General Insurance
General Insurance includes those insurance policies which are not covered under life insurance. General insurance provides protection against risk of loss to assets like home, motor vehicle, etc. Common general insurance plans include motor insurance, fire insurance, personal accident insurance, health insurance, marine insurance etc. The most popular general insurance plans are mentioned hereunder:
Fire Insurance
Fire insurance provides protection against damage to property caused by accidents due to fire, lightening or explosion, whereby the explosion is caused by boilers not being used for industrial purposes. Fire insurance also includes damage caused due to other perils like strom tempest or flood; burst pipes; earthquake; aircraft; riot, civil commotion; malicious damage; explosion; impact.
Marine Insurance
Marine insurance basically covers three risk areas, namely, hull, cargo and freight. The risks which these areas are exposed to are collectively known as "Perils of the Sea". These perils include theft, fire, collision etc. Marine insurance further includes:
Marine Cargo Marine cargo policy provides protection to the goods loaded on a ship against all perils between the departure and arrival warehouse. Therefore, marine cargo covers carriage of goods by sea as well as transportation of goods by land.
Marine Hull Marine hull policy provides protection against damage to ship caused due to the perils of the sea. Marine hull policy covers three-fourth of the liability of the hull owner (shipowner) against loss due to collisions at sea. The remaining 1/4th of the liability is looked after by associations formed by shipowners for the purpose (P and I clubs).
Miscellaneous
As per the Insurance Act, all types of general insurance other than fire and marine insurance are covered under miscellaneous insurance. Some of the examples of general insurance are motor insurance, theft insurance, health insurance, personal accident insurance, money insurance, engineering insurance etc.