Life and general insurance are two key financial protection tools for individuals and businesses. While related, they have some distinct differences that insurance agents need to understand to provide suitable advice to customers.
This article will compare life and general insurance through an easy-to-understand chart. For agents, understanding these differences is crucial to educating customers and recommending comprehensive insurance portfolios. The article also offers tips for agents to increase general insurance sales by leveraging insurtech platforms like Ignite.
Here is an overview of the key differences between life and general insurance:
| Parameter | Life Insurance | General Insurance |
| Coverage | Financial protection for family upon the untimely death of the policyholder | Protection against unexpected risks for health, assets, and civil liabilities |
| Policy Term | Long-term, normally 10-20 years and upper | Short-term, usually 1-year renewable contracts |
| Premium | Regular premiums paid yearly, half-yearlySingle premiums: one-time for policy term | Yearly premiums or one-time premium |
| Coverage | Hospitalization, surgery, and emergency allowancesPayment for critical illnesses and serious illnesses.InjuredDeath/Death due to accident | Property and civil responsibilities.Health:SickOutpatient examination according to invoice, according to normsHospital cashDeath (payouts are usually less than life insurance) |
| Plans | Term, whole life, endowment plans, ULIPs | Health, motor, home, travel |
The key takeaway for agents is that while life insurance covers risks to life, general insurance focuses on liabilities, assets and properties. Life insurance requires long-term commitment while general insurance is short-term
Life insurance aids long-term financial planning and income replacement. It is well suited to protect loved ones and meet goals like children’s future and retirement corpus.
General insurance covers yearly risks to health, vehicles, home and other assets. Hence, it needs periodic renewal based on evolving assets and income levels.
To provide comprehensive protection, agents should consult customers to purchase adequate coverage based on their purposes and financial situation of each life stage.
Here are some tips for agents to increase general insurance sales:
- Understand a wide range of general insurance policies
- Assess client assets and suggest relevant policies – home, travel, physical damage insurance etc.
- Encourage add-ons and optimal sum insured to enhance coverage
- Use an insurtech app like Ignite to seamlessly manage policies across providers
- Renewal reminders for general insurance policies
- Upsell and cross-sell suitable products to existing customers
Ignite by Igloo equips agents with many of these sales enablement capabilities. Its extensive policy choices, data-driven insights, and seamless sales workflows can help agents sell the right general insurance plans more easily.