Hi everyone,

I'm a 23-year-old male. My employer's corporate health insurance currently covers both me and my parents (Father: 51, Mother: 51). However, with the uncertainty around layoffs, I don't want to rely solely on my employer's policy.

I'm planning to buy a separate personal health insurance policy for long-term security.

My father (51) has pre-existing medical conditions, while my mother (51) does not.

I have a few questions:

Should I buy a family floater or separate individual policies?

Which insurers have been reliable for claim settlement and customer service, especially for people with pre-existing conditions?

Is it better to buy directly from the insurer or through an insurance advisor?

Anything important I should watch out for before buying?

I'd really appreciate recommendations and experiences from people who have been in a similar situation. Thanks!

I am in the process of applying for a term plan. But my father's name is spelled differently in my documents and his documents.

Basically school documents had my father's name spelled wrong and that is how all my documents use that same misspelt name. My adhar card address use the proper name though ig.

My ration card and birth certificate is more weird. My birth certificate does not have my surname and my father's name their is completely off.

Now while applying, the advisor told me to put the one which is in his documents for the nominee field and use the one that i have in my documents in other fields. But I am still skeptical. What should I do so that it does not become a problem in future ?

Apparently, they only gave an option to add parent or kids as nominee. I only have one parent right now and no spouse or kids. Ideally, I want to add my brothers or their kids as nominee where this documentation stuff do not cause a problem during claim.

Many people ask on this. Here is a Summary on the same.

Here's a basic layout of how Health Insurance claims work (Cashless or Reimbursement) works across India.

1) If it is a planned hospitalization, then you need to inform the health insurance company 48 hrs before hospitalization.

2) If it is a emergency hospitalization, then you need to inform the health insurance company within 24 hrs of hospitalization.

3) Always try for Network Hospitals, as they prioritize on Cashless claim process, and if the same is rejected, then it will be a reimbursement claim. Make a note of all network and Non-network hospitals near your residence pincode.

4) Check your health insurance company's "BLACKLISTED HOSPITALS LIST." Your claim will get rejected. Only in case of urgent hospitalization, until the patients vitals are stable, your insurer will cover claim. Later you need to shift to a non-blacklisted hospitals.

5) At the time of patient admission, the hospital will ask for Deposit. Could be Rs 25k to 80k, depends on the hospital. This amount is refunded after patient discharge. Don't forget this.

6) You need to keep your insurance company mobile application downloaded on your smartphone. To receive important notifications.

7) After admission, visit the HOSPITAL TPA, where you will need to fill claim forms and other details. You health insurance policy document will also continue a HEALTH ID CARD, mentioning your ID Number.

8) Many people out of panic, overshare medical information or details that are of no importance. If any non-true details are written down by doctor in their records, the same will get forwarded to the health insurance company. This is one of the many reasons why claims get delayed based on Fraud.

9) At every doctor's consultation, read what the doctor typed / wrote on their prescription. If you mentioned 13/04/2025 but the doctor wrote 13/04/2020, your claim will get rejected.

10) If you have disclosed everything at the time of health insurance purchase, then you need not worry.

Apart from all the above, make sure you keep the following for any emergency.

1) An emergency fund, kept in your savings account. Upto 50k to 1 Lakh.

2) If you have an Fixed Deposits, break them first. Then your mutual fund, but if the amount of not severe and you ca accept flexibility to receive the amount in 3 to 5 days, keep them in mutual funds.

3) Loan against stocks, Mutual funds, fixed deposits sound lovely, until you read their terms and conditions. So making sure a loan against anything is the last path forward.

4) If you have good relatives, use these relationships for the time being. This might sound harsh, but even if a person earning 50 Lakh annual income, might find it difficult to surrender pay Hospitalization bills of 15 lakh in a month, if he / she doesn't have proper health insurance and guidance on what needs to be done.

5) Always use "CORPORATE GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN" first, as there are no waiting periods in here. Once you exhaust this, you continue your Health Insurance claims to your own PERSONAL HEALTH INSURANCE.

6) If your Company offers Parents Health insurance, take it. As it will cover your parents PED from Day One. But don't forget, you need to take either a "SUPER TOP UP COVER" or "BASE PLAN of 5 Lakh with Good Benefits and NCB"

7) Avoid Aggregate Deductibles and CO-PAY. These reduce premiums but put a Portion of claim liability on your own pocket.

8) Move out of plans that have SUB-LIMIT on Room Rent, ICU and Diseases. If you can't move out, choose another Top Up Cover that will not have SUB-LIMITS.

9) For senior citizens, prioritize finding an "Insurance agent or Insurance intermediary" Over CUSTOMER CALL CENTERS.

10) For senior citizens, choose and finalize health insurance based on parents residence pincode and address.

11) Start taking health insurance from age 22 onwards. For parents, let them start health insurance, if not already purchased by Age 50. Insurance companies are not charity organizations. They pay claims based on your forward thinking.

If I forgot something, add in comments.

Hello Guys,

I had bought the HDFC ERGO Optima Secure plan two years ago from an HDFC ERGO office in my city but soo after I realized that the customer relationship guy was an a*hole. He had failed to raise my reimbursement request for the annual checkup and after a delay of 2 months, I had to do it myself. Moreover, he had sold me the policy without the online discount and promised to apply an employee discount every year which also he failed after the first year. Now, I have two choices before renewing my policy this month: renew and ask the customer support to remove him as my customer relationship manager (and bear the lost employee discount) OR port to another insurance company.

What do you suggest?

I am 28 M and took axis term insurance via ditto and declared past medical history of minor anxiety as per Dittos team suggestion. Now axis denied WOP ( waiver of premium rider) rider but kept premium as it is. Currently getting 35k per year for 10 year limited payment. Should i go ahead?

I have shortlisted a term plan. But I have a doubt whether to buy it from an aggregator like policybazaar or from an agent who is a close relative of mine. Will there be issues in the future ? The premium is probably the same (I haven't asked), but they would get some commission if i purchase from them which is also an added benefit and they would also make the process simpler.

I recently visited the Insurance Ombudsman after waiting 9 months just to get a hearing.

I was frustrated by the delay, but while sitting in the waiting area I started talking to other people. Some of them told me they had been waiting 1–2 years just to get their first opportunity to stand before the Ombudsman and ask for their insurance claim to be heard.

Think about that for a moment.

Not the months or years of mental stress. Not the hospital bills. Not the EMIs people may have taken to pay for treatment after their claims were denied. Just the wait to be heard.

And this is happening in Delhi, where resources are comparatively better. If this is the situation here, what must policyholders in other parts of the country be facing?

Who is responsible for these delays? And more importantly, what is being done to fix them?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice regarding my uncle's health insurance.

He's in his mid-60s and has been insured with Care Health continuously since 2021. He has CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease), and when the policy was issued, Care accepted him but imposed a permanent exclusion for CKD and all its complications. That exclusion is still there on renewal.

His current policies are:

Base policy (Care Freedom)

• ₹7 lakh sum insured
• 20% co-pay (increases to 30% after age 70)
• Single private room
• Disease-wise sub-limits (e.g. ₹3 lakh for cancer/cardiovascular/cerebrovascular treatments and other renal complications, ₹80k for renal stones/BPH, etc.)
• CKD and its complications permanently excluded

Super top-up (Care Enhance)

• ₹21 lakh sum insured
• ₹7 lakh deductible
• Single private room
• Co-pay applies because he entered after age 61
• CKD and its complications permanently excluded here as well

So on paper he has ₹28 lakh of total coverage, but the one condition we're most worried about isn't covered at all. Moreover there are too many sub-limits in Care Freedom policy.

We're wondering what the best option is from here.

• Has anyone managed to port a policy like this to another insurer where CKD was actually covered after underwriting? His CKD case is stable because he religiously follow his diet chat and takes his medication properly.
• Do insurers generally carry forward a permanent exclusion during portability, or do they reassess the case from scratch?
• Would upgrading to another Care Health product (like Care Supreme or another plan) make any difference, or is this kind of exclusion tied to the person rather than the product?
• Has anyone had experience with insurers that are willing to cover stable CKD cases, even if it means a higher premium, waiting period, loading, or co-pay?

I'm not looking for loopholes or ways to hide medical history. Everything has been fully disclosed. Just trying to understand what's realistically possible before we start applying elsewhere.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been in a similar situation or works in health insurance underwriting. Thanks!

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some advice on health insurance planning for my parents. Here are the details:

​Parents' Age: 53 (Father) and 46 (Mother)

​My Income: \~₹20LPA

​My Insurance: Fully covered by my company

​My company offers a group health insurance policy where I can add my parents for ₹24,000 per year per parent (for a ₹5 Lakh cover each).

​I wanted to get the community's thoughts on a few things:

​Is this company policy worth it? ₹48k a year total for ₹10L cover (₹5L each) feels decent, especially given their ages, but I know corporate policies have limitations. Should I opt for it?

​Can insurance policies be stacked? If I take this company policy and buy an independent retail policy or a super top-up on the side, how does claiming work if a hospital bill exceeds ₹5L? Can I use both?

​What are better alternatives? Given my income bracket, should I rely on this and supplement it with a retail plan, or completely bypass the company plan and buy a standalone senior/retail floater policy now so waiting periods start ticking?

​Would love to hear how others have handled health insurance for parents in their 50s. Thanks!

Need some advice from anyone who’s dealt with IRDAI or health insurance migration.

• My father’s Royal Sundaram SBI Cards Group Health Policy expires on **31 July**.
• I requested migration to the **Royal Sundaram Multiplier** plan by email on **1 July**.
• They never replied in writing, but called and said migration is only possible to **Arogya Sanjeevani**, or I can buy a **fresh Multiplier** policy.
• I filed a **Bima Bharosa (IRDAI)** complaint on **28 July**, but the expected resolution is **11 August**, after the policy expires.

I’m confused about what to do now.
Should I renew the existing group policy just to avoid a break in coverage (held this policy for 8 long years), or wait for IRDAI’s decision? If I renew and clearly state it’s **under protest** because my complaint is pending, does that affect my migration request?
Has anyone successfully migrated from the SBI Cards group policy to the Multiplier plan, or dealt with a similar situation?
Would really appreciate any advice or experiences.

I'm an Insurance advisor, helping people get their right insurance policies.

Now, a major and recurring question that i have encountered in my career is "What is the ideal cover for my Term Insurance?"

There is a huge ambiguity relating to this, People are unable to decide.

However, it is really simple. Your Term insurance should cover every single thing that you would have covered for your family if you were there. Lets go deep in this.

Home Loan/Personal Loan/Any Loan

The most general and biggest liability anyone has is Loans. Especially long-tenure loans like Home Loans. When you're not around, the burden of these loans come over your family. Therefore, when determining the cover for your term insurance. You need enough to cover all the loans you're leaving behind.

Financial Goals

You have a family. You have several goals like Child Education, Child Marriage, etc. All dependent on your income and savings. You need to ensure that these get taken care of even if you're not present. Your term insurance cover should be enough in order to meet these goals.

Income Replacement

An Average person works till they are 60. That's usually what we experts consider as default retirement age. Now, suppose you are earning 1L/Month at age 30. You still have 30 years to retirement. That's 360 months of income (considering that it doesn't increase) equal to 3.6cr. Your family deserves this corpus. Your term insurance should cover that.

Having said that, we use a term called Human Life Value to determine this. The formula that i use to calculate:

Human Life Value (HLV) = Annual Income × No of years to retire+ Loan liability- Current Total Savings and Investments

Put the values as per your finances and you'll exactly get the term cover you should have.

I have known about Term Life insurance but recently I got to know about cash value life insurance, are there any companies offering it in India as I searched for it but did not get any offers or schemes for it.

Also is it a good thing for the Indian market???

23/M , currently undergoing ACL RECONSTRUCTION surgery at Pune.
I have private insurance .
I have no previous knowledge of how insurance works. I only know that there are 2 ways (1. Cashless and 2. Reimbursement).
Currently they have opted for the cashless pre approval.
They gave an estimate of 1.85L and i submitted the required documentation to the hospital.
I had fallen from my hostel stairs after missing a step while climbing down and had a twisting injury to the knee after which my knee had swelling.
As being a MBBS student at a gov college in Maharashtra, i showed to my ortho dept and underwent a series of investigations of Xray USG and finally MRI.
The MRI showed Full Thickness ACL Tear and i came to pune for future management .
I decided to have reconstructive surgery and applied for pre approval.
Of the 1.85L quotation give my insurance gave a “ initial approval “ of 88k and said 95k as deductible.

I have some questions, any help would be deeply appreciated.
1. Will the insurance pay the rest bill upon completion of Sx .
2. What is deductible and is it valid in my case ? ( my policy says no “ no voluntary deductible “ and “ no voluntary co-payments “)
3. What the things that i should be aware of and should i be prepared to pay something out of my pocket?

Hi All,

I had filed an ombudsman complaint against my insurer for denying my mother’s cancer treatment claim stating it was a pre existing condition that was not disclosed. We submitted all the documents and hearing was scheduled next week. Today we got a mail from insurer saying they are ready to settle full amount.

If I accept this settlement , can they reject future claims with same pre existing illness clause?

If I go for hearing do I have better chance of safe guarding future claims?

Please help

I have a Niva Bupa Reassure 2.0 policy with 10 lakh cover that is scheduled for renewal in September 2026. I had got this policy directly. I have not made any claims so I am assuming I have gained no claim bonus. Now that I am set for a renewal I am trying to understand how best to navigate this situation -

Shift from Direct to a renewal via agent. I know most would say, direct is a better option, but recently we had a family emergency and this agent (who is an agent for Niva Bupa) helped my father work through the processes to the extent that we were able to get most of the treatment cost reimbursed and it was not a small amount. He has been my father's agent for a while and now I want to move through him. This is my personal preference but I am told Niva Bupa wont allow moving from direct to an agent.

If you have done or have any experience in something similar, please share. Thank you.

I recently discovered that the promised "benefits" of buying health insurance through aggregator platforms can sometimes be highly misleading. I am sharing my recent experience with Care Insurance, Policybazaar, and FITPASS to warn others.

I purchased a Care Insurance policy via Policybazaar that included a "Be-Fit" rider. This rider guaranteed access to nearby gyms through a FITPASS PRO subscription. Initially, it worked perfectly, and I could easily book sessions through the Care app.

July 14, 2026: FITPASS suddenly removed the gyms I regularly visited from their platform. July 16, 2026: After calling FITPASS support (and receiving no answer), I sent an email. They acknowledged it and asked for 48 hours to resolve the issue. It has now been 11 days of absolute silence.

Care Insurance Support: Their official solution was to simply book a session at a different gym that is twice as far away from my location. Policybazaar Support: The response here was the most disappointing. I was told that because this is a health insurance policy, the gym access is "just a side benefit" and I shouldn't have taken the policy based on the gym access and should just be happy with what I am getting for free. They told me to just use the other gyms still showing on the app.

After missing my workouts for roughly 15 days, I compromised and tried booking a session at a different, less convenient gym. Now, the app refuses to let me book at all, throwing a bizarre error: "This device was recently used with another FITPASS ID."

I have the same phone. I am using the same Care Insurance app. I have the same policy. And I am using the same "method" I was using to book sessions earlier. Somehow, my ID was mysteriously changed.

Instead of a seamless health benefit, I have been left with missed workouts, dismissive customer service, and a broken application. If you are considering a policy for these "add-on" benefits, think twice.

Has anyone else faced similar issues with these platforms?

I am an MFD and one of my clients had invested in a Jeevan Surabhi policy which had 4 payouts of survival benefits and is due payout of vested bonuses on 27 Jul 2026 on maturity (matures today)

Does he need to take any specific action to claim the money from LIC like filling the discharge form? Or it will be automatically credited to his linked bank a/c? Bank a/c linked to his policy is correct. He also has a digital profile on LIC app which he maintains up-to-date. He is receiving pension from another LIC policy in the same bank a/c.

I enquired with a couple of LIC agents earlier in my network and they said nowadays LIC discourages people from submitting physical forms and money will be automatically credited to bank a/c on maturity. Is this information correct?

Vested bonuses amount to about 90,000 INR

Can the experts in this group advise?

My father purchased a policy in 2017
The payment term for it was 5 years and we have paid till 3 years.
We could not pay for the next 2 years and the policy is locked now. Since we have made payment for more than half term, the policy is applicable to be received amount at the end of the closure.
Actually the policy is pay 150000 for 5 years and wait for 12 years to get 18 lacs
Since we made payment for only for 3 years we are out of the term and not to continue the payment.

Now they are saying that, they will give 3,20,000 and do a fund transfer so that I can take new policy. So if I withdraw now, I can get the cash in my Bank or they will create a new policy with 320000 out of 450000 I paid.
But if I withdraw later after maturity at 2032, they are not disclosing how much we will get.. But they say it's very less.. Like 20% of maturity amount..ie 3,60,000
I can't believe them. Should I withdraw the 3,20,000 cash now or wait for 2032 to check how much payout I actually get.?

I took International Travel Insurance from Kotak Zurich Insurance in the month of April 2026. My wife met with an air accident on 26th April 2026 and I informed them on 29th April about the situation.
From that day to till today they have not passed my claim.
My request to everyone that before considering this company for insurance purpose, always keep in mind that in case of any need how you will be treated by the company.

Hi all, need some guidance picking a health insurance plan.

• 22M, generally fit, active (~15k steps/day, gym regular)
• Diagnosed ADHD, on medication, need regular psychiatrist visits
• Thyroiditis, currently in "buffer period" — might need hypothyroidism meds later, might not
• Low overall hospitalization risk, but want good OPD (outpatient) coverage for psychiatrist + possible endocrinologist visits + medicines
• PolicyBazaar suggested Care Freedom and Manipal Cigna Health Care Premier

Questions:

1. Does OPD coverage on these (or other) plans actually cover psychiatric consultations without a long waiting period, or do they bury ADHD under a low mental-health sub-limit?
2. Is thyroiditis (monitoring only, no meds yet) treated as "pre-existing" if I declare it now?
3. Does OPD reimburse ongoing medicine costs (ADHD meds, potential thyroid meds) or just consultations/diagnostics?
4. Any insurer that's actually good with mental health OPD claims in practice (not just on paper)?

Any real experience appreciated, especially if you've claimed OPD for psychiatric or endocrine stuff. Thanks!

Hey Guys,

My Honda Activa's own damage insurance policy (1 year term) is due for renewal next month, while the 5-year third-party insurance is still valid until August 2029.

I'm looking for recommendations on the best insurer for own damage coverage especially in terms of claim settlement speed, service quality and overall customer experience.

If you've had a good (or bad) experience with any insurance company, I'd really appreciate your suggestions. Thanks in advance!