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HDFC ERGO logoHealth insurance review · 2026

HDFC ERGO Optima Restore

HDFC ERGO's long-running indemnity plan, sold from ₹3 lakh to ₹1 crore. The Multiplier Benefit adds 50% of your base cover on each renewal to a ceiling of 100%, and it is added whether or not you claimed. If a claim exhausts the cover, the Restore Benefit puts 100% of the base sum insured back once in the policy year, and an optional Unlimited Restore turns that into every time. Entry closes at 65, and non-medical consumables are not paid unless you add the Protector rider.

Read from HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited's own policy wording and prospectus. Last checked against those documents on . The wording you are issued is the contract.

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01The detail

Optima Restore in one table

Claim settlement ratio
97.8%FY 2024–25
95% recommended
Complaints per 10,000
8.3policies
Under 10 recommended
InsurerHDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited
Sum insured₹3 lakh to ₹1 crore, in tiers of 3 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 50 / 100 lakh

Claim settlement and complaint figures are IRDAI-published and held centrally by NYVO, not taken from the insurer's marketing.

02Cover

What Optima Restore covers

These are the terms that decide what you are actually paid when you claim. Room rent, co-pay and restoration do more to shape a settlement than the sum insured does, and they are read from HDFC ERGO's own policy wording.

FeatureThis planWhat good looks like
Co-paymentNone as standard; 10% or 20% only if you choose it for a lower premiumNo Co-payment
Room Rent LimitNo room rent sub-limit in the plan's schedule of limitsNo room rent capping
Disease sub-limitNo disease sub-limitsNo sub-limit
Multiplier Benefit50% of base sum insured each renewal to a ceiling of 100%, added irrespective of claims50% each year (Minimum upto 100%)
Restore Benefit100% of base sum insured, once per policy year100% restoration once in a year
Pre-Hospitalization60 daysAt least 60 days
Post-Hospitalization180 daysAt least 120 days
ConsumablesNot covered in the base plan – needs the Protector riderConsumables covered
Day-Care ProceduresCovered up to the sum insuredCovered without a capped list
Road AmbulanceUp to ₹2,000 per hospitalisationCovered up to the sum insured
Emergency Air AmbulanceActual cost or ₹2.5 lakh per hospitalisation, whichever is lower, within the base sum insuredIncluded
AYUSH TreatmentCovered as part of in-patient treatment, in an AYUSH hospitalIncluded
Entry age18 to 65 years for adults · 91 days to 25 years for childrenNo maximum entry age
What this plan does
03Add-ons

Optima Restore add-ons you can buy with it

Each of these costs extra and each has its own conditions. Some are genuinely worth it; several exist to patch a gap in the base plan. Ask what each one adds before it goes on your quote.

Unlimited Restore
An optional cover that adds 100% of the base sum insured every time your cover is used up during the policy year, instead of the single refill the base plan gives you. A single claim still cannot exceed base sum insured plus accrued Multiplier Benefit.
Protector Rider
Pays for the items on IRDAI's excluded list – gloves, PPE, syringes and the rest – which the base plan does not cover, and protects the sum insured.
my:health Critical Illness
A lump sum on diagnosis of any of 50 listed critical illnesses, paid regardless of what treatment costs.
Critical Advantage Rider
Covers planned treatment abroad for eight listed major illnesses.
Hospital Daily Cash Rider
A fixed daily cash amount of ₹1,000, ₹2,000 or ₹3,000 for each day in hospital, on top of the claim.
Optima Wellbeing
Outpatient benefits, which the base plan does not cover.
Individual Personal Accident Rider
A lump sum on accidental death or permanent disablement, insured for five times your base sum insured up to ₹1 crore.
04Price

Optima Restore discounts you can ask for

Published discounts on this plan. Most are applied at quote stage rather than offered, so it is worth naming the ones you qualify for. Every figure is a ceiling, not a promise - what you actually get depends on the case.

DiscountWorthWhen it applies
Family discountUp to 10%Two or more family members on the same policy under the individual option.
Long-term discountUp to 7.5% or 10%7.5% on a 2-year policy and 10% on a 3-year policy, when the premium is paid up front as a single payment.
Loyalty discountUp to 2.5%If you already hold an HDFC ERGO retail policy with a premium above ₹2,000.
Aggregate deductibleUp to 25% to 50%On a base cover up to ₹20 lakh: 25% for a ₹25,000 deductible, 40% for ₹50,000, 50% for ₹1 lakh. Above ₹20 lakh the same deductibles give 15%, 30% and 40%.
Voluntary co-paymentUp to 10% or 20%Agree to pay 10% or 20% of every claim and the premium falls by the same percentage. Once opted it cannot be removed later.
Stay Active step countUp to 8%Accrued through the year on the insurer's app and applied to the renewal premium. Above a 10,000-step daily average earns the full 8%; 5,001 to 8,000 earns 2%.

From the Optima Restore prospectus. Online, employee, loyalty and family discounts stack but are capped at 20% in total.

05Waiting periods

Optima Restore waiting periods: when each part of the cover starts

Waiting periods run from the day cover began, not from the day you fall ill, and they run in parallel rather than one after another.

Initial Waiting Period30 days
Specific Illness24 months
Pre-Existing Disease36 months

The named illnesses that wait 24 months

Payable once the policy has run 24 months without a break. An accident, and anything whose underlying cause is cancer, is covered from day one. This list is indicative – the policy wording carries the full set, grouped by organ system.

Indicative listFrom the policy wording. Your own document governs.
01Sinusitis, rhinitis and tonsillitis, and surgery on the tonsils, adenoids or nasal septum
02Cysts, polyps and fibroids, polycystic ovarian disease, endometriosis and hysterectomy
03Non-infective arthritis, gout, osteoporosis and joint replacement surgery
04Gallstones and cholecystitis, cholecystectomy, pancreatitis and hernia surgery
05Kidney, ureter and bladder stones, and benign enlargement of the prostate
06Cataract, retinal detachment and glaucoma
06Exclusions

Optima Restore exclusions: what the plan will not pay for

Every policy carries exclusions, and they are the clauses people read for the first time at claim stage. These are the ones worth knowing before you buy.

Not coveredIndicative, not exhaustive. Your policy wording is the contract.
01Any treatment taken outside India
02The non-medical items in the policy's excluded list, unless you add the Protector rider
03Treatment at a facility that does not meet the policy's definition of a hospital
04Prosthetic and other devices that can be removed without surgery
05Any condition that could have been treated on an outpatient basis without admission
06Correction of eyesight for refractive error below 7.5 dioptres
07The honest bit

Where Optima Restore falls short

No plan is right for everyone, and a page that only lists strengths is not much use to you. These are the gaps we would raise on a call before recommending it.

Worth knowing before you buyNone of these are dealbreakers on their own. They are the trade-offs this plan asks you to accept.
01You cannot buy it after 65. This is the sharpest difference from HDFC ERGO's newer Optima Secure family, which has no maximum entry age at all.
02Consumables are not covered. Gloves, PPE and the rest of the non-payable list come out of your pocket unless you pay extra for the Protector rider, and that gap routinely runs into tens of thousands on a surgical admission.
03Road ambulance is capped at ₹2,000 a trip, which will not cover an ambulance in most metros.
04The Multiplier Benefit stops at 100% of your base cover, reached after two years. After that the policy stops growing.
05A floater takes only 2 adults, so you cannot put yourself, your spouse and both parents on one floater policy.
08FAQs

Optima Restore questions, answered

Is the Multiplier Benefit a no-claim bonus?

No. The prospectus is explicit that 50% of your base sum insured is added on renewal irrespective of any claims. A claim in the expiring year does not reduce or reset what you have already built up. The limit is a ceiling, not a claw-back: the accumulated Multiplier Benefit never exceeds 100% of your base cover.

How does the Restore Benefit differ from Unlimited Restore?

The base plan restores 100% of your base sum insured once in the policy year, and if that restored amount is not used it lapses at the year end. Unlimited Restore is a separate optional cover that triggers again every time the cover is exhausted. In both cases a single claim can never exceed your base sum insured plus any accrued Multiplier Benefit, so restoration helps across several claims, not on one very large one.

Are consumables covered under Optima Restore?

Not in the base plan. The general exclusions list the non-medical items in Annexure I, which is IRDAI's standard non-payable list. The Protector rider exists precisely to make those items payable. If you are comparing this plan with one that includes consumables as standard, that difference belongs in the comparison.

What happens when I turn 66?

Nothing, provided you were already insured. Entry is what closes at 65; there is no maximum cover-ceasing age on renewal, so an existing policy carries on for life as long as you renew without a break. The problem is only for someone shopping for a first policy after 65.

Can I lower the premium?

Three levers. An aggregate deductible of ₹25,000, ₹50,000 or ₹1 lakh cuts the premium by 25% to 50% on a base cover up to ₹20 lakh. A voluntary co-payment of 10% or 20% cuts it by the same percentage. And the Stay Active step-count discount gives up to 8% off the renewal premium if you average more than 10,000 steps a day on the insurer's app. Each of them moves risk back to you, so treat them as a budget decision, not a free saving.

Does the room I choose affect what gets paid?

The plan's own list of financial limits does not set a room rent sub-limit, so there is no proportionate deduction driven by room category as standard. What your policy schedule says still governs, so check the schedule you are issued – a co-payment or deductible you opted for will show there too.

09Source documents

Read it from the insurer

We summarise. The policy wording is the contract, and it is the only document that settles a dispute. These links go to the insurer's own pages.

Optima Restore plan pagePage
Find a cashless hospital near youLocator
10Read next

Understand the terms before you commit

A plan page tells you what this policy does. These explain why each term matters and what it costs you when it is missing.

11Same insurer

Other HDFC ERGO plans we have read

HDFC ERGO files these separately, and the terms differ between them. If you are choosing within the range, compare the waiting periods and the exclusions rather than the sum insured.

Is Optima Restore the right plan for you?

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Looking at HDFC ERGO more broadly? Read our full HDFC ERGO health insurance review for their claim record, complaint ratio and every plan we cover.

HDFC ERGO Optima Restore Review 2026 | NYVO