Riders in life insurance policy

A life insurance policy provides financial security to the insured and to the dependents of the policyholder in the case of death of the insured. If the insured has any financial liability such as home loan repayment, personal loan repayment, etc., the insurance policy comes in handy to meet these financial obligations. However, the policy may not cover all contingencies and, therefore, it may not provide comprehensive cover to meet all kinds of exigencies. The best way to cover this gap in the insurance cover is to buy riders or policy add-ons that are offered with the base policy. These riders provide extra benefits for a small extra premium. There are many types of riders available with term insurance plans, some of which are given below.

Critical illness: The term insurance plan usually does not offer cover for critical illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, kidney failure, etc. Therefore, it is prudent to buy this rider in order to protect oneself from such life-threatening diseases and critical health conditions.

Accidental disability: The tem insurance policy may not offer cover for partial or permanent disability caused due to an accident. Since eventualities such as partial or permanent disability caused by accident may leave the dependents in a financial lurch, it is better to buy accidental death rider to protect oneself against such vagaries of life.

Waiver of premium: The waiver of premium rider waives off all future premiums payable by the policyholder if the policyholder is unable to pay premium due to permanent disability or is diagnosed with critical illness rendering him/her incapable of leading a working life.