Free look-in period: An opportunity to review your decision

If you buy a life, health or travel insurance policy, you get a free look-in period whereby you can take a look at the terms and conditions of the policy and if you are not satisfied due to any reason or you think that the policy is not suitable for you and you were mis-sold the policy by the agent, you can return the policy and get a refund of the amount of premium paid by you, net of costs incurred by the insurance company in issuing the policy and other applicable charges. In a way, the free look-in period gives you a chance to review your decision to buy the policy and if you think that your decision was incorrect or you were misled into taking the policy, you can simply return it and get refund of the insurance premium paid by you. By giving you a free look-in window, the insurance company is not doing you any favour, because under the law, giving such a free look-in period is mandatory for all insurance companies.

The free look-in period is for 15 days from the date of receipt of the policy document. However, since health insurance policy is usually issued for a one-year period, the free look-in window is available only for first-time purchase and not for renewals. Also, if the health or travel insurance policy term is for a period of less than one year, the free look-in window is not available.

If the policyholder returns the policy during the free look-in period, the insurance company refunds the insurance premium after deducting costs and charges. The costs that the company deducts from the insurance premium include cost of insurance cover for the period for which the policy was in force (that is, from the date of receipt of policy document to the date of return by the policyholder), stamp duty charges for issuing the policy bond and costs of medical check-ups. In the case of life insurance policy, 100% costs of medical check-ups will be deducted, whereas in the case of health insurance policy, 50% cost will be deducted by the insurance company.