It is the fear that keeps millions of Indians locked into mediocre health policies: 'If I switch insurers, I lose all the waiting periods I have already served.' Under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India's (IRDAI) portability regulation, that fear is largely misplaced. Portability lets you move your individual or family-floater health policy to another insurer while transferring the waiting periods you have already completed.

Read more: IRDAI's 2026 Health Insurance Overhaul: 8 Changes That Reshaped Coverage for Every Indian.

What Portability Actually Preserves

When you port, your new insurer must recognise:

  • Initial waiting period already served under the old policy.
  • Pre-existing disease (PED) waiting period already undergone.
  • Disease-specific waiting periods already completed.

Also preserved are continuity benefits such as cumulative bonus/no-claim records and the absence of a fresh waiting period — subject to the new insurer's own product features. This is the single biggest advantage of porting versus buying a fresh policy.

Rules You Must Know

  • Portability applies at renewal time — the request must be made within the specified window before your current policy's renewal date (typically 30-45 days).
  • The new policy must be issued at least at the same sum insured and cover the same or more members to get the full continuity benefit.
  • Only individual and family floater health policies are portable; group policies and top-up/super-top-up products have different rules.
  • Your new insurer may re-underwrite based on your current health — a port is not a guaranteed acceptance.

How to Port Step by Step

  1. Review your renewal date and the 30-45 day window for applying to the new insurer.
  2. Complete the portability form (found on the new insurer's website or app) and give details of your current policy — policy number, sum insured, claim history.
  3. Provide accurate answers to the medical questionnaire; your old policy documents support continuity claims.
  4. Once the new insurer confirms and issues the policy before renewal, the waiting-period credits apply from day one.
  5. Cancel the old policy — do not let it lapse before the new one is active, or you lose continuity.

    6. When You Should Port

    • Your insurer has poor claim-settlement ratios or slow cashless processing.
    • A competitor offers a better PED period, lower premium for the same cover, or more network hospitals.
    • Your family has changed — a newborn, an ageing parent — and your current product no longer fits.
    • Your existing insurer has breached service norms you rely on.

    When Porting Makes No Sense

    If you have already served long waiting periods and your current insurer otherwise treats you well, switching just a few thousand rupees of premium may not justify re-underwriting risk. Also avoid porting continuously — each move is a fresh underwriting event.

    The fastest way to compare before porting: check the insurer's claims-settlement ratio and network list, run a porting quote on the official Bima portal or the insurer's site, and read the new policy document's PED annexure before signing.

    Source: BimaNiti analysis, IRDAI portability regulations (2026)