General Insurance
Insurance contracts that do not come under the ambit of life insurance are called general insurance. The different forms of general insurance are fire, marine, motor, accident and other miscellaneous non-life insurance.
Description
The tangible assets are susceptible to damages and a need to protect the economic value of the assets is needed. For this purpose, general insurance products are bought as they provide protection against unforeseeable contingencies like damage and loss of the asset. Like life insurance, general insurance products come at a price in the form of premium.
1. Professional Financial Experts
In today’s age of consumerism, insurance requirements have expanded to keep pace with the increasing risks. Gone are the days when life insurances ruled the roost; today we have a wide assortment of risk coverage commencing from health insurance to travel insurance to theft insurance to even a wedding insurance. With affluence and spending capacity on the surge there is a growing trend to fulfill needs, deal with responsibilities and secure one’s possessions, be it good health or wordly wealth.
2. Diversifying Risk
General insurance companies have willingly catered to these increasing demands and have offered a plethora of insurance covers that almost cover anything under the sun. Any insurance other than ‘Life Insurance’ falls under the classification of General Insurance. It comprises of:
3. Low Cost
General insurance products and services are being offered as package policies offering a combination of the covers mentioned above in various permutations and combinations. There are package policies specially designed for householders, shopkeepers, industrialists, agriculturists, entrepreneurs, employees and for professionals such as doctors, engineers, chartered accountants etc. Apart from standard covers, General insurance companies also offer customized or tailor-made policies based on the personal requirements of the customer.
4. Liquidity
A suitable general insurance cover is an absolute essential for every family. This is a necessity to overcome uncertainties and risks prevalent in life. It is also necessary to protect one’s property against risks as a loss or damage to one’s property can leave one in doldrums.
Losses created by catastrophes such as the tsunami, earthquakes, cyclones, floods, volcano eruptions or landslides have left many penniless and shelter-less. Such losses have the potential to shatter lives but availing a suitable insurance cover could help mitigate the unforeseen risks.
Types of Mutual Funds
1. Equity Funds
Similarly, an individual can be provided with a suitable insurance cover against Personal Accidents. A Health Insurance policy can provide financial relief and lowering of mental agony to an individual undergoing medical treatment on account of a disease or an injury.
2. Debt or Income Funds
It is important for prospective customers to read and understand the terms and conditions of a policy before they enter into an insurance contract. The proposal form needs to be filled in correctly and completely with all factual and relevant data by the customer. He must also ensure that the insurance cover is adequate and an appropriate one, as desired.
3. Balanced Funds
General Insurance is also known as Non-Life Insurance in India. There are totally 16 General Insurance (Non-Life) Companies in India. These 16 General Insurance companies have been classified into two broad categories namely:
a) PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings)
These insurance companies are wholly owned by the Government of India.There are totally 4 PSUs in India namely:
National Insurance Company Ltd
Oriental Insurance Company Ltd
The New India Assurance Pvt Ltd
United India Insurance Company Ltd
b) Private Insurance Companies
There are totally 12 private General Insurance companies in India namely:
Apollo DKV Health Insurance Ltd
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd
Future Generali Insurance Company Ltd
HDFC Ergo General Insurance Co Ltd
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Ltd
Iffco Tokio General Insurance Pvt Ltd
Reliance General Insurance Ltd
Royal Sundaram General Insurance Co Ltd
Star Health and Allied Insurance
Tata AIG General Insurance Co Ltd
Universal Sompo General Insurance Pvt Ltd
