How To Port Home Insurance Policy?

Uncertainties At The Time of Claim

There are times when you raise a claim for particular damage but your existing insurer refuses to provide coverage and that’s where you think that if you are covered with the right insurance plan. Well, in that case, there is a solution that can help you get insured under the right home insurance policy with the right insurance company. Now you must be wondering, how is it possible. Let’s unravel the secret.

Port Home Insurance From One Insurer to Another

Yes, you read it right. You can port your home insurance plan from one insurance company to another if you are not satisfied with the existing one. Now another question arises, how can you do it and when? But first of all, what is important is that is there any provision to do so?

Yes, there is a provision authorized by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) that makes it possible for you to port you’re your home insurance plan. It is known as insurance portability and before it came into effect, the insured could lose the benefits such as No Claim Bonus of the last insurer.

However, IRDAI gave the right to the consumer and now they can port their existing insurance plan from one company to another and carry forward the benefits of the last insurance plan such as No Claim Bonus, etc.

Consumer Rights Provided By IRDAI

In order to make the porting smooth, the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India has given certain rights to the consumers. They are as follows:

• The policyholder can port the home insurance policy to and from any general insurance provider.
• If the policyholder has not raised a claim during the policy tenure and decides to port the policy, the new insurer must provide No Claim Bonus.
• The new insurance company has to provide you at least the sum insured amount of your old insurance policy.
• Since IRDAI keep the policyholder’s convenience and interest in mind, both insurers have to complete the porting before the deadline specified by IRDAI.

Conditions Under Home Insurance Portability

There are several conditions specified by the IRDAI under the home insurance portability. They are as follows:

• The home insurance policy can only be ported at the time of renewal.
• The policyholder has to begin the process of porting the home insurance policy at least 45 days before the renewal date.
• The policyholder has to request the insurance company to port the home insurance plan.
• The policyholder has to specify the name of the insurance company they want to shift their home insurance policy to.
• The policyholder has to make sure to renew the policy without lapse.
• Other than No claim bonus, all other terms of the home insurance policy will be at the discretion of the new insurance company.

How To Port Home Insurance Policy?

Here we will tell you about the online procedure of porting your home insurance policy. It is a simple and hassle-free procedure. Follow the steps given below:

Compare & Look For Suitable Home Insurance

When you feel the need to port your home insurance policy. The first and foremost thing to do is to look for a better option than the existing policy. In order to do it, you have to look at the several options available online, do thorough research. Here are some of the things that you should consider while doing research.

• Inclusions, exclusions and benefits that are provided under the policy
• The monthly and annual premium amount
• Claiming process
• No claim bonus
• Claim settlement ratio
• History of the insurance company
• Offers and discounts provided by the company

Documents Required To Port The Policy

Once you have done your research and found a good home insurance company with a suitable insurance plan that is better than your current home insurance policy then you move ahead and ask the existing insurance company executive as well as new insurance company executive to tell you about the documents required to port the insurance policy. Here are the documents that are required at the time of portability of home insurance.

• A copy of the renewal notice of the existing home insurance
• If required then you have to submit the no claim declaration form
• Details of the previously raised claims, if any

Online Procedure For Porting Home Insurance

Follow the below-mentioned procedure to port your home insurance policy online:

• Contact your existing insurance provider 45 days before the expiry of your insurance plan.
• Send the request for portability to the new insurer.
• The new insurance company will provide you with a portability form and a proposal along with the various insurance plans details.
• Select a plan that fits your requirement and submit the portability form along with the proposal form to the new insurance company.
• The new insurance company will contact your existing insurance company to cross-check and verify the details such as claim history, etc.
• Then the existing insurance company will provide all the details required to the new insurance company through IRDAI Data sharing portal with time period of 7 days.
• Once the whole procedure is completed and the policy has been ported to the new insurance company, the process has to be done within 15 days.
• Cross-check Everything

Once the home insurance policy has been ported to a new insurance company, it is suggested to cross-check everything to make sure that the porting has been done accurately. Also, ask your last insurance company if they have completely closed the insurance policy from their end. Similarly, ask the new insurance company if all the details are correct and if any more documents are required.

Conclusion

IRDAI has given rights to the consumers to make sure that they get proper coverage once they purchase a home insurance plan. This is why they have allowed the insured to port their existing home insurance policy in case they are not satisfied with the existing one.