Life Insurance Riders

Riders

At this point, riders are added to the insured's policy to provide additional benefits to the insured or policy owner.

Types of Riders

Riders can be added to a life insurance policy to provide term insurance coverage for a spouse, children, or the entire family. The name of the rider may or may not include the word "term." When a rider is added to an individual policy to cover the life of another person, the insurance provided by the rider will always be term insurance.

Other Insured or Dependent (Term) Riders

These riders, as a whole, are referred to as other insured or dependent (term) riders:

• Family (Term) Rider: Covers the rest of the family when added to an insured's individual policy, but not the primary insured who is protected by the individual policy.
• Spousal (Term) Rider: May be added to a primary policy to cover a spouse.
• Child or Children's (Term) Rider: May be added to an insured's policy to cover children or adopted children.

Example Scenario

A potential client wants to purchase a life insurance policy covering her life and also wants to cover her husband if he dies in an accident. The correct rider to suggest is a dependent rider (specifically, the spousal term rider) to cover the spouse. Note that the accidental death rider is added to the primary insured's policy to cover the primary insured, not the spouse.