# Restoration Benefit in Health Insurance, Explained

> How restoration, recharge and reset benefits refill your health cover after a claim, with the exact rules from current plan wordings.
- **Published**: 2026-10-18
- **Modified**: 2026-10-18
- **Category**: health-insurance
- **URL**: https://www.tldr.money/articles/health-insurance/restoration-benefit-health-insurance

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Restoration answers one question: what happens if a big claim uses up your cover and you need hospital care again in the same year? For the basics of sum insured, see [what health insurance is](/articles/health-insurance/what-is-health-insurance).

## How current plans compare

| Plan | Restoration rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| [HDFC Ergo Optima Secure](/health-insurance/hdfc-ergo/optima-secure) | Automatic Restore of 100% of base sum insured | Policy wording |
| [Star Comprehensive](/health-insurance/star-health/comprehensive) | 100% of basic sum insured, once a policy year | Prospectus |
| Star Young Star | 100% once a policy year, related and unrelated illnesses; not for modern treatments | Brochure |
| Star Health Assure | Unlimited restoration, up to 100% of sum insured each time | Prospectus |
| Care Supreme | Unlimited Automatic Recharge | Prospectus |
| Niva Bupa ReAssure 3.0 | ReAssure Forever: unlimited after the first claim, each claim up to base sum insured | Policy wording |
| Niva Bupa Senior First | ReAssure: the first paid claim triggers unlimited reinstatement, each claim up to base sum insured | Policy wording |
| ICICI Lombard Elevate | Reset Benefit: up to 100%, unlimited times; not for the first claim of the year, not with unlimited sum insured | Policy wording |

## Five things to check

1. **How often.** Once a year, or unlimited.
2. **Same illness or not.** Some older plans restore only for an unrelated illness. Star Young Star explicitly covers both.
3. **Single-claim cap.** In the Niva Bupa wordings, a single claim can draw only up to the base sum insured from the reinstated cover.
4. **When it triggers.** Elevate's Reset does not trigger on the first claim of the year. In Star's plans it triggers once the cover is partly or fully used.
5. **Which benefits it covers.** Young Star excludes modern treatments from restoration. Star Comprehensive limits restoration to listed sections of the policy.

## Restoration is not a substitute for enough cover

Restoration helps with a **second** claim. It does nothing if one hospital stay costs more than your sum insured. Size the base cover first with [how much cover you need](/articles/health-insurance/how-much-health-insurance-cover), and consider a [super top-up](/articles/health-insurance/super-top-up-vs-top-up) for very large bills. On a [family floater](/articles/health-insurance/family-floater-vs-individual-policy-india), unlimited restoration is worth more because several people share one limit.

Glossary: [restoration benefit](/glossary/restoration-benefit). Related: [NCB vs cumulative bonus](/articles/health-insurance/ncb-vs-cumulative-bonus).

## Sources

- [HDFC ERGO my: Optima Secure policy wording, UIN HDFHLIP25041V062425](https://www.hdfcergo.com/docs/default-source/downloads/policy-wordings/health/optima-secure-revision-pw.pdf)
- [Star Comprehensive prospectus, UIN SHAHLIP26044V092526](https://d28c6jni2fmamz.cloudfront.net/Prospectus_Star_Comprehensive_Insurance_Policy_V_12_dc6058c95e.pdf) (clause 13)
- [Star Young Star brochure, UIN SHAHLIP26043V062526](https://d28c6jni2fmamz.cloudfront.net/Brochure_Young_Star_Insurance_Policy_V_9_Web_782fb9d5a9.pdf)
- [Star Health Assure prospectus, UIN SHAHLIP26048V032526](https://d28c6jni2fmamz.cloudfront.net/Prospectus_Star_Health_Assure_Insurance_Policy_V_3_9b8479dfdd.pdf) (clause 13)
- [Care Supreme prospectus, UIN CHIHLIP27061V032627](https://cms.careinsurance.com/cms/public/uploads/download_center/care-supreme---prospectus-cum-sales-literature.pdf)
- [Niva Bupa ReAssure 3.0 policy wording, UIN NBHHLIP27059V022627](https://transactions.nivabupa.com/pages/doc/policy_wording/ReAssure30_Policy_Wordings.pdf)
- [Niva Bupa Senior First policy wording, UIN NBHHLIP27053V022627](https://transactions.nivabupa.com/pages/doc/policy_wording/Senior-First-Policy-Wording.pdf) (section 3.7, ReAssure)
- [ICICI Lombard Elevate policy wordings, UIN ICIHLIP27057V062627](https://www.icicilombard.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/elevate.pdf) (Basic Cover 11, Reset Benefit)
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