What happens if I miss a premium payment?
Life happens and sometimes we miss a premium payment. Although this is not ideal, there are a few things you can do to make sure you don't lose your cover.
The first thing to remember is that our health insurance is payable monthly in advance. This means that the insurer needs to have received your premium payment before they offer you cover under your chosen benefits.
Grace Period
There is a 15 day grace period from the 1st of the month to make arrears payments for any outstanding premiums. If the insurer receives your payment during this time then your policy will remain in effect.
However, during the grace period, you will not be able to claim for any benefits while there is an outstanding premium. Once the policy is paid up (within this grace period), then your cover will resume and your claims will be processed.
For example:
- Your premium is due on the 1st of July but you miss this payment. You have until the 15th of July to make that payment in arrears.
- Any claims between the 1st and 15th of July will not be processed until the premium is received before the 15th of July.
- If you don't make the payment by the 15th of July then your policy will lapse and you'll have to consider reinstatement.
Reinstatement
Once a policy has lapsed, you will need to reinstate your policy in order to have cover for your chosen benefits. There are two scenarios here:
- You reinstate within 2 months of the policy lapsing by paying in any outstanding premium payments. Your original policy will be re-activated and no waiting periods will be affected.
- You reinstate after 2 months of the policy lapsing. Your policy's start date will be moved to the new reinstatement date and new waiting periods will be applied accordingly.
Reinstatement is subject to approval from the insurer. It is important to note that once a policy has lapsed, your cover is suspended and no claims will be processed until it is reinstated or a new policy is taken out.
