Important Dates in a Health Insurance Policy

The date of commencement of health insurance coverage is also known as the 'effective date' of the policy. This is the date from which the insurance company opens its doors to help you. While you may know what is covered and what is not covered under your health insurance, you must also realise that all these benefits can be availed only after a certain date.

Often people assume that once you take health insurance at your end, it becomes active immediately - but it is not so. There is a difference between the two dates. Generally, health insurance companies do not provide coverage immediately after selling the policy and there is a short waiting period. The duration of this waiting period will depend on your insurance company, but generally, policy cover can start after a gap of 30 days from the date of taking the policy. However, you can check the effective date in the declaration column of your policy bond. Since it is important to know the date, this information is usually found on the first or second page itself.

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Usually, the answer to this question depends on the date the health policy was taken. If you enrol by the 15th day of the month, coverage will start from the 1st day of the following month. If you enrol after the 15th day of the month, coverage will start from the first day of the second month. For example, if you enrol on or before 15th April, coverage will start from 1st May, whereas if you enrol on or after 16th April, then coverage can start on the 1st day of the second month i.e. 1st June.

The policy issuance date is usually the date on which the insurance company approves and accepts your application. This gives the insured person some time to deliver the policy. The effective date is the date from which you can take advantage of the insurance or when the initial waiting period is over and you can take advantage of this facility. Although, in case of an emergency, the waiting period is not required to be completed. In myUpchar Bima Plus, there is no waiting period in case of sudden hospitalization.

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Most health insurance plans are valid for one, two or three years. After this, you have to renew it within a stipulated period of time. By doing this you can extend the advantage of the coverage provided under the health insurance policy. To renew online, one usually has to visit, the 'Health Insurance Renewal Section' on the company's website, where you will have to enter the policy number and then pay the premium. You can pay the premium annually, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly. However, the premium paid monthly is costlier than the premium paid annually.

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There is nothing like the date of expiry of the policy in health insurance. In case you don’t pay the premium on time, the health insurance company can terminate your coverage. However, you will still have a few days after the due date for payment of the premium, which is called the grace period. Within this, you can continue with the policy by paying the premium. But if even this grace period is over, the insurance company will terminate your coverage.

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