Riders

Riders let you customise a base policy without buying an entirely separate one. Common riders on term life insurance include critical illness, accidental death benefit, and waiver of premium on disability. Common riders on health insurance include maternity cover, OPD cover, and room-rent waivers.

Riders are often (though not always) cheaper than buying standalone equivalent cover, since they share the underwriting and administration of the base policy — but the cover amount on a rider is usually more limited than a dedicated standalone policy.

Example

Adding a critical illness rider to a term insurance plan might cost a modest additional premium for, say, ₹10 lakh of critical illness cover — versus buying a fully separate ₹25 lakh standalone critical illness policy for broader protection.