Star Health Assure Review 2026

01The detail

Assure in one table

Claim settlement ratio

89.3%FY 2024–25

95% recommended

Complaints per 10,000

53.9policies

Under 10 recommended

Insurer	Star Health & Allied Insurance Company Limited
Sum insured	₹5 lakh to ₹2 crore, in tiers of 5 / 7.5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 200 lakh. Cover above ₹50 lakh needs entry at 65 or below; join after 65 and the plan caps at ₹50 lakh, including on renewal.

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

02Cover

What Assure 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 Star Health's own policy wording.

Feature	This plan	What good looks like
Co-payment	10% of every claim if the insured person joins at 61 or above	No Co-payment
Room Rent Limit	Any room except a suite from ₹10 lakh cover upward; 1% of sum insured per day at ₹5 lakh and ₹7.5 lakh	No room rent capping
Disease sub-limit	No disease-wise caps. Modern treatments are paid up to the full sum insured	No sub-limit
No Claim Bonus	25% of the sum insured for each claim-free year, accumulating to 100%	50% each year (Minimum upto 100%)
Restoration Benefit	Unlimited restorations of up to 100% each, triggered on partial or full use of the cover	100% restoration once in a year
Pre-Hospitalization	60 days	At least 60 days
Post-Hospitalization	180 days	At least 120 days
Consumables	Listed non-medical items are paid on an admissible claim	Consumables covered
Day-Care Procedures	All day care treatments covered up to the sum insured	Covered without a capped list
AYUSH Treatment	Covered up to the sum insured	Included
Maternity	Delivery up to 10% of the sum insured after a 24-month wait, two deliveries in the lifetime of the policy	Included
Air Ambulance	Up to 10% of the sum insured per policy year	Included
Entry age	18 to 75 for adults · children from 16 days on a floater	Wide entry window

What this plan does

03Add-ons

Assure 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.

Aggregate deductible

Agree to pay the first ₹50,000 or ₹1 lakh of claims in a policy year yourself and the premium falls. On cover up to ₹20 lakh the cut is 45% for a ₹50,000 deductible and 55% for ₹1 lakh; above ₹20 lakh it is 35% and 50%. The deductible resets every policy year.

04Price

Assure 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.

Discount	Worth	When it applies
Early entry discount	Up to 5%	A one-time discount when the eldest insured person is 45 or under at first purchase. Not available on renewal, migration or portability.
Long-term discount	Up to 10%	On the second year of a 2-year policy, and on the second and third years of a 3-year policy.
Wellness discount	Up to 20%	Earned through the Star Wellness Program and applied at renewal. 200 points is worth 4%, 751 points and above is worth the full 20%.
Floater discount	Up to 10% to 40%	40% off the single-adult premium for a child who turns 18 on the floater, and 10% for each parent or parent-in-law brought onto it.
Aggregate deductible	Up to 55%	In exchange for paying the first ₹50,000 or ₹1 lakh of claims each year yourself.

From the plan brochure. Discounts apply to the base premium and are subject to the insurer’s own stacking rules.

05Waiting periods

Assure 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 Period	30 days
Specific Illness	24 months
Pre-Existing Disease	36 months (30 months on a 3-year policy)
Delivery and Assisted Reproduction	24 months

The named illnesses that wait 24 months

These wait 24 months from the start of your first policy with Star. An accident is covered from day one. The list below is indicative – the policy wording carries all fourteen categories, and where a listed condition is also pre-existing, the longer of the two waiting periods applies.

Indicative listFrom the policy wording. Your own document governs.

01Cataract and other diseases of the anterior and posterior chamber of the eye, diseases of ENT, thyroid disorders and benign breast disease

02Arthroscopy, joint replacement and other treatment of tendon, ligament, fascia, bone and joint disease not caused by an accident

03Degenerative disc and vertebral disease, including prolapsed intervertebral disc

04Gall bladder and pancreatic stones, and all management of kidney and urinary tract stones

05Every type of hernia

06Diseases of the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries, and diseases of the prostate

06Exclusions

Assure 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.

01An admission arranged mainly for tests and evaluation, where no active treatment follows

02Rest cure, rehabilitation and respite care, including custodial help with washing, dressing and moving about

03Cosmetic or plastic surgery, unless it follows an accident, burn or cancer treatment

04Injury from hazardous or adventure sports, and anything arising from a breach of law

05Treatment for alcoholism, drug or substance abuse and its consequences

06Spectacles, contact lenses, hearing aids, walkers, crutches, wheelchairs and similar aids

07Any condition you disclosed that has been written into the schedule as a permanent exclusion

07The honest bit

Where Assure 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.

01Star Health’s claim settlement ratio and complaint volume are the weakest of the insurers we track. That is a company-level risk you carry regardless of how good the plan wording is.

02The pre-existing disease wait is 36 months on a one or two-year policy, the longest IRDAI allows, and there is no buy-back to shorten it. Only a 3-year policy brings it down, to 30 months.

03At ₹5 lakh and ₹7.5 lakh the room rent is capped at 1% of the sum insured a day. Exceed it and every associated charge is cut in proportion, not just the room bill. The cap disappears only from ₹10 lakh upward.

04Anyone joining at 61 or above carries a 10% co-payment on every claim for as long as the policy runs. It does not fall away with continuous renewal.

05The no-claim bonus is 25% a year against a market norm of 50%, so the cover compounds more slowly than the headline sum insured suggests.

08FAQs

Assure questions, answered

How does the unlimited restoration on Star Health Assure actually work?

The cover refills automatically as soon as any part of it is used, not only when it runs out, and it can refill an unlimited number of times in a policy year. Partial use restores what you spent; full use restores the whole 100%. Two limits are worth knowing: a refill can only be used for a later hospitalisation, not the one that triggered it, and no single claim can ever pay more than one full sum insured.

Is there a co-payment on this plan?

Only if the insured person is 61 or older when they first join. In that case 10% of every claim comes out of your pocket, on the first policy and on every renewal after it. Join before 61 and keep renewing without a break and no co-payment applies at any age.

Are consumables like gloves and PPE covered?

Yes, and that is unusual at this price. Star publishes a list of non-medical items, and on an admissible claim those items are paid rather than deducted. On most plans in this bracket the same items are a rider or simply a shortfall you discover at discharge, which is a common reason a settled claim still leaves a bill behind.

What is the pre-existing disease waiting period?

36 months on a one-year or two-year policy. Buy a three-year policy and it falls to 30 months. There is no paid buy-back to bring it lower. If you are porting from another insurer, the time you have already served there counts, so bring your continuity documents to the application.

What sum insured can I buy, and does my age restrict it?

Ten tiers, from ₹5 lakh to ₹2 crore. Age does gate the top end: the ₹75 lakh, ₹1 crore and ₹2 crore options are only available if the person entering is 65 or younger. Join above 65 and the plan is capped at ₹50 lakh, and that cap stays in place on renewals too.

Does the room rent cap apply at every sum insured?

No. At ₹5 lakh and ₹7.5 lakh you are limited to 1% of the sum insured a day, and going above it triggers a proportionate cut across the associated charges. From ₹10 lakh you can take any room short of a suite, and from ₹50 lakh any room at all. If room rent matters to you, ₹10 lakh is the tier where this plan stops being restrictive.

09Source documents