Migration vs Portability — Key Differences
Migration and portability both let a policyholder change health cover without losing earned credits. Migration stays with the same insurer; portability moves to a different one. This lesson sets the two side by side.
Two routes, one purpose
A policyholder may want to change cover for many reasons: a different set of features, a product being withdrawn, or leaving a job that provided group cover. The worry is always the same: losing the waiting periods already served and the other credits built up through continuous cover. Migration and portability are the two routes that keep those credits.
Migration means moving to another health product of the same insurer. Portability means moving an indemnity policy to a different insurer. The test is simply whether the insurer changes.
Where the rules sit
Both are set out in IRDAI's Master Circular on Health Insurance Business of 29 May 2024, issued under the IRDAI (Insurance Products) Regulations, 2024. Older material cites the 2016 health insurance regulations; those were repealed from 1 April 2024.
Migration is expressly open to members of group policies as well. When an employee covered under an employer's group policy moves to an individual policy of the same insurer with credits carried over, the circular's word for that move is migration.
What is common to both
In both routes, credits for sum insured, no-claim bonus, waiting periods and the moratorium carry over to the extent of the earlier cover. An increase in the sum insured may be underwritten and may carry its own waiting period, as set by the policy.
Neither route guarantees the premium. The new product or the new insurer has its own price, and the credits concern cover, not cost. Portability additionally runs to a timeline: the existing insurer supplies data within 72 hours and the new insurer decides within 5 days.
Rules at a glance
Illustration: one person, both routes
Vikram has been a member of his employer's group health policy for four years. On resigning, he takes an individual policy with the same insurer, with credit for his continuous cover up to the group sum insured. The insurer has not changed, so this is migration.
Two years later he moves that individual indemnity policy to another insurer, again keeping his credits. The insurer has changed, so this is portability. In both moves, had he asked for a higher sum insured, the extra amount could have been underwritten and given its own waiting period.
Key points
- Migration is a move to another product of the same insurer.
- Portability is a move of an indemnity policy to a different insurer.
- Both are in the IRDAI Master Circular on Health Insurance Business of 29 May 2024.
- Migration is open to members of group policies too.
- In both, earned credits carry over to the extent of the earlier cover.
- Neither route guarantees the premium.
Common misunderstandings
- Migration is not a change of insurer: the insurer stays the same and only the product changes.
- A group member moving to an individual policy of the same insurer is not porting: the circular calls it migration.
- Carried-over credits are not unlimited: they apply to the extent of the earlier cover, so a higher sum insured can bring a fresh waiting period for the increase.
- Neither route fixes the premium: the price is that of the new product or insurer.
Questions people ask
What is the quickest way to tell the two apart?
Ask whether the insurer changes. Same insurer, different product is migration; different insurer is portability.
Does the moratorium count continue after either move?
Yes, credit for the moratorium carries over to the extent of the earlier cover in both.
Are the 2016 health regulations still the source?
No. They were repealed from 1 April 2024; the 2024 regulations and Master Circular apply.
What this lesson relies on
- IRDAI Master Circular on Health Insurance Business (29 May 2024) — migration and portability
- IRDAI (Insurance Products) Regulations, 2024
This lesson was reviewed independently against these sources on 8 October 2026. Rules change: check the current regulation, scheme document or policy wording before relying on any figure. This is education, not advice.