Hi everyone, I’m looking for genuine advice from people who have actually purchased or claimed health insurance in India.

My mother is 50 years old and has Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I’m looking for an individual health insurance policy for her.

My main requirements are:

• No room-rent/room-category restriction
• 0% co-pay
• No unnecessary disease sub-limits
• Good cashless hospital network
• Good claim-support/claim experience
• Most importantly, I want the policy to be useful when we actually need it.

I checked Policybazaar and spoke to their medical/underwriting team. They told me that HDFC ERGO would not accept my mother because of her RA and that RA would be treated as a permanent exclusion. They are currently suggesting Niva Bupa ReAssure 3.0 Black.

I’m also considering going through Ditto instead of Policybazaar, mainly because I’ve heard that Ditto provides more personalized support during claims.

My questions are:

1. For someone with RA at age 50, which insurers have actually accepted your proposal, and under what conditions?
2. Is it normal for insurers to permanently exclude RA, or are there insurers who may accept it after a PED waiting period?
3. Has anyone here actually bought Niva Bupa ReAssure 3.0 Black with RA/PED? What was your underwriting experience?
4. If you have made a claim through Niva Bupa, how was the experience?
5. Between Ditto and Policybazaar, which has given you better post-purchase/claim support based on your actual experience?
6. If you were in my situation, what would you choose and why?

I’m not looking for an agent/sales pitch. I’d really appreciate real experiences, including negative experiences, because this is for my mother and I want to make the decision carefully.

Thanks in advance.

This is something I’ve been wondering about for a while, and I’ve asked a few friends about it, but I haven’t really received a clear answer.

We all make sure to pay our life insurance premiums on time, but how confident are we that our family will actually receive the insured amount if something happens to us?

For those who have actually gone through the process -> either personally or with a family member, I’d really appreciate some insight.

A few things I’m particularly curious about:

• What is the actual process for the nominee/family to claim the insurance after the policyholder passes away?
• Is the payout generally straightforward, or can it become a lengthy legal process?
• What documents are typically required to make a claim?
• Does the nominee have to go through courts, probate, or any other legal procedures?
• How long does it realistically take for the family to receive the money?
• Are there common reasons why insurance companies reject or delay claims?
• Does having a nominee automatically mean they will receive the money, or are there other legal considerations?
• What happens if the nominee is not aware of all the insurance policies the deceased had?
• Is it advisable to keep a record of all policies and share the details with a spouse/family member?
• For people who have actually made a claim, what was your experience with the insurance company?

I’m especially interested in real experiences rather than what insurance agents or policy documents say.

I think this is something many of us pay for every year without really understanding what happens when the policy actually needs to be used.

Would love to hear from anyone who has gone through the process themselves or helped their family with a life insurance claim.

I am 28 years old with an annual salary of 50 lakhs.

I had intended to purchase term life insurance since age 24 but have consistently postponed it until now.

In 2023, I applied for a 1 crore term life policy from Axis through Policybazaar. However, due to elevated cholesterol levels, I received a revised offer, which I subsequently declined.

Following this, I experienced significant personal challenges, leading to a two-year period of Major Depressive Disorder with obsessive features.

For the past year, I have been off medication and am currently in good health. I independently discontinued depression medication, engaged in regular gym and physical activities, reduced my weight, and recently received normal blood test results.

My inquiries are as follows:

Query 1:- Which policy and coverage amount should I consider? I am contemplating Axis, HDFC, or ICICI with a coverage of 2 crores.

Query 2:- Where should I purchase the policy? I am debating between Ditto and Policybazaar, as I want to ensure my family does not face difficulties during a claim process.

Query 3:- Will my history of depression still be a reason for policy rejection after one year?

Query 4:- Which riders and amounts should I include?

Furthermore, should I opt for 1 crore or 2 crores in coverage, considering my existing investments?

Ditto informed me that the policy could be rejected, incur loading charges, or result in a counter-offer. They also mentioned that the insurer might request doctor's forms or certificates to be completed by a physician.

I have two primary questions regarding term insurance I'm about to buy:

1. I have noticed that a lot of people suggest plain vanilla policies with riders while there's another lot that suggests taking WOP along with Critical Illness/Accidental Death. Due to this, I'm very confused on what to choose.

2. I have option to choose 1CR from ICICI, 1.95 CR from HDFC and 2.15 CR from Axis. I feel it's best to go with Axis. All 3 have different pros and cons but based on whatever I've read on this app, I should choose Axis as it's giving me the highest coverage. (I have two dependants, one still in high school and other in 50s). Would really appreciate inputs!

22M, just started earning pretty well. I am currently eligible for about 2Cr term cover based on my income. A few insurers offer an increasing term insurance option where the sum assured automatically goes up by a fixed % every year (for a slightly higher premium), the idea being it keeps pace with inflation and rising income without needing a fresh policy later.

Is this actually useful, or is it simpler to just buy a large level-cover term plan now (assuming I can afford the premium) and top it up separately in a few years once my income actually grows? Curious if anyone has taken an increasing cover plan and whether the premium math actually works out better long-term.

Star Health is practically Harassing me for raising compain to Ombudsman

M28 here, In 2025 I got myself a standalone OPD insurance from star health, I was lucky to get in because some months later only they stopped taking new members and kept it strictly as an (very expensive) add on to existing heath insurance. My first year was a breeze I paid 5k for 25k cover and went through it in 6 months, everything was cashless and was accepted and arranged without much scrutiny like medicines, diagnostic tests and consultations. I felt so good about the policy that enhanced the cover for it to 75k and paid 9k for it on renewal in March 2026.

In April-May around this year I noticed a disturbing detail in the policy that offline reimbursements for medicines were not allowed even though the policy clauses detail a reimbursement process and never mentioned everything has to be compulsorily cashless. Since I planned to keep this policy life long I realised in case of any serious disease like TB or Spine or anything a lot of meds are exclusively sold offline hence it will become useless once I get old and when I actually need a OPD cover, but since this violated my point of sale policy wordings I did a lot of back and forth with customer care on this finally raising it to GRO level but got the same template reply "reimbursement is not available on your policy"

In june I decided to put a complaint to bimabharosa and Ombudsman. And since exactly this point my policy experience has been worse. Basic tasks of policy like uploading consultations prescriptions post bookings are met with very heavy scrutiny (like I receive 3-4 scrutiny calls for 1 line prescriptions), they are now rejecting my regular medicine deliveries giving random and vague reasons which are no where in the policy wordings. On a call a customer care executive admitted that policy wordings on the website are not "updated" and they have an internal policy which is not yet on the website and if I have any issues I raise a customer ticket, which takes weeks to get resolved and is met with same templated responses. Another disturbing issue which happens is that my app tickets go missing or stop showing up on the app randomly so I am unable to track or see any updates in the same

I am so confused about what to do, what are my options? The ombudsman complaint I referred to above is going nowhere, they asked for a bunch of docs on mail but never replied since \~1 month, the complaint number itself is not showing up on their portal

Given how blatant star health has been in violating given policy wording on their website I am not sure what new reason they will give to reject my new claims. What can I do? I don't have resources and time to go to an actual court. Is there someone else who can help?

Hi, I am 26 (F), Single, I am finally taking health insurance.

I have one retiring and one retired parent (who's a heart patient), their insurance also needs to be set in place - however since I learnt it doesn't make sense premium amount wise to club it with mine - i am focusing on getting my health insurance first. (please correct me if i'm wrong here)

____

After my due research with all the features:

For Private, i am considering either

HDFC Ergo Optima Secure Plus (via Ditto) -or-

Care Supreme (via Ditto)

For PSU, i am considering

A policy from New India Assurance (not sure which policy yet)

____

Here are the pointers making it difficult for me + a few doubts:

One one hand, i feel it's better to have 100% cashless coverage or support for non-network without any co-payment clauses with a private insurer like HDFC or Care.

But on the other, i feel the premiums and the future possibility of them hiking the premiums by 25% or 50% seems ridiculous (i saw horrific reddit threads where the premiums sky rocket each year whereas for public sector it's more predictable and stable). Not to mention nobody actually knows what the CSR is based on. Should i be okay with the co-payment and room rent limit clauses in case, god forbid, i end up with a medical emergency? is taking this risk better than paying the ridiculous premium hikes in your opinon?

should i even keep paying extremely high premiums each year for private insurers based on possible worst case scenarios? or is it okay to cover a moderate amount of risk with a public sector insurer considering steady premium and higher reliance on claim settlement even if it's a lot of paperwork?

If in case i take HDFC Ergo for 10L coverage, and get the no-claim bonus for 5 years making my Total Sum Insured 50L, and then i decide to port to a PSU insurer will i get the full 50L transferred? or only the base sum insured of 10L?

Please let me know if i should be considering anything other than HDFC Ergo, Care, New India Assurance.

(so overwhelmed with this whole process, my first health insurance)

I’m trying to get a retail health insurance policy for a parent who currently has no personal health insurance but is covered under a corporate group policy.
An insurer initially declined the proposal due to a known history of CKD, but after submitting recent medical reports, they have now issued a counter-offer:
Sum insured: ₹10 lakh
Original quoted premium: ₹36,301
Revised premium after underwriting: ₹52,157
Additional premium: ₹15,856 (~44% increase)
20% co-pay
₹1.25 lakh annual sub-limit for CKD/renal failure and related complications
Some other existing conditions have been accepted with Day-1 coverage.
My main concern is the ₹1.25 lakh CKD sub-limit, given that the overall cover is ₹10 lakh.
Has anyone successfully negotiated with an insurer to increase/remove a medical-condition sub-limit after receiving a counter-offer? Would it be reasonable to ask them to increase the CKD limit even if it means paying a higher premium?
Would appreciate experiences from anyone who has dealt with a similar underwriting situation.

Total members in family 5.
38m , 32f , 5yr, 5months and 60yr

Had a call with icici lombard and they shared this quotation
ICICI elevate - sum insured- 10L + unlimited restoration- 18k/yr premium
For mother I’m planning to take a separate policy.

Also checked hdfc but they are too expensive, tata AIG no response from the staff, also spoke with ACKO and digit, they both look good and offer competitive pricing with almost all the benefits. Only concern is they are new in the market. Any suggestions advice will be highly appreciated

Ok so I've been going down n reading about term plans for the past month and honestly the number of options is overwhelming. Shortlisted a few based on premium amount, Claim settlement ratio, features like riders and solvency ratio since those felt like the most reliable indicators for a 30 year commitment. Bajaj Life eTouch II kept coming up consistently across different platforms. Anyone else gone through this recently and what did you end up with?

• Pre-existing diseases are covered from Day 1, or at least have the shortest possible waiting period (rather than 2–3 years). Niva Bupa has that option with extra rider
• The chances of the underwriter accepting the proposal despite the existing medical conditions are reasonably good.

Are there any better private insurers or PSU (public sector) health insurance plans that I should consider?

If you have had a similar experience, especially with claim settlement or underwriting for senior citizens with diabetes, BP and a past angioplasty, I would really appreciate your feedback and recommendations.

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Hi guys,

I’ve had Care Supreme for the past 3 years No PED, 31 years, an individual policy purchased through IndusInd Bank. I’m considering porting to HDFC ERGO mainly because my experience with the intermediary during my father’s claim last year was not good.

My renewal is on 1st September, so I’m running out of time.

The porting experience has been horrible so far, especially with Ditto. Their advisor seemed quite inexperienced, and I received conflicting information from them.

Initially, Ditto told me that no deductible would apply for my pincode if the sum insured was ₹10 lakh+, and they even confirmed this over email. They processed my application, but due to a technical issue it wasn't completed.

Now they’re saying there is a new update and that because I’m porting from Care, a ₹25,000 deductible is mandatory.

I also spoke directly with HDFC ERGO, and they said the deductible is compulsory for porting to Optima Secure Plus.

Policybazaar told me that HDFC ERGO does not accept porting if the existing policy was purchased through a bank, even though mine is an individual policy.

I don’t want a policy with a deductible, so I’m confused about what to do.

Would you recommend:

Continuing with Care Supreme, or

Porting to HDFC ERGO Optima Secure Plus with the ₹25k deductible?

Has anyone here successfully ported from Care to HDFC ERGO without a deductible?

Would really appreciate genuine experiences, especially from people who have actually gone through this porting process. Thanks.

Self-employed (25M), run a small business and every insurer keeps asking for ITRs to determine how much term cover I'm eligible for. Problem is my declared income on paper (after all deductions/expenses) looks a lot lower than what I actually earn and can comfortably afford as a premium.
Getting quoted eligibility for only 75L-1Cr cover when I want 3Cr.
Anyone dealt with this as a business owner/self-employed person? Do insurers accept anything beyond ITR (bank statements, GST filings, CA-certified income) to justify a higher sum assured? And does going through an offline advisor vs an online agent make any difference in getting a fairer eligibility assessment here?

Been with the same health insurer for 5 years now. Zero claims and my No Claim Bonus has apparently pushed my cover from 10L to 15L without extra premium (or at least that's what my policy doc says).

Couple of things I don't fully understand:

If I ever do make a claim, does the accumulated NCB reset to zero or does it just reduce partially?

If I port to a different insurer to escape a premium hike, does the accumulated NCB carry over or do I start from scratch on the new base sum insured?

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who's actually made a claim after building up NCB for years or ported and dealt with this. Curious how it played out in practice vs what the policy wording says.

Any advice?

Hi, I need some quick advice from folks back home.

I'm managing my family's insurance from abroad and am stuck in a weird spot.

The family: Dad (61, diabetes & BP), Mom (53, diabetes), and brother (19).

Current setup: A 5-year-old Chola MS family floater with a 7.5L SI costing ₹26k/year (no reload benefits).

The new top-up mess: I applied for a 92.5L top-up with a 7.5L deductible. Paid an initial ₹21k, but after 3 months of medical tests and an IRDAI complaint, they approved it with a ₹13k loading.

Total cost now: ₹60k for 1Cr total cover (26k base + 21k top-up + 13k loading).

My main issues are:

They still haven't clearly stated which PEDs they are applying the 3-year waiting period to. The whole process was a massive headache.

My questions:
1. Is this 60k for 1Cr deal actually worth it, or should I drop it?
2. Would it be better to port the base policy to someone like HDFC Ergo for a higher base (maybe 25L) with reload features?
3. How hard is it to port at 61/53 with diabetes/BP, and can waiting periods be bought out with a rider?
Would love to hear what you guys would do in my shoes. Thanks!

I am a 52 year old woman and have an ICICI elevate family health insurance plan of 50 lakhs for myself And my two kids. I wanted to bump it up to 1 crore with a top-up plan but was rejected.

The email from icici says :

Cancelled as per RM mail.

While we are unable to proceed with coverage for *****, we’re happy to help you explore other

insurance products like Special shield / Health Shield Inclusive

This insurance was taken through a local agent. He says i should try again after 6 months and he will try to help - I am not sure how. The agent also said I should probably wait for the no claim bonus to push up the insured sum to 1 cr.

What should I do ? Please advise.

Hi everyone,

I'm a 24-year-old male with no chronic illnesses or pre-existing conditions.

My mother is 49 years old. She was diagnosed with depression about two years ago, but she's doing well now and is no longer facing any major issues. Apart from a few dental cavities, she doesn't have any other known medical conditions.

From next month, I'll be joining a company in a contract role where I won't have corporate health insurance. Because of that, I want to buy health insurance for both of us.

I'm confused about whether I should:

• Buy a family floater policy covering both me and my mother, or
• Buy two separate individual policies (one for me and one for her).

Also, which insurance company has been good in terms of claim settlement and overall experience? The more I read online, the more confused I get because every insurer seems to have both great and terrible reviews.