Insurance is a great tool to provide protection for anything and to avoid bearing the expenses yourself. Insurance also has two major categories, viz., life insurance and non-life insurance. General insurance is the common name for non-life insurance, and you can insure everything through it except life. If you are planning to purchase one for yourself, you must know what is general insurance. Knowledge of the types of general insurance can also help you know which insurance you will need. Read on to know more about what is general insurance and the types of general insurance available.
What Is General Insurance
General insurance is an insurance policy through which you can insure anything except life and purchase a plan for protection against damages. The only common things in general and life insurance are their purchase, renewal, and claim processes. Other than that, everything is different. In general insurance, the premium amount is lower, the insured amount is lower, there are no money-back policies, and there are several discounts on the premium.
It is not necessary that you only know what is general insurance; you must also know its importance. There are several risks associated with any property, activity, or the policyholder’s health. And the expenses that will be necessary to take care of the damage or deterioration will be high if you don’t have a backup plan. But it is not necessary that everyone must have a backup plan, so when such unexpected events occur, the person can face a loss of money or fall into debt.
In such cases, having general insurance is advantageous. The insured amount from the insurance can pay for most of the expenses incurred. Thus removing the financial burden from your shoulders, allowing you an unhindered future. So, financial protection is the major reason everyone must have general insurance.
Different Types Of General Insurance
There are different types of general insurance policies available in the market today. So to purchase general insurance for anything, you must first choose the category of insurance. Given below are some major categories within general insurance, and these cover most of the things that you can insure.
Health Insurance
You can get health coverage and protection from any diseases, accidents, or ailments of the mind and body through health insurance. The insured amounts of health insurance are also very high. In India, health insurance is the most purchased insurance plan, with more than 500 million people who have health insurance of one sort or another which is almost half the population of the country. And as compared to life insurance, which only 30% of the population has, health insurance is in the lead.
Motor Insurance
Motor insurance is applicable for all vehicles that run on land, water, or sky. Through it, you can insure your motorcycle, car, bus, trucks, boats, yachts, airplanes, or any moving vehicles used for any purposes. A great benefit of having a motor insurance is that you can get coverage for your vehicle against unintentional accidents and third-party damages. You can also get a no claim bonus on a motor vehicle during policy renewal which helps lower the premium up to 50% if you didn’t raise a claim in the previous year.
Home/Property Insurance
Home or property insurance is against damages for any real estate or structure. These include houses, factories, buildings, shopping complexes, theaters, and even land.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is usually applicable for international travel but is also valid for domestic travel. Through this plan, you can get the protection of your belongings, flights schedules, and itineraries within the travel destination. Thus providing all-around protection to your entire journey, be it for business or recreational purposes.
Agricultural Insurance
Agricultural insurance is more popular in the rural settings of the country. These are solely for the protection of a harvest in places or situations where ruining crops is common. Some examples of the scenarios against which agricultural insurance provides protection are lack of rain or irrigation resources, fire, attacks from pests and animals, low yield due to climate, and market price drops. These insurance policies also have very low premiums, and sometimes local bodies even provide them for free.
Special Category Insurance
Special category insurance protects various items, including some peculiar items. The issuance of such insurance policies is under the sole discretion of the insurer, and that too at a high insured amount and similarly high premium amounts. Popular examples of special category insurance are how media and sports celebrities insure their bread-earning body parts against any damage.
Conclusion
After knowing what is general insurance and the major types of general insurance, you can purchase suitable insurance based on your requirements. This knowledge will help you have the perfect insurance in your case. But these aren’t the only reason why you should purchase general insurance. General insurance is also very cheap and has several discounts on the premium, so it is a must to have one because they provide protection at a very low price. You can also easily purchase a general insurance policy, especially online, further increasing the benefits.
