Some of you may be aware or not, that HDFC has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Apollo Munich health insurance for Rs 1495.81 crore. HDFC bought a 51.16% stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance post, receiving all required approvals from IRDAI, Competition Commission of India, and Reserve Bank of India by January 1.
Following the approvals (regulatory), Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company has been renamed HDFC ERGO Health Insurance Ltd. HDFC ERGO Health will run the business as a subsidiary of HDFC Ltd.
Later on, HDFC ERGO General and HDFC ERGO Health will apply to the National Company Law Tribunal to go ahead with the merger. After the merger, the resulting entity will become the second-largest private insurer in India’s health and accident insurance segment.
Table Content
What’s changed for Policyholders?
Let us discuss what is changed for policyholders due to the acquisition of Apollo Munich Health Insurance by HDFC ERGO Health. There are some clarifications from HDFC ERGO Health for the existing policyholders of Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company.
- There is no change in the existing policy terms & conditions, and your policy will remain active with the benefits specified in the policy document.
- The continuity benefits shall remain available according to the policy terms and conditions.
- All active policies under Apollo Munich shall remain applicable until expiry and don’t require revisions. At the renewal of the health cover, a new health insurance contract with the new company name will be issued. The health card issued by Apollo Munich shall remain valid until the expiry of the policy.
- If you have made payment to Apollo Munich for issuing an insurance policy, the documents submitted by you shall remain valid, and the policy will be issued.
- All existing Apollo Munich Health Insurance policyholders will have access to all the network hospitals of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance.
- To process claims, you only need to register the claim on www.hdfcergohealth.com / www.apollomunichinsurance.com. You may write to care@hdfcergohealth.com / customerservice@apollomunichinsurance.com or call on toll-free number 1800-102-0333.
- There is no change in contact details as far as policy servicing is concerned. The renewal process of the policy issued by Apollo Munich will remain the same.
- After the acquisition, there is only a change in the ownership and not an entity; all the renewal and claim-related processes will remain the same.
Take a look at the Facts
After this merger, there was a massive boom in the insurance market; this merger has created history to become the second-largest private health insurance company with a 7.2% market share and the third-largest private general insurance company with a 6.4% market share.
Talking about GWP based on the acquisition price in the financial year 19, both companies’ gross written premium is Rs 2194 crores for Apollo and Rs 8277 crores for HDFC.
HDFC Ltd Chairman Deepak Parekh has said about this merger, “What is particularly attractive for us is Apollo Munich’s strong agency network with over 70,000 agents. A diversified distribution network is essential to strengthening market position”. HDFC ERGO would retain all the employees of Apollo Munich. “We believe this valuation is reasonable, and this transaction will result in strong synergies and bring in economies of scale.”
Concluding Words
As there is no change in the existing Apollo Munich insurance plans and their benefits, it’s no point in worrying for existing policyholders of Apollo Munich Health Insurance. With this acquisition from HDFC ERGO Health, the network hospitals will now be more for the Apollo Munich policyholders.
All the contact points, renewal, and policy claims processes are the same, so there will be a seamless experience for any policy servicing query for the existing policyholders.