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General Insurance Companies in India (2026)

India has 29 general insurance companies registered with IRDAI as of August 2026, of which four are government-owned. General insurers, also called non-life insurers, cover motor, health, home, travel, marine, fire and liability risks. Two government-owned insurers hold restricted specialised licences for crop and export credit insurance.

Key Facts

General insurers 29
Public sector 4
Private sector 23
Specialised insurers 2
Largest by gross direct premium New India Assurance
Newest entrant ProTec General Insurance Limited (July, 2026)
Minimum solvency ratio required 1.50, set by IRDAI
Claim data source IRDAI (2024-25)
Data verified August 26, 2026

List of all General Insurance Companies in India

India’s 29 general insurance companies comprise four public sector insurers that emerged from the 1972 nationalisation and 23 private-sector insurers and two specialised public insurers (crop and export credit). The table below lists each, along with specialised insurers, with its IRDAI registration number, incurred claim ratio and the product lines it actually writes.

The product lines column matters more than it first appears. Several of these companies are motor-heavy, a few write substantial health books and a handful concentrate on commercial risk. Comparing their claim ratios without knowing the mix produces misleading conclusions, for reasons the incurred claim ratio section below sets out.

# Company IRDAI Reg. No. Sector HQ Founded ICR (2024-25) Gross direct premium (2024-25) Main product lines
1 The New India Assurance 190 Public Mumbai 1919 96.61% ₹41,992.21 crore Motor, cyber, agriculture, cargo, accident, health, fire, marine, commercial
2 United India Insurance 545 Public Chennai 1938 92.93% ₹20,072 crore Motor, health, shopkeeper, personal accident, householder, fire, marine, commercial
3 The Oriental Insurance 556 Public New Delhi 1947 100.75% ₹20,327.48 crore Motor, travel, health, personal accident, fire, marine, liability, miscellaneous, rural
4 National Insurance 58 Public Kolkata 1906 85.92% ₹16,833.46 crore Motor, travel, home and property, personal accident, health, fire, commercial
5 ICICI Lombard General Insurance 115 Private Mumbai 2000 71% ₹26,833 crore Motor, health, travel, home, commercial
6 Bajaj General Insurance 113 Private Pune 2001 74.59% ₹21,417 crore Motor, personal accident, health, pet, travel, home, cyber, commercial
7 HDFC ERGO General Insurance 146 Private Mumbai 2002 89.47% ₹15,817.29 crore Motor, health, pet, car, cyber, corporate, rural, tractor, travel, home, commercial
8 Tata AIG General Insurance 108 Private Mumbai 2001 77% ₹17,702.83 crore Motor, health, travel, cyber, marine, fire, engineering, commercial
9 SBI General Insurance 144 Private Mumbai 2009 82.41% ₹4,485.30 crore Motor, health, home, personal accident, cyber, travel
10 IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance 106 Private Gurugram 2000 88.31% ₹8,312.34 crore Motor, health, crop, marine, commercial
11 IndusInd General Insurance Company Limited (formerly known as Reliance General Insurance Company Limited) 103 Private Mumbai 2000 82.63% ₹12,548.37 crore Motor, health, travel, commercial
12 Cholamandalam MS General Insurance 123 Private Chennai 2002 73.33% ₹8,124.31 crore Motor, health, travel, accident, home
13 Generali Central Insurance 132 Private Mumbai 2006 79% ₹5,408.16 crore Motor, health, travel, lifestyle, home, engineering, marine, cattle, commercial
14 Royal Sundaram General Insurance 102 Private Chennai 2000 79.3% ₹3,763.18 crore Motor, health, home, travel
15 Shriram General Insurance 137 Private Jaipur 2006 67.65% ₹3,753.38 crore Motor, home, fire, marine, travel, health, commercial
16 Universal Sompo General Insurance 134 Private Mumbai 2007 77.15% ₹5,078.45 crore Motor, health, crop, commercial
17 Magma General Insurance 149 Private Mumbai 2009 79.80% ₹3,344.40 crore Motor, health, fire, marine, liability, commercial
18 Liberty General Insurance 150 Private Mumbai 2013 81% ₹2,246.44 crore Motor, health, commercial
19 Raheja QBE General Insurance 141 Private Mumbai 2007 89.47% ₹353.22 crore Commercial, liability, motor, home, health
20 Acko General Insurance 157 Private Bengaluru 2016 69.95% ₹2,064.67 crore Motor, health, life, travel
21 Go Digit General Insurance 158 Private Pune 2016 70.31% ₹2,507.33 crore Motor, health, home, travel, commercial
22 Navi General Insurance 155 Private Bengaluru 2018 92% ₹99.53 crore Motor, health
23 Zuno General Insurance 159 Private Mumbai 2017 80% ₹992.30 crore Motor, health
24 Zurich Kotak General Insurance 152 Private Mumbai 2015 75% ₹1915.38 crore Motor, health, travel, commercial, home
25 Kshema General Insurance 162 Private Hyderabad 2018 75.20% ₹281.05 crore Crop and agricultural
26 Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited 126 Public (specialised) New Delhi 2002 80.43% ₹9,741.57 crore Crop
27 ECGC Limited 124 Public (specialised) Mumbai 1957 -54.69% ₹1,366.532 crore Export credit, trade credit and bank credit insurance
28 Kiwi General Insurance Limited 171 Private Mumbai 2024 -9% (Q1 FY2026-27) ₹1.91 crore (Q1 FY2026-27) Vehicle
29 ProTec General Insurance Limited 173 Private Mumbai 2024 NA NA NA

Note: Kiwi and ProTec are 2026 entrants; Kiwi’s figures are Q1 FY2026-27 and ProTec had not begun underwriting, so their data is not comparable with the FY2024-25 columns.

Public Sector General Insurance Companies

India has four public sector general insurance companies:

  • New India Assurance
  • United India Insurance
  • Oriental Insurance
  • National Insurance

These are owned by the Government of India and trace back to the nationalisation of general insurance in 1972, though each was founded decades earlier.

Company IRDAI Reg. No. HQ Founded ICR (2024-25) Gross direct premium (2024-25)
The New India Assurance 190 Mumbai 1919 96.61% ₹41,992.21 crore
United India Insurance 545 Chennai 1938 92.93% ₹20,072 crore
The Oriental Insurance 556 New Delhi 1947 100.75% ₹20,327.48 crore
National Insurance 58 Kolkata 1906 85.92% ₹16,833.46 crore

The public sector’s real advantage is reach. These four carry branch networks into tier-3 towns and rural districts where private insurers have little or no physical presence. This matters for any cover that may need in-person servicing or for buyers who prefer to transact face to face.

The honest counterpoint is financial performance. Public sector general insurers have reported higher incurred claim ratios and larger underwriting losses than the private segment in recent financial periods. Some have also required capital support from the government to strengthen their financial and solvency positions.

Private General Insurance Companies

India has 23 private general insurance companies registered with IRDAI. Private general insurers now account for the majority of premium growth in India’s non-life market. The segment divides into three groups and knowing which group an insurer belongs to explains most of its behaviour.

  • Bank and corporate-backed insurers. ICICI Lombard, HDFC ERGO, SBI General, Bajaj General, Tata AIG, IndusInd General (formerly Reliance General), Cholamandalam MS, Royal Sundaram, Shriram General and Magma General are built on the distribution and balance sheet of a large Indian group. They tend to underwrite broad portfolios across motor, health and commercial insurance, rather than specialising in a single line.
  • Foreign joint ventures. IFFCO-Tokio, Universal Sompo, Generali Central Insurance, Liberty General, Raheja QBE and Zurich Kotak pair an Indian partner with a foreign insurer. Several of these partnerships restructured in the last five years, which is why this group has produced most of the recent name changes.
  • Digital-first entrants. Acko, Go Digit, Navi and Zuno were licensed from 2015 onward and built around online distribution rather than agent networks. Their claim processes are app-led, their product ranges are narrower and their growth has come mainly from motor and retail health.

Six names in this segment changed in the last five years. 

  • Bajaj Allianz General became Bajaj General after Allianz SE exited
  • Future Generali became Generali Central Insurance
  • Kotak Mahindra General became Zurich Kotak General after Zurich acquired a majority stake
  • Edelweiss General became Zuno
  • Magma HDI became Magma General
  • Reliance General became IndusInd General after the Hinduja Group’s IndusInd International Holdings acquired Reliance Capital

One company left the list entirely: Bharti AXA General merged into ICICI Lombard in 2021.

Specialised Insurance Companies

A specialised insurer holds a restricted IRDAI licence limiting it to a single class of business. India has two, both government-owned and neither sells cover to retail buyers.

CompanyIRDAI Reg. No.SpecialisationFounded
Agriculture Insurance Company of India126Crop and agricultural insurance2002
ECGC Ltd124Export credit insurance1957

Agriculture Insurance Company implements government crop insurance schemes, working through state governments and lending banks. ECGC insures Indian exporters against the risk of an overseas buyer failing to pay and also supports banks lending against export receivables.

Incurred Claim Ratio: The Key Metric for General Insurers

An incurred claim ratio is the value of claims a general insurer paid as a percentage of the premium it earned in a financial year. Unlike a life insurer’s claim settlement ratio, a higher incurred claim ratio is not automatically better, because a ratio above 100% means the insurer paid out more than it collected.

Incurred claim ratio = (net claims incurred ÷ net premium earned) × 100

An insurer that earned Rs 1,000 crore in premium and incurred Rs 750 crore in claims reports an incurred claim ratio of 75%.

Why Higher is Not Better

Both extremes signal a problem, but they signal it to different people.

Incurred claim ratioWhat it suggestsWhose problem
Below 40%The insurer is collecting far more in premiums than it pays out in
claims. This can come from robust underwriting or from charging higher
premiums than competitors. It mostly signals expensive products, low
coverage, or heavy exclusions		The policyholder’s
Roughly 70% to 90%The ideal range. For every ₹100 collected as premium, the insurer pays
₹70–₹90 in claims the same year, a healthy settlement rate that still
leaves the insurer profitable		Neither
Above 100%For every ₹100 collected as premium, the insurer pays out more than
₹100 in claims; the insurer is incurring losses. This can stem from
faulty claims handling, poor underwriting, or (for a new entrant)
simply not yet having a large enough premium base		The insurer’s and eventually the policyholder’s if it withdraws or
reprices

Verdict:

Read an incurred claim ratio as a range check rather than a ranking. A ratio between roughly 70 and 90% generally indicates an insurer that pays claims and can keep doing so. A very low ratio deserves more scrutiny than a moderately high one.

Why the Ratio Varies by Line of Business

Incurred claim ratios differ sharply between product lines, which makes a blended company-level figure hard to interpret.

  • Motor third-party can have high claim ratios, because premiums are regulated by IRDAI and court awards drive claim costs.
  • Health may also go high, because medical inflation is persistent and claim frequency is rising.
  • Fire generally goes lower, because losses are infrequent even though individual claims can be large.
  • Commercial and liability vary widely year to year, since a single large loss moves the whole line.

So an insurer that leans heavily into motor and health will show a higher overall incurred claim ratio than one focused on commercial lines. It doesn’t mean either is managed worse. Look at the ratio for the specific line you’re buying, not the company-wide number and use IRDAI’s line-level data when it’s available.

Incurred Claim Ratio Versus Claim Settlement Ratio

Incurred claim ratio and claim settlement ratio are the two metrics that get confused constantly, including on pages that rank well for insurer comparisons. They measure different things and they point in different directions.

ParameterClaim settlement ratioIncurred claim ratio
Primary usageLife insurersGeneral and health insurers
MeasuresPercentage of claims settled, by countClaims paid as a percentage of premium earned
Expressed inNumber of claimsPercentage
Higher is better?YesNo, a moderate range is healthiest

Verdict:

These measure different things and shouldn’t be read the same way. Settlement ratio is a count of claims paid; incurred claim ratio is a share of premium paid out. A high settlement ratio doesn’t tell you whether the insurer is financially strained and a moderate incurred claim ratio doesn’t tell you how many claims got rejected. Check which ratio you’re actually looking at before using it to compare insurers.

Types of General Insurance in India

General insurance in India covers seven major categories. Motor is the largest by premium and the only category where a minimum level of cover is compulsory by law.

CategoryWhat it coversCompulsory?Typical tenure
MotorDamage to and by your vehicle and injury to third partiesThird-party cover only, under the Motor Vehicles Act1 year, longer for new vehicles
HealthHospitalisation and related medical expensesNo1 to 3 years
Home and propertyStructure and contents against fire, theft and natural eventsNo, though lenders often require it1 to 30 years
TravelMedical emergencies, baggage loss, trip cancellation abroadNo, though many visas require it1 day to 1 year
MarineGoods in transit by sea, air, road or railNo1 year
FireBuildings, plant and stock against fire and allied perilsNo1 year
Commercial and liabilityBusiness interruption, public and product liability, employee coverSome employer liabilities are statutory1 year

Only third-party motor insurance is legally compulsory for individuals in India. Nothing else on this list is required by law. Though a home loan lender will normally require property cover as a condition of lending and several countries require travel insurance for a visa.

How to Choose a General Insurance Company

Choosing a general insurance company in India depends on four checks you can make before buying: network reach for the cover you need, the incurred claim ratio on that specific line, IRDAI grievance data and the solvency ratio against the 1.50 minimum. Network reach comes first, because it decides your experience at claim time more than any published ratio.

Network reach in your own city. For health cover, check whether your preferred hospitals are on the insurer’s cashless list. For motor, check the cashless garage list for your city and for the roads you actually drive. A national network total tells you nothing if your city has three garages on it. Every insurer publishes a live, searchable list; use it before you buy, not after a claim.

Incurred claim ratio on the line you are buying. Use line-level data where IRDAI publishes it. A blended company figure mixes a motor book with fire insurance and answers neither question.

Grievance data. IRDAI publishes complaint counts by insurers. Read them relative to policy count. A rising complaint rate is an important and reliable signal of servicing problems.

Solvency ratio. Confirm it sits meaningfully above the 1.50 IRDAI minimum and has not fallen sharply year on year.

Also, do check the claim process the insurer actually operates, since app-based claims suit some buyers and frustrate others.

General Insurers vs Standalone Health Insurers

A general insurer holds a licence to write motor, home, travel, marine, fire and health cover. A standalone health insurer is licensed to write health business exclusively. Both can sell you a health policy, both are regulated by IRDAI and both must meet the same 1.50 minimum solvency requirement.

ParameterGeneral insurerStandalone health insurer
Licence scopeAll non-life lines including healthHealth, personal accident and travel only
Number of companies297
Depth in health productsVaries widely by insurerTypically deeper, more variants
Claims handlingOften through a third-party administratorOften in-house
Bundling with motor or homePossible with one insurerNot possible
Solvency requirement1.501.50
RegulatorIRDAIIRDAI

Verdict:

Choose on the specific policy’s terms, network and claim record rather than on licence class. A standalone health insurer often handles claims in-house, which some buyers prefer, but a general insurer with a strong health book and good hospital coverage in your city is an equally sound choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

India has 29 general insurance companies registered with IRDAI as of 2026. Four are government-owned and 23 are private. Two other government-owned insurers (Agriculture Insurance Company and ECGC) hold restricted specialised licences and do not sell general cover to retail buyers.

New India Assurance is the largest general insurance company in India by gross direct premium. It is government-owned, was founded in 1919 and is the only Indian insurer with a substantial overseas book. Largest by premium does not mean best for a given buyer, since claim experience and network coverage vary by product line and by city.

General insurance covers assets, health and liabilities and pays the actual loss suffered up to the sum insured. Life insurance covers a person’s life and pays a fixed sum assured agreed in advance. General insurance policies typically run one to three years and are renewable; life insurance policies run for decades. The two are licensed and regulated separately.

Government and private general insurers are regulated identically and hold the same minimum solvency requirement, so neither group is inherently safer. Public sector insurers have far deeper branch networks in smaller towns. Private insurers generally offer faster digital servicing and wider cashless networks in cities.

An incurred claim ratio between roughly 70 and 90% generally indicates a general insurer that pays claims while remaining sustainable. A very low ratio can mean the insurer collects far more than it pays out. A ratio above 100% means it paid more than it earned on that book. The healthy range differs by product line.

Every general insurance company in India is permitted to sell health insurance and several of the largest health insurers by premium are general insurers rather than standalone health companies. Around 34 companies can sell you a health policy in total: the 27 of the 29 general insurers (all except the two specialised insurers, Agriculture Insurance Company and ECGC, which don’t sell retail cover) plus the 7 standalone health insurers licensed for health business exclusively.

Cashless garage network sizes are published by each insurer and change frequently, so check the live list on the insurer’s own site before buying. A national network total matters less than coverage in your own city, because a large countrywide number can still mean very few options where you actually drive.

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