What is the difference between general insurance and medical insurance?

General Insurance will take care of our travel, vehicle, our home and other related issues ( not related to lives) such as accidents, fires, theft etc. The general insurance would include motor insurance, health insurance, travel and home insurance. Here are short descriptions of the their features mentioned below -
1) Home Insurance- Home being a valuable possession, it is always important to secure our home with the proper home insurance and in that way, we can safeguard our homes and other items which are under our possessions remaining at home. It is a policy covering man made and the circumstances where there could be damage or loss of our assets.
2) Motor Insurance Policy- It would provide coverage for the vehicle against damage, accidents, theft etc. This policy has two variants namely third party and the other being comprehensive.
In case of accidents, third party insurance will take care of the harm caused to the party but any damage caused to the vehicle is not covered under this scheme. However, comprehensive insurance will take care of vehicle as well in the event of fire, earth quake, theft, vehicle damage etc by paying a little more for such a policy.
3) Travel Insurance- In case of undertaking a travel, any loss such as baggage loss, trip cancellation, delay in flight would be compensated suitably if a travel insurance is taken.
4) Health Insurance- This insurance is a vital component in our life providing us relief in case of medical emergencies. This plan would cover hospitalisation expenses up to the sum assured. One can opt for standard health policy for self or even to the family members with the undertaking of suitable premium.
While buying health insurance, people commit blunders. One of such blunders is the wrong conception regarding the medical insurance where the insurer thinks that it is a synonym of health insurance though it is not so.
Let us understand the mechanism of Medical Insurance offering you specialised protection against health related emergencies. However the coverage of the Medical Insurance is limited to Rs Five Lakhs per year whereas in the Health Insurance, it might go to the tune of Rs Six crores.
In the Medical Insurance, the coverage is confined to hospitalisation and other expenses in course of treatment are borne by the insurer.
Generally, it comes under pre -decided sum assurance.
Some of the features of the Medical Insurance are as follows-
1) Coverage
2) Sum Assured and that will not exceed beyond Rs Five Lakhs per year.
3) Claim Settlement
4) Tax Exemption - This plan offers a tax benefit as per section of 80 D of IT Act of 1961.
Normally Health Insurance Plan are more expensive than the Medical Insurance Plan in terms of premium.
5) Plan Basis - This plan can be purchased on an individual as well as on family floater basis where self, wife, dependant children and the dependant parents are covered.

General insurance is about the insurance of our property, assets, or gadgets etc. It covers a variety of items. It generally provides us the protection of our assets from loss and damage. Depending upon the type of item and the type of insurance we want to go for and the period of insurance, the insurance premium would be calculated by the company and same will be charged to us.
Earlier people were only going for life insurance where the investment was returned to the subscriber ones the policy matures. But with time so many insurance instruments came in the market and became popular and people started to buy these policies.
On the other hand the medical insurance deals only with the medical treatment for hospitalization, surgeries, accident follow up, and other such care of the person who has gone for this medical insurance. There are two categories of medical insurance one is in which limited amount is given for expenses on hospitalization and other things while in the other category everything from admission to discharge is the responsibility of the insurance company. It is obvious that their premiums will differ considerably.
Most of such insurance policies available in the market today from various insurance providers are based on the premium payment by the insured person and there is no return of any money to him after the policy matures. He has to again pay the premium for the following years.
Before going for insurance one has to check the scheme thoroughly because there are so many points where one can err and unnecessary pay higher amounts for no return.

General insurance is provided to assets and property of person's life such as car, travel, home, etc. It is given on damage of property. That means this insurance is done for safety of property. Generally, for any insurance time period is fixed. After completion of time, insurance premium will be provided by company.
Medical insurance is related with medical treatment. It is given when person are hospitalized, accident and other medical problem. Medical insurance has been divided into two categories. In first category limited amount is provided. While in second category you will get medical related all expenses from hospital admission to discharge.

Insurance can broadly be divided into two types.
1. Life Insurance
2. General Insurance.
Life insurance covers the life of the insured person. A term policy in this will assure some money to the family of the person after his death. In this, there are some endowment policies. The assured amount will be returned to the policyholder.
General insurance is divided into many subdivisions. They may include Fire Insurance, Marine Insurance, Motor Insurance, Health insurance, Miscellaneous etc. Each and every type of general insurance covers a particular aspect for a specified period of time. Generally, these policies are in force for one year and we have to get them renewed every year. Medical or health insurance is a part of general insurance only.
Again health insurance has many types in it. Health insurance and medical insurance are two words that are used interchangeably. But there is some slight difference.
The medical insurance will cover hospitalization expenses and treatment towards the pre-specified ailments and accidents. The total amount also will be specified and under each head, the maximum amount eligible based on the policy value will be there.
Health insurance covers all the hospitalization expenses and other expenses like pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization. These expenses include ambulance costs and related expenses. It is a comprehensive insurance policy.
Following are some of the benefits of Health Insurance:
1. Hospitalisation Expenses will be reimbursed. But one has to get admitted into the hospital which is on
the authorised list of hospitals of the insurance company.
2. Pre and Post hospitalisation expenses are also reimbursed as specified in the policy.
3. AFter taking the policy if the policyholder will not claim any expenses while renewing it for the next year some rebate will be given in the policy amount.
4. The amount paid as a premium for the policy will be eligible for some deduction in income tax if the policyholder is an IT payer.
There are different types of health insurance. Individual personal health policy, Family health policy, corporate health policy, Senior citizen health policy, existing diseases coverage policy and preventive health policy etc.

Till recent decade general public was aware about only Life Insurance. However General insurance was more prevalent with traders and exporters in the form of Marine Insurance and transport insurance. General Insurance then added insuring more assets which was mostly known to people as fire insurance. Medical insurance or Health insurance is a relatively recent addition to the insurance sector in our country.

So to say briefly, Life Insurance covers risk of life; Medical or Health insurance covers risk of medical and hospitalization treatment costs. Insurance covers for the various risks happening to our assets is generally termed as general insurance. There are many new and innovative schemes under this now.

Insurance generally works under the principle of prudential care. It assumes that each one will take the essential care of himself, his life and health. It assumes that no one will invite disease, or no one will deliberately ignore care and lose his assets. So insurance gives a risk cover b financial provision to compensate loss happening due to reasons and happenings beyond one's care and control.

So when someone falls sick and has to incur huge medical costs, then medical insurance or Health Insurance provides financial provision to the extent of insured amount as agreed and undertaken as per the insurance terms and conditions.
Usually medical insurances expect the insured person also share a part of the expense. This share is called co-payment. It is specified in percentage terms. Different insurance companies, different categories have different co-payment terms. The insurance company will give the amount net of the co-payment amount.

Both general insurance and medical insurance are given for one year term and then can be renewed subjects to terms and conditions.

While for easy understanding and simplicity I have treated both medical insurance and health insurance as similar here, there is some difference. As general people we should read and understand and select whichever is best suited for us as per need and affordability.

There are two terms, insurance and assurance. Insurance is used when the risk is uncertain and the insured amount is payable on the happening of the uncertain event and on the contrary, the assurance is used when there is certainly of risk and certainty if receiving the amount assured. Based on this classification the there are two kinds of insurance:
1)Life insurance
2)General insurance

Now, life insurance is a kind of assurance. Sooner or later a person would receive the amount for the life insurance which leads to the certainty of the claim.
General insurance includes various other kinds of insurance, in technical terms, this includes the contracts of indemnity. Some basic kinds of general insurance are:
1)Fire insurance: Is is a contract whereby the insurer would indemnify the party insured for the loss of property insured due to fire. One should keep in mind that loss is due to fire.

2)Marine insurance: This type of insurance is taken to cover marine losses. This covers the loss caused due to the perils of the sea, for instance, due to storms, capture, sinking etc.
Different types of marine insurance are, Hull insurance(when the whole ship is insured), Cargo insurance(insurance for the goods on the ship) and Freight insurance(insurance for the loss of freight).

3)Health Insurance: It includes insurance for the payment of medical expenses in case of the ailment of the insured person and family. Medical expenses covered include, basic and major expenses, expenses on medical supplements, hospitalisation expenses etc.

Now, coming to your question which is about the difference between general insurance and medical insurance. From the concept explained above the medical insurance is part of general insurance itself.