What is General Insurance

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Insurance can be widely segregated in three categories–life, health and general. General insurance is insurance for valuables other than our life. General insurance covers the insurer against damage, loss and theft of your valuables. It also covers health in terms of expenses incurred for any medical reason or death due to any accident. The premium and cover of general insurance depends upon the type and extent of insurance. A general insurance policy typically has a period of a few years. General insurance is the insurance of non-living objects. General insurance policies are taken to cover goods or assets which, if damaged, cause financial loss to the owner. Besides covering assets, general insurance policies also cover financial costs incurred due to specific perils. For instance, fire insurance policies cover damages suffered due to fire. Similarly, health insurance policies cover the cost of medical expenses incurred in case of a medical contingency.

 

Types of General Insurance

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Motor insurance

Insurance for the damage or theft of your motor vehicle, two-wheeler, three-wheeler or four-wheeler, is covered under this type of insurance. The damage caused to the vehicle can be caused natural or man-made circumstances, the extent of which would change from policy to policy.

Under the Motors Vehicle Act, motor insurance is mandatory in India. New motor vehicles come with a insurance right from the showroom itself.

 

Health insurance

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Health insurance is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance is risk among many individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health risk and health system expenses over the risk pool, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure

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Home insurance
 

Home and household insurance protects your home and the items inside it. A home insurance policy would also cover natural and man-made circumstances. The contents that are covered under a home insurance policy would depend on the type of policy you buy.

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Travel insurance
 

Another popular type of general insurance is travel insurance, which covers your trips abroad. Travel insurance can be taken to cover loss or theft of your valuables as well as documents. Some travel insurance policies also cover flight delays and medical emergencies. Travel insurance can be taken for personal as well as business trips.

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Commercial insurance
 

Commercial insurance policies are those which are bought by businesses, traders, retail outlets and other types of business establishments to protect against specific risks that they face. There are a lot of variants under commercial insurance.

However, some of the popular types of commercial insurance policies are as follows –

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Fire and burglary insurance – the policy covers damages suffered due to fire and its related perils as well as due to burglary.

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Marine insurance – the policy covers goods being transported from one place to another. Moreover, marine insurance plans are also available to cover the vessel which is transporting the goods from one place to another.

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Workmen’s Compensation insurance – Workmen’s Compensation Act mandates organisations to compensate their workers if they suffer from death or injuries due to the nature of their employment. A Workmen’s Compensation policy covers this payment done by the organisation to its employees if they suffer physical contingencies due to employment.

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Group mediclaim insurance – group mediclaim plans are group health insurance plans which are bought by organisations to cover their employees. Group mediclaim plans can also be bought by other registered groups for their group members.

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Doctor’s Professional Indemnity insurance – this policy covers the liability which doctors and medical professionals face due to error or negligence in discharging their services.

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Directors and Officers Liability insurance – this insurance covers the directors and officers of an organisation against liabilities suffered if they make mistakes in discharging their duties.

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Commercial General Liability – this is a comprehensive policy which covers the liability faced by a business due to any of its activities which harm a third party.

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Crop insurance – crop insurance policies are offered to farmers to protect them against the loss of their crops and the financial liability that they face due to such loss.

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Property insurance – property insurance covers the land and building owned by a business against damage and the loss thereof.