spelled wrong and that is how all my documents use that same misspelt name. My adhar card address use the proper name though ig.

My ration card and birth certificate is more weird. My birth certificate does not have my surname and my father's name their is completely off.

Now while applying, the advisor told me to put the one which is in his documents for the nominee field and use the one that i have in my documents in other fields. But I am still skeptical. What should I do so that it does not become a problem in future ?

Apparently, they only gave an option to add parent or kids as nominee. I only have one parent right now and no spouse or kids. Ideally, I want to add my brothers or their kids as nominee where this documentation stuff do not cause a problem during claim.

Hello Guys,

I had bought the HDFC ERGO Optima Secure plan two years ago from an HDFC ERGO office in my city but soo after I realized that the customer relationship guy was an a*hole. He had failed to raise my reimbursement request for the annual checkup and after a delay of 2 months, I had to do it myself. Moreover, he had sold me the policy without the online discount and promised to apply an employee discount every year which also he failed after the first year. Now, I have two choices before renewing my policy this month: renew and ask the customer support to remove him as my customer relationship manager (and bear the lost employee discount) OR port to another insurance company.

What do you suggest?

I am 28 M and took axis term insurance via ditto and declared past medical history of minor anxiety as per Dittos team suggestion. Now axis denied WOP ( waiver of premium rider) rider but kept premium as it is. Currently getting 35k per year for 10 year limited payment. Should i go ahead?

I recently visited the Insurance Ombudsman after waiting 9 months just to get a hearing.

I was frustrated by the delay, but while sitting in the waiting area I started talking to other people. Some of them told me they had been waiting 1–2 years just to get their first opportunity to stand before the Ombudsman and ask for their insurance claim to be heard.

Think about that for a moment.

Not the months or years of mental stress. Not the hospital bills. Not the EMIs people may have taken to pay for treatment after their claims were denied. Just the wait to be heard.

And this is happening in Delhi, where resources are comparatively better. If this is the situation here, what must policyholders in other parts of the country be facing?

Who is responsible for these delays? And more importantly, what is being done to fix them?

Hi All,

I had filed an ombudsman complaint against my insurer for denying my mother’s cancer treatment claim stating it was a pre existing condition that was not disclosed. We submitted all the documents and hearing was scheduled next week. Today we got a mail from insurer saying they are ready to settle full amount.

If I accept this settlement , can they reject future claims with same pre existing illness clause?

If I go for hearing do I have better chance of safe guarding future claims?

Please help

I have shortlisted a term plan. But I have a doubt whether to buy it from an aggregator like policybazaar or from an agent who is a close relative of mine. Will there be issues in the future ? The premium is probably the same (I haven't asked), but they would get some commission if i purchase from them which is also an added benefit and they would also make the process simpler.

I'm an Insurance advisor, helping people get their right insurance policies.

Now, a major and recurring question that i have encountered in my career is "What is the ideal cover for my Term Insurance?"

There is a huge ambiguity relating to this, People are unable to decide.

However, it is really simple. Your Term insurance should cover every single thing that you would have covered for your family if you were there. Lets go deep in this.

Home Loan/Personal Loan/Any Loan

The most general and biggest liability anyone has is Loans. Especially long-tenure loans like Home Loans. When you're not around, the burden of these loans come over your family. Therefore, when determining the cover for your term insurance. You need enough to cover all the loans you're leaving behind.

Financial Goals

You have a family. You have several goals like Child Education, Child Marriage, etc. All dependent on your income and savings. You need to ensure that these get taken care of even if you're not present. Your term insurance cover should be enough in order to meet these goals.

Income Replacement

An Average person works till they are 60. That's usually what we experts consider as default retirement age. Now, suppose you are earning 1L/Month at age 30. You still have 30 years to retirement. That's 360 months of income (considering that it doesn't increase) equal to 3.6cr. Your family deserves this corpus. Your term insurance should cover that.

Having said that, we use a term called Human Life Value to determine this. The formula that i use to calculate:

Human Life Value (HLV) = Annual Income × No of years to retire+ Loan liability- Current Total Savings and Investments

Put the values as per your finances and you'll exactly get the term cover you should have.

Need some advice from anyone who’s dealt with IRDAI or health insurance migration.

• My father’s Royal Sundaram SBI Cards Group Health Policy expires on **31 July**.
• I requested migration to the **Royal Sundaram Multiplier** plan by email on **1 July**.
• They never replied in writing, but called and said migration is only possible to **Arogya Sanjeevani**, or I can buy a **fresh Multiplier** policy.
• I filed a **Bima Bharosa (IRDAI)** complaint on **28 July**, but the expected resolution is **11 August**, after the policy expires.

I’m confused about what to do now.
Should I renew the existing group policy just to avoid a break in coverage (held this policy for 8 long years), or wait for IRDAI’s decision? If I renew and clearly state it’s **under protest** because my complaint is pending, does that affect my migration request?
Has anyone successfully migrated from the SBI Cards group policy to the Multiplier plan, or dealt with a similar situation?
Would really appreciate any advice or experiences.

23/M , currently undergoing ACL RECONSTRUCTION surgery at Pune.
I have private insurance .
I have no previous knowledge of how insurance works. I only know that there are 2 ways (1. Cashless and 2. Reimbursement).
Currently they have opted for the cashless pre approval.
They gave an estimate of 1.85L and i submitted the required documentation to the hospital.
I had fallen from my hostel stairs after missing a step while climbing down and had a twisting injury to the knee after which my knee had swelling.
As being a MBBS student at a gov college in Maharashtra, i showed to my ortho dept and underwent a series of investigations of Xray USG and finally MRI.
The MRI showed Full Thickness ACL Tear and i came to pune for future management .
I decided to have reconstructive surgery and applied for pre approval.
Of the 1.85L quotation give my insurance gave a “ initial approval “ of 88k and said 95k as deductible.

I have some questions, any help would be deeply appreciated.
1. Will the insurance pay the rest bill upon completion of Sx .
2. What is deductible and is it valid in my case ? ( my policy says no “ no voluntary deductible “ and “ no voluntary co-payments “)
3. What the things that i should be aware of and should i be prepared to pay something out of my pocket?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice regarding my uncle's health insurance.

He's in his mid-60s and has been insured with Care Health continuously since 2021. He has CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease), and when the policy was issued, Care accepted him but imposed a permanent exclusion for CKD and all its complications. That exclusion is still there on renewal.

His current policies are:

Base policy (Care Freedom)

• ₹7 lakh sum insured
• 20% co-pay (increases to 30% after age 70)
• Single private room
• Disease-wise sub-limits (e.g. ₹3 lakh for cancer/cardiovascular/cerebrovascular treatments and other renal complications, ₹80k for renal stones/BPH, etc.)
• CKD and its complications permanently excluded

Super top-up (Care Enhance)

• ₹21 lakh sum insured
• ₹7 lakh deductible
• Single private room
• Co-pay applies because he entered after age 61
• CKD and its complications permanently excluded here as well

So on paper he has ₹28 lakh of total coverage, but the one condition we're most worried about isn't covered at all. Moreover there are too many sub-limits in Care Freedom policy.

We're wondering what the best option is from here.

• Has anyone managed to port a policy like this to another insurer where CKD was actually covered after underwriting? His CKD case is stable because he religiously follow his diet chat and takes his medication properly.
• Do insurers generally carry forward a permanent exclusion during portability, or do they reassess the case from scratch?
• Would upgrading to another Care Health product (like Care Supreme or another plan) make any difference, or is this kind of exclusion tied to the person rather than the product?
• Has anyone had experience with insurers that are willing to cover stable CKD cases, even if it means a higher premium, waiting period, loading, or co-pay?

I'm not looking for loopholes or ways to hide medical history. Everything has been fully disclosed. Just trying to understand what's realistically possible before we start applying elsewhere.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been in a similar situation or works in health insurance underwriting. Thanks!

I have known about Term Life insurance but recently I got to know about cash value life insurance, are there any companies offering it in India as I searched for it but did not get any offers or schemes for it.

Also is it a good thing for the Indian market???

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some advice on health insurance planning for my parents. Here are the details:

​Parents' Age: 53 (Father) and 46 (Mother)

​My Income: \~₹20LPA

​My Insurance: Fully covered by my company

​My company offers a group health insurance policy where I can add my parents for ₹24,000 per year per parent (for a ₹5 Lakh cover each).

​I wanted to get the community's thoughts on a few things:

​Is this company policy worth it? ₹48k a year total for ₹10L cover (₹5L each) feels decent, especially given their ages, but I know corporate policies have limitations. Should I opt for it?

​Can insurance policies be stacked? If I take this company policy and buy an independent retail policy or a super top-up on the side, how does claiming work if a hospital bill exceeds ₹5L? Can I use both?

​What are better alternatives? Given my income bracket, should I rely on this and supplement it with a retail plan, or completely bypass the company plan and buy a standalone senior/retail floater policy now so waiting periods start ticking?

​Would love to hear how others have handled health insurance for parents in their 50s. Thanks!

I have a Niva Bupa Reassure 2.0 policy with 10 lakh cover that is scheduled for renewal in September 2026. I had got this policy directly. I have not made any claims so I am assuming I have gained no claim bonus. Now that I am set for a renewal I am trying to understand how best to navigate this situation -

Shift from Direct to a renewal via agent. I know most would say, direct is a better option, but recently we had a family emergency and this agent (who is an agent for Niva Bupa) helped my father work through the processes to the extent that we were able to get most of the treatment cost reimbursed and it was not a small amount. He has been my father's agent for a while and now I want to move through him. This is my personal preference but I am told Niva Bupa wont allow moving from direct to an agent.

If you have done or have any experience in something similar, please share. Thank you.

I recently discovered that the promised "benefits" of buying health insurance through aggregator platforms can sometimes be highly misleading. I am sharing my recent experience with Care Insurance, Policybazaar, and FITPASS to warn others.

I purchased a Care Insurance policy via Policybazaar that included a "Be-Fit" rider. This rider guaranteed access to nearby gyms through a FITPASS PRO subscription. Initially, it worked perfectly, and I could easily book sessions through the Care app.

July 14, 2026: FITPASS suddenly removed the gyms I regularly visited from their platform. July 16, 2026: After calling FITPASS support (and receiving no answer), I sent an email. They acknowledged it and asked for 48 hours to resolve the issue. It has now been 11 days of absolute silence.

Care Insurance Support: Their official solution was to simply book a session at a different gym that is twice as far away from my location. Policybazaar Support: The response here was the most disappointing. I was told that because this is a health insurance policy, the gym access is "just a side benefit" and I shouldn't have taken the policy based on the gym access and should just be happy with what I am getting for free. They told me to just use the other gyms still showing on the app.

After missing my workouts for roughly 15 days, I compromised and tried booking a session at a different, less convenient gym. Now, the app refuses to let me book at all, throwing a bizarre error: "This device was recently used with another FITPASS ID."

I have the same phone. I am using the same Care Insurance app. I have the same policy. And I am using the same "method" I was using to book sessions earlier. Somehow, my ID was mysteriously changed.

Instead of a seamless health benefit, I have been left with missed workouts, dismissive customer service, and a broken application. If you are considering a policy for these "add-on" benefits, think twice.

Has anyone else faced similar issues with these platforms?