Almost all types of life insurance plans offer optional riders that you can pick when buying the policy. An additional premium is payable for each rider that you choose. If you pick the rider at the time of buying the plan, it gets added to your coverage and you can enjoy it throughout the policy tenure or till you opt out of it.
Can You Add A Rider To An Existing Life Insurance Policy?
Life insurance riders are usually added to the coverage when you are buying a fresh policy. However, nowadays, plans allow you the flexibility to add the rider even to an existing policy. This inclusion, however, is allowed only at policy anniversary.
So, on policy anniversary, if you need to increase the scope of the coverage, you can opt for the rider on payment of nominal extra premium. Once you choose the rider on renewal, the rider premium gets added to the base premium of the policy. The aggregate premium is updated that you need to pay for subsequent years until you opt out of the rider, make a rider claim or till maturity, whichever is earlier.
Tips when adding the rider to an existing policy
If you have an existing life insurance policy and you are adding one or more riders to the coverage, here are a few things that you should keep in mind –
● Ensure That Your Plan is Covering Your Needs
Before adding the rider, do a review of the policy that you have. Make sure that the policy fulfils the financial need for which you bought it. Understand the benefit structure of the plan and also the coverage terms, i.e. –
- The coverage duration
- The sum assured
- Premium paying term and frequency
Remember, the rider coverage cannot exceed your sum assured. Also, the rider would provide coverage only up to the plan duration and you pay premiums for the rider till the premium payment term. Since these policy terms affect the rider coverage, you should assess them to know what the rider would cover you for, the premium payment responsibility and for how long.
● Explore Useful Riders For You
Life insurance plans offer multiple riders, each covering a specific contingency. So, assess the available riders and pick those that suit your needs. Though there are multiple riders, not all riders might fit your requirements. So, before choosing riders, ensure that they align with your coverage needs. Then pick one or more riders.
● Examine The Guidelines Of The Rider
Rider coverage comes with its own set of terms and conditions, i.e., conditions specifying when the insurance rider would pay a claim and when it wouldn’t. That is why it is important to check the terms & conditions of the rider. Read the rider coverage thoroughly and understand the finer details so that you know the exact coverage that you are getting.
● Pick Riders For Your Family Members too
If you have bought life insurance plans for your family members too, you can add a rider under those plans as well. Assess the coverage needs of your family members and enhance the scope of their life insurance policy with suitable riders.
Conclusion
Riders add an extra layer of protection to your life insurance policy. They pay a benefit in contingencies when your actual life insurance plan might not pay a claim. For instance, if you suffer a critical illness, a critical illness rider would pay a lump sum benefit as per the terms & conditions of the rider .
While riders are added when buying the plan, you can also add them to the coverage on renewals. So, assess the available riders, see if they are suitable for your coverage needs and add them for a more comprehensive scope of coverage.
BJAZ-WEB-EC-01746/22
An ISO 9001:2015 
