THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN INDIA AND OVERVIEW
The insurance sector in India has grown at a fast rate post-liberalization in 1999. In the last decade, total premium grew at a CAGR of 25% and reached a total of $67 billion in 2010. Indian Life insurance industry (which contributes 88% of total Life and General insurance premium in India) has emerged as the 9th largest life insurance market in the world. Yet, Insurance penetration (measured as ratio of premium underwritten to GDP) was only at 5.2 % in 2010 significantly lower than Asian peers like South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong which boast an insurance density greater than 10%.1 With low insurance penetration levels, growth potential remains promising. More importantly, the pace and nature of growth will likely see a change where new behaviors and dynamics of demand and supply will apply. On the demand side, growth is being fuelled by the growing population base, rising purchasing power, increased insurance awareness, increased domestic savings and rising financial literacy. The suppliers are correspondingly playing a market making role as competition heightens and differentiation become necessary for profitable growth. In the new order, innovating across the business lifecycle has become a necessity. While the growth in Insurance industry has been at 25% in the past decade, a closer look suggests that this growth has come at a cost. Private insurance companies have incurred high expenses in the last decade in increasing awareness about the need of insurance, developing brand strength, establishing distribution channels and setting-up branch network and other infrastructure. Most insurers initial plans of breaking-even within first 7 to 9 years of operations have been fraught with challenges. Some of the challenges can be characterized as growing pains, while others are more fundamental and intrinsic to how players have approached market making. To begin with, awareness levels of insurance offerings are low (e.g. compared to banking products) except for products like motor insurance where insurance is mandatory. Even when awareness of insurance products exists, the perceived value of buying insurance remains low for reasons like high expectations on returns (which other financial products may offer) and the belief that risk coverage is not needed. Hence, insurance remains a push rather than a pull product in India. Even among those who do buy insurance, the lapse ratios are high (average
~25% lapse ratio for top 13 players as per IRDA 2010 annual report) and many buyers lose interest due to mismatch between expected returns and actual benefits. In order to attract customers, the insurers have (especially in non-life insurance, post detariffing) resorted to premium discounting which may have impacted the profitability and quality of risks underwritten. Reaching out to the potential willing buyers and servicing them is also a challenge considering the sparsely spread population, especially outside the metros and Tier-I cities. The industry has faced challenges in acquiring and retaining (internal and external) channel teams considering the huge gap between the demand and the supply of dependable and skilled personnel, resulting in high cost of customer acquisition and operations In our view, despite the latent potential, in the short term, Insurers will continue to be confronted by a multitude of challenges in their quest to achieve top-line as well as bottom-line performances. Besides struggling to maintain growth, insurers are called upon to meet the increasing dynamic needs of price- and service- conscious customers, meet regulatory demands, enhance risk management capabilities, reevaluate business partnerships and distribution models and at the same time build capabilities in a more enabling technology environment. Due to above challenges, in our view, accessing the next wave of growth would require different strategies from those applied during the first wave. Players will need to innovatively improve primarily two aspects of business value proposition to customers (to improve customer acquisition) and operational performance (to improve profitability). Insurance industry in India has now been through a cycle involving high growth and more recent moderation. The next wave of growth will be of different nature and complexity, led by players who change the market dynamics through innovation. With a decade of experience and learning about customer behavior and business economics, Indian insurers are well-placed to select and diffuse innovative ideas. However, this would require that insurers bring about fundamental difference in mindset on how they perceive the role of innovation in achieving profitable growth. The insurers will need to align the people strategies to create a culture of generating new ideas and implementing those using optimal resources. Insurers have the choice of adopting innovation and leap ahead or lag behind. A survey was initiated by IRDA across various states of India
History of Insurance in India
India, insurance has a deep-rooted history. Insurance in various forms has been mentioned in the writings of Manu (In Manusmrithi),Yagnavalkya (Dharmashastra) and Kautilya (Arthashastra). The fundamental basis of the historical in these ancient Indian texts is the same i.e. pooling of resources that could be re-distributed in times of calamities reference to insurance such as fire, floods, epidemics and famine. The early references to Insurance in these texts have reference to marine trade loans and carriers' contracts Insurance in its current form has its history dating back until 1818, when Oriental Life Insurance Company was started by Anita Bhavsar in Kolkata to cater to the needs of European community. The pre-independence era in India saw discrimination between the lives of foreigners (English) and Indians with higher premiums being charged for the latter. In 1870, Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society became the first Indian insurer. At the dawn of the twentieth century, many insurance companies were founded. In the year 1912, the Life Insurance Companies Act and the Provident Fund Act were passed to regulate the insurance business. The Life Insurance Companies Act, 1912 made it necessary that the premium-rate tables and periodical valuations of companies should be certified by an actuary. However, the disparity still existed as discrimination between Indian and foreign companies. The oldest existing insurance company in India is the National Insurance Company, which was founded in 1906, and is still in business. The Government of India issued an Ordinance on 19 January 1956 nationalizing the Life Insurance sector and Life Insurance Corporation came into existence in the same year. The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) absorbed 154 Indian, 16 non-Indian insurers as also 75 provident societies245 Indian and foreign insurers in all. In 1972 with the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act was passed by the Indian Parliament, and consequently, General Insurance business was nationalized with effect from 1 January 1973. 107 insurers were amalgamated and grouped into four companies, namely National Insurance Company Ltd., the New India Assurance Company Ltd., the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd and the United India Insurance Company Ltd. The General Insurance Corporation of India was incorporated as a company in 1971 and it commence business on 1 January 1973. The LIC had monopoly till the late 90s when the Insurance sector was reopened to the private sector. Before that, the industry consisted of only two state insurers: Life Insurers (Life Insurance Corporation of India, LIC) and General Insurers (General Insurance Corporation of India, GIC). GIC had four subsidiary companies. With effect from December 2000, these subsidiaries have been de-linked from the parent company and were set up as independent insurance companies: Oriental Insurance Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Limited, National Insurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited.
KEY MILESTONE OF INSURANCE INDUSTRY
Like with numerous other things, it's a misconception that insurance was introduced in India by the westerners. Insurance as a concept was known here, long before it was in the west. It has been thoroughly delineated in Kautilya's Arthasastra and Yagnavalkya's Dharmasastra as a financial strategy wherein the resources are pooled together at one place with an intention to be re-distributed in catastrophic times when it's needed. Insurance in its modern sense was introduced in India in the year 1818 when Oriental Life Insurance Company, an European company was set up in Kolkata. In the year 1850, first advent of a general insurance company in India took place. The name of the insurer was Triton Insurance Company. But it was not before the year 1870, that the first Indian Insurance Company, Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society, was established. At that time, the whole nation was engrossed in freedom and nationalist movements. Inspired by the first insurance establishment of the Indian origin, many more Indian insurance companies were formed and proved to be quite a success. That includes Bharat Insurance Company, United India, Co-operative Assurance, to name a few. In 1906, National Insurance was set up. As of today, it's the oldest insurance company; even older than LIC. In the year 1912, Life Insurance Companies Act, and Provident Fund Act were passed which made it mandatory for all the insurance companies to get their premium rates and valuations certified by an actuary. It should be obvious to understand that the laws so formulated at that time (pre-independence) were biased towards insurance companies of Indian origin. In the year 1938, the Insurance Act 1938 was passed to govern and regulate life insurance and general insurance sector. The year 1956 witnessed the nationalization of life insurance sector . Central government acquired and nationalized 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident societies via an act of parliament. What formed as a result is better known as LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India). LIC continues to be the leading life insurer in India till date. In 1972, nationalization of general insurance sector took place under the General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972. 107 insurers were nationalized and grouped under GIC (General Insurance Corporation of
India). GIC was then reorganized into four subsidiaries, New India Assurance Company Ltd., National Insurance Company Ltd., United India Insurance Company Ltd. and Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. The year 1999 witnessed the set up of IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority), the autonomous body for regulating the Indian insurance industry. The real transition in the insurance sector took place in the year 2000 when Indian government allowed FDI investment (up to 25%) in the insurance companies opening the gate for a whole new league of joint ventures and collaborations especially in the private sector. As of today, there are a total of 23 life insurance companies and 24 general insurance companies in India. Since the last decade, Indian insurance industry has grown at a steady rate. However, insurance penetrability is still very low in India and yet to realize its true potential. Since the last few years, the rising popularity of online shopping in India has been phenomenal. The whole market place is fast descending down on the web and buying online is in vogue, be it clothing, electronics or home dcor. In such a scenario, there's no reason why insurance sector should be left behind. Here are the 6 perks of buying insurance online: 1. Saves Money The premium charged for online insurance is lower than offline insurance. Here's how, when a policy is sold through an online platform, the insurer needs not any form of intermediary. Eventually the insurer ends up saving the infrastructure cost, the agent cost and other such operating costs. Resultantly, the policy is offered at a lower premium to the buyer. Plus, when a policy is bought through online portals, you also get the benefit of making an exhaustive comparison between your options, thus helping you to go for the best plan in terms ofcost. 2). Saves Time When you buy online, you save yourself from the hassles of visiting insurance offices or from waiting for an insurance agent to pay a visit to your home. Buying an insurance online is a cake walk and all it needs you to do, is fill up your details and start getting quotes right away! 3). Easy and Unbiased Comparison If you are buying insurance offline, you either visit the insurer's office or request an agent to visit your home. In both the cases, you land yourself in a 'product oriented' zone where your specific insurance needs are undermined while the selective features of the product are highlighted
loudly. Eventually, you end up getting lured to buy the product without considering other probable options at hand. But when you buy online from portals like Policy Bazaar, you get free quotes, which enable you to make an online comparison between various plans based on various parameters as premium, coverage, riders, exclusions, etcetera. Thus, you get to choose the plan that best suits your specific needs. 4). No Need for Medical Check Ups Insurance is a financial product that is sold on trust. When bought online, more often than not, there's no need to get through a pre-medical screening before getting insured. However, you should never fail to disclose any critical medical detail to your insurer. Giving it a miss, at the time of buying a policy may cost you heavily at the time of making a claim. 5). Minimal Documentation Required When you buy online, you save yourself from meddling with the hassling paper work. The key documents that are to be submitted can be scanned and sent on mail. Alternatively, the insurer might send an agent to collect the supporting documents from your home. In either case, you don't have to step out of your door. 6). No More Becoming a Victim to Mis-selling Unless the buyer knows an agent in person, there's always a skepticism regarding the credibility of the agent and the plan that he's selling. But when an insurance is bought online, either through the company's website or online comparison portals, the buyer is redirected to the official website of the company while making payment. This very step puts a halt to any chances of misselling. The buyer can be 100% sure that he's getting his hands on a genuine plan from the most trusted source.
INSURANCE INDUSTRY REFORM
A global body of insurers today said India should speed up reforms in insurance sector, which would help in attracting more foreign funds. "Coalition of global insurers with substantial investments in India has made a strong plea to the Parliament and India's leadership to pass the Insurance Amendment Bill before this Parliament session ends," Washington based Albright Stonebridge Group said in a statement. Recent reports that the muchdelayed Insurance Bill is unlikely to be passed by the Indian Parliament in its current session should be a cause of great concern to everybody, it said. "If the Insurance Bill does not pass through the Parliament in the current session, the global investment community may read it as a lack of interest on part of its policy makers to do what needs to be done to avert a bigger crisis," Frank Wisner, former US Ambassador to India, was quoted as saying in the statement.
He has been leading this coalition of global insurers advocating for increased FDI in insurance, it added. The Insurance Amendment Bill to raise FDI cap in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent has been pending in the Rajya Sabha since 2008. "It is imperative that the proposed Bill...is accepted since it is widely seen by the foreign investment community and governments as a key reinforcement of India's commitment to financial and economic reforms," the release said. Former Country Head and CEO of AIG India Sunil Mehta said that any further delay in pushing insurance reforms will exacerbate the risk of losing this capital to other competitive markets. For a country with a GDP that is about to touch USD 2 trillion, India has woefully inadequate insurance coverage, the statement said, adding, only 6 per cent of the 1.25 billion Indians have life insurance and only 5 per cent of has health cover. It further said India's insurance industry needs around USD 12 billion in capital up to 2020 and opening up the insurance sector to higher FDI will greatly enhance the industry's reach to semi-urban and rural markets.
""We urge India's political parties to join hands in the interest of the nation, its economy and its people and push the bill through Parliament in the current session," Development Authority (IRDA) to help them strengthen their ability to develop and regulate the insurance market in India. As a result of this collaboration, the IRDA's institutional capacity and supervisory capabilities were strengthened, which increased their ability to supervise insurers' compliance to laws and regulations, improved transparency, and enhanced mobilization and allocation of resources generated from insurance. A major component of the project addressed improving access to health care services for Indian citizens through private health insurance products. Deloitte provided knowledge and support to help guide the development of private health insurance options as well as products targeting vulnerable populations including the rural poor and the elderly. In addition, Deloitte assisted the IRDA to adopt a regulatory platform that enabled the establishment and entry of new stand-alone health insurance companies into the marketplace.
THE CHALLENGES
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act was passed in India in 1999, which allowed the introduction of private companies to participate in the insurance market in India and named the IRDA as the sole insurance regulatory body to oversee all insurance-related activity. The mandate of the IRDA was to both regulate the insurance industry, and also to help develop the market. Prior to the Act, insurance in India was a state monopoly. As a newly established entity with a daunting mandate, the IRDA sought USAID technical assistance to help build its institutional capacity to apply leading international practices for the newly created private insurance industry and its supervision. In addition, the IRDA needed to address deepening and broadening insurance penetration, particularly among those residing in India's rural areas and the poor. Both of these groups comprise a large percentage of the Indian population.
HOW WE HELP
The IRDA while supporting institution-building efforts of other stakeholders working within the insurance market in India. Specific activities included:
Designed and implemented trainings for the regulator in most aspects of the regulatory cycle. Special focus was placed on encouraging the practical application of principles of health insurance, health economics and managed health care as well as in actuarial methodologies used in the scientific pricing and reserving of health insurance products Assisted the design and installation of an IT-based early warning system to monitor insurer solvency Introduced supervisory tools and examination manuals for on-site financial condition examination and market conduct inspection of insurance companies Assisted the association of actuaries to adopt a more broad actuarial education curricula and apply modern actuarial methodologies Organized two internship programs in cooperation with the US National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to enhance IRDA staff's knowledge and skills in insurance supervision and take advantage of on-the-job learning in several state insurance departments in the United States; Supported IRDA in framing regulations for micro-insurance, allowing for the distribution and administration of micro insurance products including health insurance. This enabled NGOs, community-based organizations, and MFIs to offer and administer micro insurance schemes in rural areas particularly for the poor and vulnerable, thus making insurance for the economically vulnerable more accessible Provided assistance in capacity-building activities for the associations of life insurers and general insurers, particularly in areas relating to self-regulation Actively participated in forums and round table discussions about the challenges and opportunities created by the insurance reform.
SALOTION
The productive collaboration under the USAID-funded project resulted in strengthened institutional capacity of the IRDA, with a special emphasis on equipping it to deal with changes in the insurance industry's competitive profile, institutional framework and professional landscape. The benefits of the project continue to be felt in India today, with ongoing internships in the United States to facilitate continued learning and information exchange for IRDA staff. In addition, the project contributed to significant changes in India's insurance industry, particularly with respect to the entry of several private health insurance companies that have helped make insurance coverage more accessible and better tailored to diverse consumer needs.
CLASSIFICATION OF INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN INDIA
1-Life insurance in India: Life Insurance is the fastest growing sector in India since 2000 as Government allowed Private players and FDI up to 26% and recently Cabinet approved a proposal to increase it to 49%. Life Insurance in India was nationalized by incorporating Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in 1956. All private life insurance companies at that time were taken over by LIC .In 1993, the Government of India appointed RN Malhotra Committee to lay down a road map for privatization of the life insurance sector.
TYPES OF LIFE INSURANCE
Term insurance
Term assurance provides life insurance coverage for a specified term. The policy does not accumulate cash value. Term is generally considered "pure" insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else. There are three key factors to be considered in term insurance: 1. Face amount (protection or death benefit), 2. Premium to be paid (cost to the insured), and 3. Length of coverage (term). Annual renewable term is a one-year policy, but the insurance company guarantees it will issue a policy of an equal or lesser amount regardless of the insurability of the applicant, and with a premium set for the applicant's age at that time. Level premium term can be purchased in 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or 35 year terms. The premium and death benefit stays level during these terms. Another common type of term insurance is mortgage life insurance, which usually involves a levelpremium, declining face value policy. The face amount is intended to equal the amount of the mortgage on the policy owner's property, such that any outstanding amount on the applicant's mortgage will be paid should the applicant die.
Permanent life insurance
Permanent life insurance is life insurance that remains active until the policy matures, unless the owner fails to pay the premium when due. The policy cannot be cancelled by the insurer for any reason except fraudulent application, and any such cancellation must occur within a period of time (usually two years) defined by law. A permanent insurance policy accumulates a cash value, reducing the risk to which the insurance company is exposed, and thus the insurance expense over time. This means that a policy with a million dollar face value can be relatively expensive to a 70-year-old. The owner can access the money in the cash value by withdrawing money, borrowing the cash value, or surrendering the policy and receiving the surrender value.
Whole life coverage
Whole life insurance provides lifetime death benefit coverage for a level premium in most cases. Premiums are much higher than term insurance at younger ages, but as term insurance premiums rise with age at each renewal, the cumulative value of all premiums paid across a lifetime are roughly equal if policies are maintained until average life expectancy. Part of the insurance contract stipulates that the policyholder is entitled to a cash value reserve, which is part of the policy and guaranteed by the company. This cash value can be accessed at any time through policy loans and are received income tax free. Policy loans are available until the insured's death. If there are any unpaid loans upon death, the insurer subtracts the loan amount from the death benefit and pays the remainder to the beneficiary named in the policy.
Universal life coverage
Universal life insurance (UL) is a relatively new insurance product, intended to combine permanent insurance coverage with greater flexibility in premium payment, along with the potential for greater growth
of cash values. There are several types of universal life insurance policies which include interest sensitive (also known as "traditional fixed universal life insurance"), variable universal life (VUL), guaranteed death benefit, and equity indexed universal life insurance. A universal life insurance policy includes a cash value. Premiums increase the cash values, but the cost of insurance (along with any other charges assessed by the insurance company) reduces cash values. Universal life insurance addresses the perceived disadvantages of whole life namely that premiums and death benefit are fixed. With universal life, both the premiums and death benefit are flexible. Except with regards to guaranteed death benefit universal life, this flexibility comes with the disadvantage of reduced guarantees.
Limited-pay
Another type of permanent insurance is Limited-pay life insurance, in which all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to the policy in force. Common limited pay periods include 10-year, 20-year, and are paid out at the age of 65
Endowments
Endowments are policies in which the cumulative cash value of the policy equals the death benefit at a certain age. The age at which this condition is reached is known as the endowment age. Endowments are considerably more expensive (in terms of annual premiums) than either whole life or universal life because the premium paying period is shortened and the endowment date is earlier. In the United States, the Technical Corrections Act of 1988 tightened the rules on tax shelters (creating modified endowments). These follow tax rules in the same manner as annuities and IRAs. Endowment insurance is paid out whether the insured lives or dies, after a specific period (e.g. 15 years) or a specific age.
Accidental death
Accidental death is a limited life insurance designed to cover the insured should they die due to an accident. Accidents include anything from an injury and upwards, but do not typically cover deaths resulting from health problems or suicide. Because they only cover accidents, these policies are much less expensive than other life insurance policies. It is also very commonly offered as accidental death and dismemberment insurance (AD&D) policy. In an AD&D policy, benefits are available not only for accidental death, but also for the loss of limbs or bodily functions, such as sight and hearing.
Related products
Riders are modifications to the insurance policy added at the same time the policy is issued. These riders change the basic policy to provide some feature desired by the policy owner. A common rider is accidental death (see above). Another common rider is a premium waiver, which waives future premiums if the insured becomes disabled. Joint life insurance is either a term or permanent policy insuring two or more persons with the proceeds payable on either the first or second death.
Survivorship life is a whole life policy insuring two lives with the proceeds payable on the second (later) death. Single premium whole life is a policy with only one premium which is payable at the time the policy matures. Modified whole life is a whole life policy featuring smaller premiums for a specified period of time, after which the premiums increase for the remainder of the policy.
Group life insurance
Group life insurance (also known as wholesale life insurance or institutional life insurance) is term insurance covering a group of people, usually employees of a company, members of a union or association, or members of a pension or superannuation fund. Individual proof of insurability is not normally a consideration in the underwriting. Rather, the underwriter considers the size, turnover, and financial strength of the group. Contract provisions will attempt to exclude the possibility of adverse selection. Group life insurance often includes a provision for a member exiting the group to buy individual coverage.
Senior and preneed products
Insurance companies have in recent years developed products to offer to niche markets, most notably targeting the senior market to address needs of an aging population. Many companies offer policies tailored to the needs of senior applicants. These are often low to moderate face value whole life insurance policies, to allow a senior citizen purchasing insurance at an older issue age an opportunity to buy affordable insurance. This may also be marketed as final expense insurance, and an agent or company may suggest that the policy proceeds could be used for end-of-life expenses.
Unit Linked Insurance Plans
These are unique insurance plans which are basically a mutual fund and term insurance plan rolled into one. The investor doesn't participate in the profits of the plan per se, but gets returns based on the returns on the funds he or she had chosen. The premium paid by the customer is deducted by initial charges by the insurance companies (basically the distribution and initial costs) and the remaining amount is invested in a fund (much like a mutual fund) by converting the amount into units based upon the NAV of the fund on that date. Mortality charges, fund management charges, and a few other charges are deducted in regular intervals by way of cancellation of units from the invested funds. ULIPs got extremely popular in the heyday of the equity bull run in India, as the returns generated in equity linked funds were beating any kind of debt or fixed return instrument. However, with the stagnation of the economy and the equity market this product category slowed down.
With-profits policies[
Some policies afford the policyholder a share of the profits of the insurance company these are termed with-profits policies. Other policies provide no rights to a share of the profits of the company these are non-profit policies. With-profits policies are used as a form of collective investment scheme to achieve capital growth. Other policies offer a guaranteed return not dependent on the company's underlying investment performance; these are often referred to as without-profit policies, which may be construed as a misnomer.
Investment bonds[edit]
Pensions
Pensions are a form of life assurance. However, whilst basic life assurance, permanent health insurance, and non-pensions annuity business all include an amount of mortality or morbidity risk for the insurer, pensions pose a longevity risk. A pension fund will be built up throughout a person's working life. When the person retires, the pension will become in payment, and at some stage the pensioner will buy an annuity contract, which will guarantee a certain pay-out each month until death.
TYPES OF GENRAL INSURANCE
There are many general insurance products on the market. General insurance is broadly defined as nonlife insurance policies. Products vary between companies, and consumers should always read their Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before they purchase cover. Consumers should always purchase cover appropriate to their level of risk. The six main forms of general insurance are:
Home and Contents Insurance, Home and contents insurance is important cover and should
be considered by all consumers. It seeks to cover the insured for damage to their home as well as the contents of the home. Consumers should ensure they have appropriate level of cover for their home to ensure they are not underinsured. Insurance cover should always match the replacement cost of the property. Underinsurance could result in consumers paying the gap between their insurance pay-out and the building costs. Contents insurance should be considered by all consumers, including tenants and renters, who often neglect to insure their household items. It has its limits and consumers should contact their insurer if they have any special items they would like insured separately, such as expensive jewellery or works of art. The Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) will outline the limits and exclusions of the policy. Consumers should regularly review their contents and update their policy where appropriate. Maintaining an inventory of household items can assist if the policyholder does need to make a claim.
Motor Vehicle Insurance,
There are four types of motor vehicle insurance: Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance; Comprehensive Insurance; Fire and Theft Only; and Third Party Property Only. Consumers should shop around and ensure they purchase cover appropriate to their situation. CTP is mandatory in all States and Territories and provides compensation for bodily injuries caused by vehicles. It does not provide cover for any damage to the vehicle and therefore other forms of motor vehicle insurance should also be purchased. Comprehensive Insurance can cover damage to vehicles, theft of vehicles, collision, malicious damage and weather damage. Depending on the policy, it can cover damage caused to other vehicles. Fire and Theft Only is a limited form of insurance that only covers for fire damage to, and theft of, vehicles. It does not cover collision damage to vehicles. Third Party Property Only provides cover for vehicles damaged by the policyholder's vehicle. It does not provide cover for the policyholder's own vehicle. This product is generally only taken out by consumers with a low value vehicle, protecting themselves against damage to other motorists.
Business Insurance, Mortgage Loss Insurance/Lender's Mortgage Insurance/ Mortgage Protection Insurance , Workers Compensation Travel Insurance. There is no one product that is appropriate for everyone. Consumers should shop around to ensure the product they choose is appropriate to their situation and level of risk. There are many other types of general insurance products offered by Australian insurance companies, these general insurance products offered include: Aircraft Bond Construction Consumer Credit Compulsory Third Party Insurance (CTP) Cyber Risk Defamation Engineering Extended Warranty Farm, Crop and Livestock General Property, Home and Contents
Home Warranty and Lenders Mortgage Pet Insurance Product Recall Professional Indemnity Public and Products Liability Strata Travel Marine Insurance Medical Indemnity Insurance Motor Vechicle Workers' Compensation
