Porting health insurance with a pre-existing disease — what carries over, what doesn’t
Bishan Kumar Agarwal
Porting is portable. PED waiting is portable. No-claim bonus is sometimes portable. The trap is the gap between what the regulation says must transfer and what the new insurer's underwriting actually accepts in practice.
This article is for anyone with a pre-existing condition who is considering switching health insurers — whether because the premium has become unaffordable, the service has been poor, or a better plan has appeared. Porting with a PED requires you to know exactly what you are entitled to, and exactly what the new insurer can still do.
What porting means under IRDAI
Under IRDAI guidelines, porting allows you to switch from one insurer's individual or family health policy to another insurer's policy without losing the credit you have built up for:
- Pre-existing disease waiting periods already served
- No-claim bonus (cumulative bonus) accrued
- Continuous coverage history (relevant to the 8-year incontestability rule)
The 45-day window is the operational constraint: you must file the port request with the new insurer at least 45 days before your current policy's renewal date. The new insurer requests your records from the old insurer and completes underwriting within that window.
What carries over (and what your old insurer is required to transfer)
When you port, the old insurer is required by regulation to transfer your policy history — including how much of each waiting period you have served. If you have been on the same policy for three years and your declared diabetes had a 4-year PED waiting period, you carry 3 years served into the new plan. You have 1 year remaining, not 4.
Porting is a right. Porting at the same premium and the same loading is not. The math has to work in your favour before you press send.
No-claim bonus also carries. If your old plan had accumulated a 20% bonus on the base sum assured over two claim-free years, that credit transfers. The new insurer must honour it.
What the new insurer can still do
Porting does not mean the new insurer must accept you on the same terms as the old insurer. They retain full underwriting rights within IRDAI guidelines:
- They can re-underwrite. Fresh medicals may be required, especially if you are over 50 or have multiple conditions.
- They can apply loading. A higher premium than your old plan is entirely within their rights.
- They can decline. Port applications can be rejected. If declined, you stay on your existing plan.
- They cannot reset your PED waiting period to zero for declared conditions.
- They cannot permanently exclude the declared condition — it must be covered once the residual waiting period is complete.
When NOT to port
Porting is the right move in many situations — but not all. There are times when staying put is the correct answer:
- When you are close to completing PED waiting. Porting mid-waiting doesn't reset it, but a poor port to a worse plan is harder to fix later.
- When a claim is in flight. The complexity of simultaneous claim settlement and plan handover is significant. Wait until the claim is fully settled.
- When the new plan's sub-limits are lower. A lower premium plan may cap room rent or surgical procedures in ways the old plan did not.
- When you are porting group to individual. Group plans do not accrue individual PED waiting. This is the biggest group-to-individual trap — see the case below.
Insurance is a contract between you and the insurer. This article is general information only — speak to a licensed advisor about your specific situation before making decisions.
Don't port mid-claim
If a claim is in flight — whether submitted, under review, or in appeal — do not initiate a port. The handover of records and the claim settlement process will collide badly.
Don't port in the last 30 days of your policy year
The 45-day window requirement means you need to file the port request at least 45 days before renewal. Leaving it until the final month almost always means you will miss the window.
Read the new plan's exclusions — they don't inherit from the old plan
The old plan's exclusions do not carry over. The new plan's exclusion list applies fresh. A feature your old plan covered may not exist in the new one.
Sub-limits change
Room rent caps, ICU sub-limits, and procedure-specific sub-limits are set by the new plan, not inherited. Your old plan's sub-limits may have been more generous.
56-year-old female, diabetic, corporate group to individual port.
56-year-old retired professional with a 10-year diabetes history. Covered under a corporate group plan through her spouse's employer — a plan that had no PED waiting (group plans don't apply individual PED waiting).
Spouse was approaching retirement. The group cover would end. She wanted to port to an individual plan before the group cover lapsed. The problem: group cover does not accrue individual PED waiting credit. The new individual insurer applied a fresh 3-year PED waiting for her diabetes.
Caught the gap before she submitted the port application. Advised her to keep both: continue the group plan as primary (through COBRA-equivalent continuation) and add an individual plan alongside. The individual plan would serve the PED waiting period while the group plan remained active for primary cover.
She had continuous coverage throughout the transition period. Three years later, the individual plan's PED waiting was complete, and she had full individual cover in place before the group plan lapsed.
Before you port, run the math.
Some ports save money. Some silently lose features. We can compare what you have with what you're moving to — before you commit.
WhatsApp our team · freeCommon questions.
- How long does porting take?
- Typically 15–30 days from application to policy issuance. The new insurer has to request records from the old insurer, underwrite the case, and issue the policy — all before your current policy renews. Start 45 days early, not 30.
- Can my new insurer decline?
- Yes. Porting is your right to apply; it is not a guarantee of acceptance. The new insurer can decline the port application on underwriting grounds, apply a loading, or exclude specific conditions. If declined, you keep your existing policy.
- Does my no-claim bonus port if I had a small claim last year?
- No-claim bonus (or cumulative bonus) accrued on claim-free years carries over during porting. However, a claim in the preceding year typically resets or reduces the bonus. What carries is the credit for PED waiting served — not the bonus accrued on a year where a claim occurred.
- Can I port a family floater?
- Yes. A family floater can be ported to another family floater. The PED waiting credit transfers for each member. Be aware that if one member has a significant health history, the new insurer may underwrite each member individually — which can affect loading.