What is the Free Look Period in Health Insurance?

Are you not satisfied with your new health insurance policy? If yes, you can easily cancel your policy without any hassle during the free-look period.

This period is specifically designed to help policyholders review their new policy terms and cancel them without penalties. In fact, as per the 2024 guidelines of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), every Insurance provider must have a 30-day free-look period in their policy.

Why Should You Consider a Free Look Period in Health Insurance?

1. This period protects the policyholder if an agent or company misrepresented policy benefits or terms.

2. Provides you with an opportunity to compare your current policy with other market options. This way, you can ensure you have the best coverage for your needs.

3. Prevents you from being locked into a long-term commitment that does not meet your expectations or medical goals.

What are the Key Aspects of the Free Look Period?

• Duration: The free-look period starts from the date of policy commencement till 15 to 30 days, depending on the policy guidelines. Any cancellation request after this period can come with a high penalty.

• Applicability: This benefit only applies to new and long-term health insurance policies. Therefore, you can not get this benefit during renewal or portability.

• Required Details: To request the cancellation, you have to provide details such as the date of receiving the policy document and your bank details.

• Documentation: You need to submit the original documents for the cancellation of the policy. These documents mainly include a receipt of the first paid premium and the policy paper.

• Refund is Not Full: During cancellation, your health insurance provider charges a minimal amount for certain services. For example, stamp duty cost, proportionate risk premium, and expenses of medical tests conducted by the insurer during policy Initiation.

How does the Free-look Period Work?

To understand how this period works, have a look at the following example.

Mr Roy bought a health insurance policy with ₹25 lakh online. However, after 10 days of buying this policy, he realised the policy misses some crucial features like daycare procedures and a personal accident add-on.

Therefore, he uses the free-look period and switches to a better policy within 30 days, where these benefits are available.

How to Cancel a Health Insurance Policy During the Free-look Period?

• Step 1:Contact the customer care of your insurer or your agent to submit a cancellation request.

• Step 2: Your insurer will tell you to submit the cancellation form and request documents, such as payment receipts or policy copies.

• Step 3:Once you have submitted the cancellation form with the documents, your insurance company will likely process a refund of the premium within 7 working days.

Final Words

Free-look period is an essential feature for customer protection that gives you the opportunity to review the policy in detail.

Therefore, while purchasing a policy, you should properly utilise this feature to have the best coverage for future medical emergencies.