Once you have chosen your insurance company and the type of life insurance that suits you best, the show is still not over. Actually, there are a number of add-ons to the life insurance policy which will depend on the type of the policy and on the company itself, as well. These add-ons are called riders and they can be very useful in that they provide some additional security, something like plan B, if anything goes wrong. There are many different riders, but here are some of the most common and most famous ones.
There is the so-called waiver if premium, and if you choose this rider, you do not need to pay the premium in case cannot work due to a complete disability. However, this waiver usually expires at the age of sixty or sixty five.
Further on, the disability income rider and it implies that in case you become disabled and cannot work you may collect a regular income from the company and the amount that you receive is specified in the policy.
The guaranteed insurability rider allows you to buy some additional coverage later on, but in this case you do not have to undergo a medical examination. You can usually buy the additional insurance at a set interval which is usually three years.
Term conversion rider is the next one on our list which is quite helpful in case you want to convert your policy from term to permanent. It allows you to do so without any medical examination. However, there is a deadline when you will have to convert the policy.
Now we come to the so-called accelerated death benefit rider which is helpful if you get seriously ill. This has become a rather usual rider and now it is included in every policy automatically free of charge, or for a quite small price. This rider allows you to collect a certain part of the death benefit in case you become seriously ill and with a short life expectancy of, for example, one year. The policy will also contain the information on how much you may collect before you die. Although it is usually free of charge, in case you exercise it, the company can charge a fee.
The critical illness rider is somewhat similar to the previous one. In this case, the insurer will pay you a certain amount of money if you become ill with some of the diseases specified in the policy. Unlike with health insurance where you will receive money only for medical expenses, you can use this money for any purpose.
To sum up, these are not all riders, but the most common ones and the total number of the riders is really great for there are many variations and combinations. Of course, not every company will offer the same riders and on same conditions, but these are some basic characteristics that are more or less the same with any company. So, think carefully and choose wisely the rider that you really need, if you need any.