When it comes to life insurance, not all policies are “one size fits all.” While many policies are presented that way, occasionally there is room for additional riders. An insurance rider is a provision that is added onto your insurance policy to provide extra coverage. These riders aren’t available for all types of life insurance though, so if you’re interested in adding them onto an existing policy, make sure to ask if they are available and how much they’ll cost. Let’s look at this a little deeper.
What Are Some Common Insurance Riders?
While the options for insurance riders aren’t endless, there are many that policyholders find worthy of adding onto their policies. They can cover a range of incidents from illness to adding on a family member.
- Long-term care is a popular rider choice, because it helps provide funds should you fall ill or need care over a long period of time. The specifics of the care given will be outlined in your policy, so read them over carefully. The disability income rider is closely related, but will only provide funds to supplement your income, not to help pay for any medical bills.
- A children’s term rider is another option parents may choose for their kids. This is simple, but it’s something many parents struggle to think about. In short, this rider will insure the child for a specific term of time, like other forms of term life insurance.
- Another rider that people may choose to get, especially if there is a history of terminal illness in the family, is the accelerated death benefit rider. This will release the funds earmarked for the policyholder’s death benefit early. It’s hard to confront, but this will help supplement the family’s income as well as pay for any necessary funeral services. The guaranteed insurability rider may also be something you’d want to add if terminal illnesses run in your family. This will mean that no matter what, you can get insurance.
How Much Do Insurance Riders Cost?
Even if riders aren’t part of a standard policy, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll add to your monthly premium cost. For example, a children’s term rider may only add around $5 or less to your bill, but an entire policy for your child could cost around $50-70, according to PolicyGenius.
However, other riders that will cost the life insurance company money no matter what can increase your premium significantly, like the return of premium rider. So, be sure to look into that before you get your policy. If you already have a life insurance policy, talk to the company it’s with and ask if you can add on these additional riders, as well as how much they’ll cost.