• The insurance policy that has to be ported must be valid. Both policies should have a similar cover at the time of renewal. The porting should be done around the time of policy renewal
• ​Waiting period also gets ported. If you bought a health insurance policy that has a 2 year waiting period for pre-existing ailments and then port to another insurance policy which also has a 2 year waiting period, you need not have any more waiting period.
• You can ask for an increased cover when you port your health insurance policy. But you will have to serve the waiting period for the difference in amount.
• No Claim bonus can also be ported to the new insurance policy that you are getting, For example, if you did not make any claim in the last two years, your sum assured would have gone higher but premium would be same. When you port, you will get a policy equivalent to the new sum assured which means your premium increases.
• You need not pay any money for portability. If you are using the services of an agent, do remember that they do not get any commission from the porting process.
• The new insurer will gather details of the client and then decide whether insurance policy can be issued.  The new insurer can accept or reject the portability request based on their assessment of risk and premium payable. The insurer has to respond within 15 days else the portability is deemed to be accepted.
• The insurer can reject the portability request. In case, the person insured is old, the new insurance company may reject the proposal for portability. If the person has contracted some disease after taking the insurance policy or the insurer is not satisfied with the recent medical check-up, the portability request can be rejected. Companies are not keen to take over policies of people older than 45 years.
• On the other hand, if the new insurer is giving added benefits or features not present in the previous plan, you can check if you are eligible. 
• One should be aware of all rules and regulations while porting a policy. The insured will have to fill the proposal form, portability form and submit relevant documentation. 

Portability should be considered in the following cases –

• The current policy is not satisfactory. 
• You are leaving your job and the health cover provided by your company will be no longer valid.
• Check the new policy. Sometimes if you have made a claim for a particular ailment, that may be excluded in the new policy. Sometimes all benefits will not be passed on. If you are at a disadvantage in the porting process, it may be better to continue with the existing policy.
• When you are young and healthy, consider porting the policy. It is difficult to get the policy ported when you are old.