It is always good to be prepared for tricky situations. Read more about what happens when you can’t pay your health insurance premium!
Health insurance is a part of adult life. Health insurance keeps you and your family safe both medically and financially. There are several benefits of joining a comprehensive health insurance policy. Before we get into the details of what happens when you can’t pay, let’s take a look at the Oneplan benefits that come your way when you can pay your health insurance premium.
The perks of Oneplan Health Insurance
- Get money in your pocket before you see the doctor (a doctor of your choice, may we add)
- Keep track of your policy via the Oneplan App
- Gain access to routine and day-to-day cover
- Private healthcare when and where you need it
- Log your claim via the app and pay using your unique Oneplan Claim Card
Hospitals and doctors are expensive – we’re sure we don’t need to tell you that. Having health insurance on your side means that you are prepped and ready for when accidents happen. If you fall ill, need medication or require specific treatment, your health insurance policy helps you get there.
Did you know that Oneplan also offers gap cover? Find out more about bridging the gap in your medical payments.
What is a health insurance premium?
We like to make sure that everybody is on the same page when it comes to insurance lingo. So, if you were wondering, let’s take a quick look at what an insurance premium is.
A premium is a fancy word for a monthly payment. Easy as that! We have a team of risk assessors who put your health insurance premium together. They have a series of processes used to calculate the best premium for the policy you’re after. And we really do mean it when we say we try to give you the best premium.
We know that tons of people are living month to month and we wouldn’t want your health insurance premium to be a stressful payment to fulfil.
Each month, you will be responsible for paying your insurance bill. If you fail to pay on time, your agreed-upon amount will be paid via debit order off of the bank account you have linked to your policy. This means that payment is automatic and should your account not have enough money in it, the premium will bounce and we will reach out to see if you can pay the required amount. If there are sufficient funds but you have failed to pay independently, you will have to pay for any bank charges incurred.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed about the ins and outs of health insurance, read up on a step-by-step guide to understanding health insurance plans.
What if I cannot pay my premium?
Insurance companies are all about risk and reward. As much as we want to be able to support you in your moments of need, we also need to put rules in place to protect our own assets.
That’s why there are penalties put in place for not being able to pay your health insurance premium.
We don’t cancel your policy if you can’t pay immediately – we know that life gets complicated and we try to give you as much breathing room as we can. 15 days, to be exact. We call these 15 days your grace period.
What is a grace period?
As we mentioned, a grace period extends to the 15th day of the month and gives you time to pay your premium.
During your grace period, your policy will be paused but it will not be cancelled. That means you won’t be able to claim for any accidents, illnesses or medications covered by your policy but when you do pay, your policy will pick up from where we left off.
Downgrading your policy
We get that sometimes life can change, so you can change your plan when it does. Remember when we said you could keep track of your policy straight from the Oneplan App? That means you can upgrade or downgrade your policy whenever and wherever.
Let’s say you’re predicting that you won’t be able to afford your premium in two months but you still need health insurance, you can then consider downgrading your plan to a more budget-friendly policy. You just need to give us one month’s notice to get our ducks in a row and then we will start charging you for your new policy.
Here’s the thing: all of our plans include admirable routine benefits and day-to-day cover. We believe that everybody should be able to have the financial support they need to access excellent healthcare and affordable health insurance premiums, even when money is a little tight.
Your Health Insurance Family,
Oneplan
