What is General Insurance?
General Insurance or Non-life Insurance helps you to safeguard yourself and the things around, which you value a lot. These may include your home, car and other valuables like money lending, professional casualties other than death, etc. These valuables carry a lot of financial risks. Therefore, General Insurance Plans provide financial protection from the impact of fire, storm, flood, earthquake, car accidents, theft and other travel accidents. It also covers us from the expenses spent on the legal actions. In short, you have the option to choose the right type of cover and the right type of insurance policy as per your requirements.
The tenure for a general insurance is not like the tenure we have in life insurance. Mostly these types of insurance are yearly contracts.
Do not get confused between Life Insurance and General Insurance. They both cater to different aspects in life. Life Insurance looks after risks of death and its consequences, whereas,General Insurance helps in protecting risks due to other aspects of life and its diverse assets.
Type of General Insurance Policies Offered by Indian Insurers
In India, different insurers or insurance providers offer different types of insurance policies. In general, insurance plans offered in India are broadly classified into three types. These are called life insurance, general insurance, and health insurance. Life insurance offers financial assistance in case of death or disability caused to a person. General insurance covers the cost of repairing any damages caused to your valuables or belongings. General insurance can be typically bought for a few years before they mature. In India, there are different general insurance policies offered by different insurers. Some of them are as follows:
Motor Insurance
This type of general insurance provides cover for any damages sustained by your motor vehicle, two-wheeler, three-wheeler, or even four-wheelers. The insurance companies in India provide cover for any damages caused to the vehicle due to various circumstances, including natural as well as man-made conditions. The extent of cover for these circumstances which are provided varies from one insurer or insurance policy to the other. Motor insurance has been made mandatory in India under the Motor Vehicle Act.
Third-Party motor insurance covers any damages sustained by a third-party or his/her vehicle, which may be involved in an accident that’s likely caused by your vehicle. However, third-party motor insurance doesn’t cover any damages sustained by you or your vehicle.for more details go to:-> Motor Insurance
Home Insurance
A home insurance policy has been made to protect an individual’s home from damages it sustains due to calamities, both natural and otherwise. Some home insurance policies even cover for your living expenses in case you are living in a rented house or apartment or also cover for any renovations you wish to make. The items that are covered within the home insurance depend on the type of policy you buy.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is another one of the most popular types of general insurance plans offered by some of the prominent insurance companies in India. Most travel insurance policies offered in India provide cover for a lot of things including loss or theft of your valuables when you travel, or when you are on vacation. They also cover any delays in flights or even any cancellations on trips. In some cases, travel insurance policies provided by the insurance companies in India also cover all hospitalization expenses in case you fall sick during your travel.for more details go to:-> travel insurance
Health Insurance
Health insurance policies are provided by most insurers or insurance companies in India and cover all the expenses related to medical emergencies. Essentially, a general health insurance policy pays for all the hospitalization expenses if they fall within the sum assured by the insurance policy provided by the insurer or insurance company.
Additionally, some health insurance policies provided by the insurance companies in India also cover certain critical illnesses with the help of fixed benefit plans that assure lump-sum amounts of money for the diagnosis.for more details go to:-> Health Insurance
How Much Does General Insurance Cost?
The cost of different types of general insurance depends on various factors. The most important of them is the premium amount you pay. The amount you pay as premium also depends on several factors for different general insurance policies. For example, various factors play a vital role in deciding the amount of premium to be paid for life insurance including the age of the insured person, his/her past as well as current health status, the type of cover or plan opted by the policyholder, smoking and drinking habits of the insured person and the sum assured.
Similarly, for most motor insurance policies, the factors that play an essential role in determining the premium amount include the make and model of the vehicle, type of cover or plan, the current value and age of the vehicle as well as your claim history.
In most cases, some factors which influence the premium rates of various general insurance policies are common. For example, the sum assured is a common factor which influences the premium rates of health insurance, home insurance, travel insurance as well as life insurance. Besides these common factors, several other factors determine the amount of premium for different general insurance policies.
For instance, the size, age, and location of the house or property are some of the important deciding factors for fixing the premium amount for various home insurance policies. Also, these days, most apartments come installed with different types of advanced systems like security systems, which also play an important role in determining the premium amount.
Similarly, various factors are involved in determining the premium rates for health insurance, including the age and gender of the insured person as well as his/her health history.
How to Claim General Insurance?
To make claims on your general insurance policy and use the money you get, you must furnish all the details about the damages caused to you, or the losses you have suffered due to those damages. The damages covered vary from one insurer to the other and from one insurance policy to the other. You must then submit proof of these damages to the insurance company to make a claim. These proofs can be hospitalization bills or bills for repairing a damaged vehicle or property. Once the insurer or insurance company has verified your claims, it will then proceed towards paying your bills or processing the reimbursements for your losses.
Difference Between Life Insurance and General Insurance:
There are several major differences between life insurance and general insurance policies offered by some of the insurance companies in India. For example, most life insurance policies come with long-term contracts, which means you must pay the premium for several years. However, in the case of general insurance policies, the policy must be renewed only every year. Also, life insurance policies can be claimed upon the death of the policyholder during the term or tenure of the policy or during its maturity. In the case of general insurance, reimbursements are done during some eventuality. Similarly, all life insurance policies come with a savings component not present in general insurance.