Riders in Insurance Policy  

Riders are an important and integral part of insurance policies. A policy rider in an insurance policy is a provision or modification to an existing insurance policy that provides additional coverage. Riders on the insurance contract provide additional protection against risk. You can buy a basic insurance policy and add riders to it to include extra protection. The riders provide low-cost pure risk cover to the insured. These add-ons or riders, as they are called are a special policy provision or group of provisions that can be added to a policy to supplement the cover provided. They allow you to increase your insurance coverage or limit the coverage set down by the policy.The need of a rider with a life insurance policy depends on the insurance seeker's existing insurance, as well as additional medical and non-life covers available with him. The choice of a particular rider depends upon the life insurance coverage needs of an individual, which depends upon various factors such as age, family responsibilities and income, among others. It is, therefore, critical for an individual to make a sound decision after ascertaining his needs.Different types of rider:
Accidental Death and Disability Rider: This rider ensures receipt of a sum over and above the basic sum assured.
Term benefit Rider: it endeavors to provide an additional sum, equivalent to a maximum of the basic sum assured should the insured die during the tenure of the policy.
Critical Illness Rider: Critical Illness Rider protects the insured in the event of a critical illness.
Waiver of Premium Rider: the future premiums are waived off if the insured becomes permanently disabled or loses his or her income as a result of injury or illness prior to a specified age. "This rider is very useful in case of a child policy where the life assured is a minor and therefore does not have any paying capacity
Income Benefit Rider: In case of death of the life assured during the term of the policy, certain percentage of the rider sum assured is paid to the beneficiary.
Surgical Procedure and Hospitalization benefit Rider: The former entails a payout, depending on the surgical procedure, the later covers the expenses involved in hospitalization by paying room charges subject to certain ceilings on both the amount and the number of days in a year that the insured can avail of the benefit. Key Takeaways:
Riders are always attached to the basic policy, which a person takes. They cannot be bought separately or independently of a basic policy.
Riders are optional additional benefits that you can opt for with your insurance plan for a nominal extra amount.
One can also combine a set of riders and append it to the main policy.
Riders also cover risks, which are not considered important by a common man.
Riders also help one avoid owning excessive insurance, as one doesn't need to purchase separate policies for additional coverage.
There is a flexibility to stop the rider benefit without terminating the basic cover, which is not possible in the case of a separate policy.A word of caution..The policyholders should avoid those riders to the policy, which are least useful to them and include those, which may be critically important to their needs. One needs to choose the riders that are suited to one's specific needs. One should evaluate whether a policy rider offers additional protection that is worth the extra expense. While riders are important, they are essentially add-ons to an insurance policy. The lifer insurance cover therefore should always take precedence and be treated as the core necessity. Only after having adequately insured yourself, you should opt for the riders.