• Quick intro
• HDFC Ergo Insurance Review: What was good?
• HDFC Ergo Insurance Review: What could have been better?
• Summing up!

After exploring the process of buying health insurance from insurance portals and aggregator platforms like PolicyBazaar, Ditto, and PhonePe, we wanted to find out the experience of buying health insurance directly from the insurance company’s website. What are the differences between buying from an aggregator’s website and an insurer’s website? Is the process simpler? 

So, one of the insurance companies we decided to audit is HDFC Ergo. They offer a variety of products ranging from health, motor, travel, home, and personal accident insurance in the retail space, customised products like property, marine, and liability insurance in the corporate space, and crop and cattle insurance in the rural space. 

In this Beshak Test Drive: HDFC Ergo Health Insurance Review, we set out to review the entire experience of buying health insurance from HDFC Ergo, one of the top insurance companies in our country. Here are our learnings. 

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Products Arranged in a User-friendly Manner on the Website 👍

HDFC Ergo health insurance products are arranged systematically on the website - in a way that they are easily accessible by the users. Everything is readily available - information about each product, its features, riders you can opt for, and so on. They also allow you to compare various health insurance products. You can also download the policy wordings and brochure from the website itself.

Smooth Payment Experience 👍

There are two premium payment options available with HDFC Ergo - you can choose to pay your premiums either annually or via EMI. The company’s representative explained the entire payment process in detail and ensured that our payment experience was smooth and hassle-free.

Also, a few insurance companies require you to fill out a detailed proposal form after the payment is done. However, in the case of HDFC Ergo, we were not asked to fill any form after the payment was completed.

Quick Policy Issuance 👍

Right after the payment was made, HDFC Ergo issued the health insurance policy. We received a confirmation on WhatsApp as well as an email with the policy documents.

No Spamming & Chasing 👍

The main problem with most insurance companies and portals is that the moment you enter your phone number on their website, you’ll start receiving calls and messages. This, however, is not the case with HDFC Ergo. We did not receive any spam or unsolicited calls during or after the policy was purchased.

Post-purchase Experience 👍

After you make the payment, you might have some queries related to the policy or you might have to make changes to the policy. For this, HDFC Ergo provides 24X7 post-issuance support. 

Also, a non-financial endorsement (making changes in the name, address, email, phone number, etc.) can be done at any time, whereas a financial endorsement (increasing the sum insured, changing the policy duration, opting for riders, etc.) can be done only at the time of renewing the health insurance policy at HDFC Ergo, not in the middle of the policy term.

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Quality of Advice 👎

The representative had decent knowledge about the HDFC ergo health insurance products listed on the website and he was a little pushy. Every time we enquired about a product or its feature, it seemed as if he was rushing and was more interested in selling the policy than answering our queries. 

Claims Process Explanation 👎

While the representative from HDFC Ergo explained both the cashless and reimbursement claims process to us, he didn't inform us about the list of documents that need to be submitted at the time of claim. We did not find any information about what documents are needed at the time of claim on HDFC Ergo’s website as well. Only after inquiring about the same multiple times, the representative told us we’ll have to submit the scanned copies of original hospital bills. 

If you’re planning to buy health insurance from HDFC Ergo, ensure you’re aware of the claims procedure and the list of documents you’ll have to submit at the time of claim. So that if the need arises, your claim is approved quickly, without any hassle.

Policy Cancellation & Refund 👎

The cancellation process at HDFC Ergo was not smooth at all - we had to go through a lot of complexities. When asked about the cancellation and refund procedure, the representative said they’ll send a link through which a cancellation request can be raised. He had clearly mentioned that no cancelled cheque will be required if we’re cancelling the policy in the free look period and the refund amount will be credited within a day. However, when we clicked on the link, we were asked to add some bank details and upload a copy of the bank passbook or a cancelled cheque.

When we contacted their customer care for this, the agent insisted we submit a cancelled cheque if we wanted to go ahead with the cancellation - he didn't even listen to our query properly. We had to follow up multiple times, and only then the matter was escalated. A senior official informed us they would process the cancellation request and credit the amount to our bank account within 7 days. 

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Our journey with HDFC Ergo, from purchase till payment was pretty good. Some things we really liked - 

• A lot of health insurance products with multiple customization options are available with them. 
• We did not get any unsolicited calls or messages.
• Our payment experience was very smooth and the policy was issued right after the payment. 

Some things we did not like - 

• We did not receive proper advice and support from their representatives. 
• The representatives failed to resolve our issues and had incomplete knowledge about what documents will be needed at the time of claim and policy cancellation. 
• We had to go through a lot of challenges while cancelling the policy, and our refund was processed only after the matter was escalated. 

Getting the right advice, timely support, proper explanation about various processes are some of the most important things for any insurance customer. And, in our opinion, these are the areas the HDFC Ergo needs to work on a lot.

Did you like this Beshak Test Drive: HDFC Ergo Health Insurance Review? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

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