General insurance or non-life insurance policies, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event or natural calamity that arises out of the blue. General insurance is typically defined as any insurance that is not determined to be life insurance. It helps us protect ourselves and the things we value, such as our homes, our cars and our valuables, from the financial impact of risks, big and small – from fire, flood, storm and earthquake, to theft, car accidents, travel mishaps – and even from the costs of legal action against us.