What Are Life Insurance Riders?

When you buy an appliance, you’re often asked if you’d like to buy extra protection for your purchase. When you buy a car, you’re likely asked if you want to purchase an extended warranty.

Similarly, when you purchase life insurance, riders are add-ons that can help customize your coverage.

What Are Life Insurance Riders?

Life insurance riders are optional add-ons to a life insurance policy that can provide you with additional protection or financial flexibility.

Some life insurance riders may be included in a policy; others are an additional purchase.

Extra protection and financial flexibility are attractive. That’s why it’s important to compare a rider’s cost with the benefits it provides. Whether or not life insurance riders are right for you will depend on several factors, like your income, your household expenses, and where you see yourself in the future.

One thing to remember is that a rider is something you want to have in place before you encounter the condition or circumstance it helps guard against. Like insurance itself, you can’t buy it to protect yourself against something that’s already happened.

Common Life Insurance Riders

Life insurance riders vary by the policy you purchase, the company you purchase from, and even the state you live in.

Here are four common riders:

• Accidental Death Benefit Rider: This type of rider typically provides an additional payout if the insured’s death is caused by an accident.
• Accelerated Death Benefit Rider: These types of riders allow for an acceleration of the death benefit if the insured is diagnosed with a qualifying condition, such as chronic or terminal illness. Qualifying conditions can vary and are defined in the riders.
• Disability Waiver of Premium Rider: If you become disabled within the contractual terms of this rider, your premiums will continue to be paid.
• Guaranteed Insurability Rider: This allows you to purchase additional insurance coverage without proof of insurability at certain times in the future. You will be able to make these increases at specific ages and when certain life events occur, such as marriage and the birth or adoption of a child.

Life insurance riders are optional add-ons to a life insurance policy that can provide you with additional protection or financial flexibility.

Do You Need Life Insurance Riders?

When you are considering life insurance riders, you’ll want to do plenty of research.

• Make sure any riders that have an additional cost make sense for your situation.
• You’ll want to be aware of when and how you can add riders. Riders can be added when you purchase your policy. With many riders, you can add them after issue — but not all have this option.

The primary factors driving your decision will be what the rider is safeguarding you against and how much it costs. In some cases, riders can increase the cost of your policy by a large amount. That tradeoff might make sense for you, or it might not.

Talking to an expert can help you find what makes the most sense for you.

WoodmenLife Is Here When We’re Needed Most

The “what are life insurance riders?” question is best answered as part of a larger conversation. You’ll also want to talk to an expert about how much life insurance you need to meet your goals and what type of insurance is best for you.

WoodmenLife can help answer your questions. We know that life insurance may be the best way to provide financial security for your loved ones after you’re gone. It can help relieve financial burdens your family may face, like funeral costs, mortgages, and college expenses. With life insurance from WoodmenLife, you’ll protect your family with a safety net, and you’ll find comfort knowing the ones you love are protected.

To find out what options WoodmenLife offers, visit WoodmenLife.org or contact your local WoodmenLife Representative.

Written by: Gary Peterson, Senior Copywriter

The information provided is for educational purposes only. It is not intended as advice.
Not all Representatives are licensed to sell all products. All products may not be available in all states.

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