Switching Jobs? Keep Health Insurance Continuity and Avoid Claim Rejection

Who this guide is for

This guide is for salaried employees in India who are changing jobs and are covered today under a corporate group health insurance policy arranged by their employer. It matters most if you or your family have used the cover, are in the middle of treatment, or have a pre-existing condition. It is also useful for:

• Employees serving a notice period who want to set up cover before their last working day.
• People taking a break between jobs, where there is no overlapping employer cover at all.
• Anyone whose spouse, children or parents are covered as dependants under the current company policy.
• Employees who have served part of a waiting period and do not want that credit to reset to zero.

This guide is about prevention — setting things up correctly before and during the move. If a claim has already been rejected because your group cover had ended when you were admitted, read the companion guide first: Group health claim rejected after leaving your job.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Find your current group health policy. Ask HR for the policy document, your member number and your e-card if you do not already have them. Note the sum insured, who is covered as a dependant, and any waiting periods that still apply.

Write down three dates that decide everything: your last working day, your new joining date, and your best estimate of when the new employer will add you to its group policy. Many people assume the third date equals the joining date. It often does not — enrolment can take days or weeks after you join.

Send a short email to your current HR asking, in writing, for the exact date your group health cover ceases and whether dependants are covered until that same date. A verbal "you are covered till month-end" is not enough for a claim.

Saturday

Map the gap. Lay the three dates side by side. If your old cover stops on your last working day, but the new policy starts only after enrolment, the period in between is a cover gap. A hospitalisation in that gap may not be paid by either policy. Mark the gap clearly for yourself and for each family member.

Decide your bridge. There are two common routes, and they are not the same thing:

• Portability (group to retail): You convert your group cover into your own retail (individual) policy with an insurer. The big advantage is that, under IRDAI portability rules, you can carry forward the credit for waiting periods you have already served, including the pre-existing disease waiting period. This must be applied for in time.
• Fresh retail policy as a bridge: You simply buy a new individual health policy. This is quick, but a brand-new policy usually starts its waiting periods from zero unless you invoke portability.

If you have a pre-existing condition or have served part of a waiting period, portability is usually worth the effort. If the gap is short and you are otherwise healthy, a fresh policy may be enough. Call the insurer's helpline and ask which option fits your case and what the current portability timeline is.

Sunday

Get the paperwork moving. If you are porting, ask the insurer for the portability proposal form and the list of documents. If you are buying fresh cover, complete the proposal online. In both cases, declare every pre-existing disease and past treatment honestly. Non-disclosure is the single most common reason a health claim is later rejected.

List who needs cover. If your parents or spouse were dependants on the company policy, confirm whether the new employer's policy will cover them. If not, arrange separate cover for them too. Do not let a parent's cover lapse silently.

Start a single continuity file on your phone or laptop. Put the old policy, the HR cease-date email, the new or ported policy, and every declaration in one folder. You will thank yourself if a claim is ever questioned. For the wider picture of how insurers assess such claims, see our guide on pre-existing disease claim rejection and appeal.

Documents and evidence checklist

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1 — Confirm the exact cease date of your old cover

Before you resign, or as early in your notice period as possible, email HR and ask for the precise date your corporate group health cover stops. Ask specifically whether dependants are covered until that same date. Some employers keep you on cover until the end of the calendar month; others end it on your last working day. Get the answer in writing. A claim assessor looks at the policy period, not at what someone told you on a call.

Step 2 — Map the gap between exit and new cover

Put three dates on one line: your last working day, your new joining date, and the date the new employer expects to enrol you in its group policy. The third date is the one people miss. Enrolment commonly happens after a new joiner gives HR their details, and that can take time. Any period where neither policy covers you is the gap you must close. Mark it for yourself and for each family member, since dependants may have a different gap.

Step 3 — Choose portability or a bridge policy

If you have served part of a waiting period, or have a pre-existing condition, lean towards portability. Under IRDAI portability rules, moving from a group policy to a retail policy (or between insurers) lets you carry forward the credit for waiting periods already served. If you are healthy and the gap is short, a fresh retail policy may be simpler. Speak to the insurer and ask which route preserves the most benefit in your situation, and confirm the current timeline, because exact windows are set by regulation and the insurer's process.

Step 4 — Apply before the old cover lapses

Timing is everything. Submit the portability application, or buy the bridge policy, before your old group cover ends. If you wait until after it has lapsed, you may lose the continuity benefit and have to start waiting periods afresh. Declare every pre-existing disease and past treatment in the proposal form. Group cover often did not ask for detailed medical history, so this step is easy to overlook — and skipping it is the top cause of later rejection.

Step 5 — Enrol promptly in the new employer's policy

On your first day, give HR your details and your dependant list immediately. The sooner you are enrolled, the smaller the gap. Confirm the start date of the new group cover in writing and download your new e-card. Check the sum insured and room-rent or co-pay terms, which can differ from your old policy. A different room-rent limit can lead to a proportionate deduction at claim time — see our guide on room-rent caps and proportionate deductions.

Step 6 — Keep one continuity file

Save the old policy, the cease-date email, the portability or bridge policy, the new e-card and every PED declaration in a single folder. If a claim is ever questioned, this file lets you show unbroken cover and honest disclosure. It is your strongest protection against a timing-based or non-disclosure rejection.

Escalation ladder

This ladder applies when something goes wrong — for example, a claim during the gap is disputed, or the insurer refuses to honour the portability credit you applied for.

Copy-paste request template

Use this to ask HR for the exact cover cease date. Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending.

When RTI can help

The Right to Information Act, 2005 applies to public authorities. For most people changing jobs, the players here — a private employer, a private insurer and a private third-party administrator (TPA) — are not public authorities, so RTI usually has no role in a continuity problem.

There are narrow exceptions:

• Government or PSU employer: If your old or new employer is a government department or a public sector undertaking, you may use RTI to seek records about the group policy it arranged and the cover dates it notified to the insurer.
• A public-sector insurer's own decision-making is still commercial: Even where the insurer is a public-sector general insurance company, your claim and portability are handled as commercial insurance matters. The faster route remains the insurer's grievance cell and IRDAI, not RTI.

If you do file an RTI against a government employer, our step-by-step RTI filing guide walks you through it, and the first appeal guide under Section 19 covers what to do if there is no reply. For wider strategy, The RTI Playbook explains how to use RTI alongside regulator complaints.

When RTI will not help

RTI has clear limits in a health insurance continuity situation:

• RTI cannot force a private insurer to act: It cannot make an insurer honour portability, restore a waiting-period credit, or pay a claim. The insurer grievance cell, IRDAI's Bima Bharosa portal and the Insurance Ombudsman are the right forums for that.
• RTI cannot reach a private employer's HR files: If your employer is a private company, RTI does not apply to its internal benefits records. Ask HR directly and keep the email trail.
• RTI cannot fix a missed deadline: If your old cover has already lapsed and you did not port in time, RTI cannot reinstate the continuity. Prevention, done before the cease date, is the only reliable protection.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming cover continues after your last day: Many group policies stop on the last working day. Confirm the cease date in writing before you rely on it.
• Forgetting the enrolment gap at the new job: The new policy may not start the moment you join. Treat the period until you are actually enrolled as uninsured unless you have a bridge.
• Buying a fresh policy instead of porting: A brand-new retail policy usually restarts all waiting periods. If you have served waiting periods or have a pre-existing condition, portability protects that credit.
• Letting dependants' cover lapse: Parents and spouse covered under the company floater lose cover when you exit. Arrange separate cover for anyone the new policy will not include.
• Not declaring pre-existing diseases on the new form: Group cover rarely asked for detailed history, so people forget on the retail proposal. Non-disclosure is the leading cause of later claim rejection. Declare everything.
• Acting only after a hospitalisation: Continuity must be arranged before you need it. Once admitted in a cover gap, your options shrink to disputing the rejection later.
• Keeping no records: Without the old policy, the cease-date email and your declarations, you cannot prove continuous cover. Build the single continuity file early.
• Ignoring policy term differences: A new policy may have a different room-rent cap, co-pay or sub-limits. Read these before you rely on the cover, so a claim is not cut down unexpectedly.

If, despite your best efforts, a claim is rejected because of timing on exit, do not give up — see how to appeal a group health claim rejected after leaving a job. If you need to escalate any insurance complaint, our guide on filing an insurance complaint with IRDAI sets out the steps.