A Comprehensive Guide to Paying Health Insurance Premiums in Instalments
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Paying premiums for your health insurance policy is a big task. Failing to pay on time can result in the termination of your policy or repudiation of certain facilities. For this reason, most health insurance companies come with a flexible premium payment option that allows policyholders to make their payments in a monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annual format. In this article, we are going to tell you how you can pay your health insurance premium in installments.
A Comprehensive Guide to Paying Health Insurance Premiums in Instalments
In the recent pandemic of Covid-19, people have been faced with immense financial difficulty and might have been incapacitated to pay their premiums on time. For this reason, IRDA has allowed health insurance holders to pay their premiums in installments. While insurance premiums had to be paid annually, since September 2020, insurance premiums can now be received by health insurance providers in monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annual formats. Read on the following points to know how you can pay your premiums in installments.
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Different Payout Formats
As per the new guidelines of IRDA, you can now pay your premiums to your health insurance company in monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annual formats. This facility is available in addition to the current option of paying your premiums on an annual basis but you must inquire of your insurance provider if this facility will be available to you or not.
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Payment Relaxation
Nowadays, you can avail a payment relaxation on your premium payments. For example, if you have to pay a premium amount of INR 12,000, you have the option to change the frequency of your payment from a one time lump sum payment to INR 1,000 every month. This is a welcome change for a person who has been facing financial difficulties for a while, as paying premiums no longer remains a substantial financial commitment.
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Receive Receipts
Once you make your monthly, quarterly or half yearly premium payment, you will receive a receipt of the down payment made while purchasing the policy and subsequent receipts on the payment of further installments. You must keep these receipts to keep a track of the premium amount already paid by you.
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Receive A Grace Period
In case you are not able to pay your monthly installments on time, you will receive a grace period of 15 days. You need to make your payment during the said period to continue receiving the different benefits of your policy and the cumulative bonuses accrued during the waiting period.
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Benefit From Your Claim
In case you choose to pay your premiums in installments of 3 or 4 months, you can still benefit from receiving your claims. However, you will have to pay the balance premium at once to prevent your insurance provider from deducting it from your claim amount.
As a final note, your premium payment in installments is not going to affect your claim amount or the settlement process, and you can continue to receive the benefits and services as promised to you.
Take Away
Hopefully, this guide will help you to pay your premiums on time, in installments or in an annual fashion as convenient to you. Prominent health insurance companies such as HDFC Ergo, Bajaj Allianz and Apollo munich offer you this facility and you must check with your insurance provider to see if you can avail this facility or not. This list is however suggestive and the way you decide to pay your premiums will ultimately be contingent upon your financial contingencies.
Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.
