• Motor insurance

  Motor insurance, which can be car insurance, bike insurance or commercial vehicle insurance, offers protection to your vehicle against a number of damages, depending on the type of policy you choose. You can opt for a simple third-party cover that will only safeguard you against damages to other vehicles, persons or property by your insured vehicle.
   

  Or, if you choose a comprehensive motor insurance plan, it will also cover damages to your own vehicle (known as own-damage cover), along with personal injuries to you as well as any third-party damages. Many insurance providers offer long-term motor insurance policies, which eliminate the hassle of renewing your motor insurance policy every year.

• Health insurance

  Health insurance policies are of different types and can be further divided into critical illness insurance plans, family health insurance plans, senior citizens' health insurance and so on. Depending on the policy of your choice and the coverage it offers, health insurance plans are meant to take care of the expenses arising from medical emergencies arising from accidents, injuries and illnesses that lead to hospitalisation, treatments or surgeries.
   

  When purchasing a health insurance policy, you can choose a sum insured or coverage amount as per your needs and also select the number of family members to be covered under the plan. This ensures that in case of medical contingencies, you and your loved ones need not dip into your savings to pay hospital bills and other costs such as post-treatment care and medication. 

• Travel insurance

  When you are travelling to another city, state or country, there may be a chance of suffering financial losses due to the cancellation of your flight, the trip cancellation due to an illness or also loss of your baggage, passport, valuables, etc. Other losses also include falling sick on the trip or meeting with an accident, both of which can lead to hospitalisation. In such cases, a comprehensive travel insurance plan can help you recover these losses, in full or to some extent, depending on the terms and conditions of the policy.
   

  Like health insurance, you can choose the coverage of your travel insurance policy as per your needs, the duration of your tour or any potential risks involved. However, it is important that these losses should come under the purview of your insurance policy. For instance, if your travel insurance has a COVID-19 cover, it is important that you are able to produce proof of hospitalisation due to the infection in order to file the claim.

• Home insurance

  Home insurance or property insurance is a type of insurance cover that protects your home or private residence from damages due to natural causes and human causes. The natural causes include but are not limited to floods, earthquakes, cyclones and many other natural calamities which can cause direct harm to your home’s structure and form.
   

  In the case of damages due to human causes, any visible harm caused to your property during a robbery or the loss of some assets during such an event can be covered under home insurance.

• Marine insurance

  Another type of general insurance policy is marine insurance. As the name clearly indicates, this type of insurance policy offers protection against losses and damages to ships and the goods and cargo they carry.
   

  Many a time, the transportation may be rough due to bad weather conditions, causing extensive damage to the goods being transported as well as the ship itself. Since such huge ships are quite expensive and indispensable for transportation across waterways, marine insurance is quite important. 

• Commercial insurance

  If you have a business that offers certain products or services to clients, you will need commercial insurance to protect your business from losses. Commercial insurance is quite a vast type of insurance in itself and comprises employer’s liability insurance, public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, etc. Depending on your needs and potential business risks, you can purchase any of these insurance policies.

Difference Between Life Insurance and General Insurance

• Terms of contract

  A very important point of difference between life insurance and general insurance is the policy term. Whole life insurance plans are long-term plans with a minimum tenure of 5 years to a maximum of 100 years, a general insurance policy has a tenure of one year. However, insurance providers now offer long-term motor insurance policies to ensure that customers do not have to worry about yearly renewals.

• Premium payment

  Life insurance policy premiums are paid on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis; whole general insurance policy premiums may not offer much flexibility in terms of premium payments. Premiums of general insurance plans are paid during the purchase or renewal of the policy and hence, only on an annual basis. But it is important to note that travel insurance plans only have a single premium payment at the time one has to take a trip. 

• Insurance Claim

  When a life insurance claim is made, the sum assured is offered to the nominee of the policyholder in case of the latter’s demise or given to the policyholder as a maturity benefit. In case of critical illness or health riders^~ attached to the life cover, one can file a claim in case the conditions covered under the rider come are diagnosed.
  
  But in the case of general insurance plans, the benefits are not paid out unless the terms of the compensation are met. For instance, you cannot claim bike insurance unless your bike has been damaged as per the conditions specified in the policy document.  

• Policy Value

  The policy value of a life insurance plan is based on the sum assured, which is determined by the needs of the policyholder and their capacity to pay timely premiums. The sum assured is either paid out as a death benefit or a maturity benefit, as per the situation.
   

  However, in general insurance, the sum assured is determined by the asset that needs insurance and not the needs of the policyholder. For instance, when buying a bike insurance plan, the make and model, as well as the cubic capacity of your bike, will affect the coverage and hence, also the premiums.