The main purpose of buying a term insurance plan is to ensure that your family is financially secure after your death. Term insurance plans offer enough coverage to your family by offering a sum assured on the demise of the policyholder, this was probably the only reason why people purchased a term insurance policy.

With changes in time, investors requirements changed and insurance companies made sure they offered what was in demand. Child plans, education plans, pension plans, etc. were new investment tools in the market.

According to IRDAI, term insurance riders are nothing but “add-ons” to your term insurance plans. Theterm insurance riders can be bought at a minimum addition to the existing premium amount. The advantage of adding riders to your term plan is that you can opt to change them as and when needed as per your lifestyle.

There are also a few term insurance policies that include term insurance riders in their base policy which makes it a convenient option. Since the premium on term insurance riders is added to the base premium of the term plan, it is deductible under section 80C as per Income Tax Act.

A plain insurance term plan is not enough in these times, considering there are several lifestyle diseases around. Ensuring that your family is well covered even if a major illness strikes them is important. Term insurance riders offer cover several lifestyle diseases, accidents, etc.,that most normal polices don't take care of.

Here are a few term insurance riders that you might want to add to your base plan. This will help you ensure that you are fully covered and have enough backing in times of need.

Critical Illness Term Insurance Rider

There are some illness that can leave you permanently or temporarily disabled and out of work. The cost to treat these illnesses medically can run into several lakhs, along with it, the person does not receive his/her monthly income. This makes it very difficult especially if they are the only working members. With the critical illness rider, the medical expense can be taken care of, which eases the financial burden on the family. The critical illness rider allows the policyholder to undergo diagnosis of any critical illness. Some critical illness defined in this rider are;

1. Paralysis
2. Heart Attack
3. Coronary artery bypass surgery
4. Cancer
5. Stroke
6. Major organ transplants (e.g. pancreas, liver, lung, etc.)
7. Kidney failure

Accidental Death Benefit Term Insurance Rider

If the policyholder dies due to an unfortunate accident, the family receives the sum assured on the term insurance as well as the sum assured on the rider. For e.g. if you buy a term plan that assures you a sum of Rs. 90 lacs, and an accidental death benefit rider for 20 lac, then incase the policyholders dies in an accident, the family receives both the amounts. In cases where the policyholder does not opt for this they still receive the sum assured on the regular premium paid. 

Permanent and Partial Disability Rider

Life is uncertain, and there are several unforeseen events that could lead you to death or leave you or your family members partial or permanently disabled. Disability either permanent or partial can leave you bedridden. It eventually leads to loss of job, no income and a lot of medical expense. Sum assured on term insurance in such cases is only payable after your death, which really does not help your current situation.  With the disability rider you receive your sum assured for the rider you’ve paid as an income for a predefined tenure. The amount received is however dependent on the type of disability you suffer from. If yours is a full disability you get your complete sum assured, partial disability on the other hand receives part of the sum assured. You could also choose to receive the sum assured as instalments however this is as per the terms and conditions your insurance company offers.

Income Benefit Rider

Under the income benefit rider the policyholder can choose to opt for the sum assured to be paid in monthly instalments for a specified period of time. This will ensure that your family’s monthly needs are met. In the income benefit rider the policyholder you can decided on how you would like to distribute the sum assured to your family.

Waiver of Premium Rider

Certain unfortunate events in life can leave you disabled or you could lose your job and hence not earn your regular monthly income. In such cases paying your premium towards your insurance policy can be an uphill task you cannot fulfil. If your premium is not paid on time and in full, there are chances that your policy is terminated. If you choose the waiver of premium rider, in any unfortunate incident where you cannot pay your regular premium, the insurance company, waives off your premium payment. On policy term after your death the sum assured is paid off to your family as per the policy conditions

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