The 60-month moratorium, explained.
The moratorium is one of the strongest protections in Indian health insurance, and one of the least known. Once it applies, an old medical history can no longer be used to refuse a claim.
What the rule says
Under the IRDAI (Insurance Products) Regulations 2024: “After completion of sixty continuous months of coverage (including portability and migration) in health insurance policy, no policy and claim shall be contestable by the insurer on grounds of non-disclosure, misrepresentation, except on grounds of established fraud.”
How the 60 months are counted
- Count from the start of your first policy, as long as cover has been continuous since then.
- Years under a policy you ported from another insurer count, and so do years under a product you migrated from with the same insurer.
- Renewing within the grace period keeps the cover continuous. The grace period is 15 days for monthly premiums and 30 days for other modes.
- The 60 months apply to your first sum insured. If you later increased it, a fresh 60 months runs on the increased part only.
What the moratorium doesn’t do
- It doesn’t protect established fraud.
- It doesn’t create cover for something your policy permanently excludes. It only stops the insurer from going back over what you disclosed when you bought the policy.
If your policy still says 8 years
The moratorium used to be 8 years. The 2024 regulations cut it to 60 months, and IRDAI required existing products to be brought in line by 30 September 2024. If your wording still says 8 years, the regulation applies.
What to do
- Find the start date of your very first policy, including any policy you ported from, and check there was no break in cover.
- If 60 months had passed before the claim, and the rejection is for non-disclosure or misrepresentation, say so in writing to the insurer’s Grievance Redressal Officer, quoting the regulation.
- Attach the old policy schedules that prove continuous cover. If the insurer doesn’t reverse it, go to the Insurance Ombudsman.
Questions people ask
Is the moratorium period 5 years or 8 years?
It is 60 months (5 years) under the IRDAI (Insurance Products) Regulations 2024. Older policy wordings said 8 years; the regulation now sets 60 months.
Does porting reset the moratorium?
No. Months under ported and migrated policies count towards the 60 months.
Can a claim still be rejected after 60 months?
Yes, for reasons other than non-disclosure or misrepresentation, such as a permanent exclusion in the policy or established fraud.