Guide to Kansas Life Insurance Riders

As when you buy a new car, a life insurance policy can be customized by upgrading certain features and adding to it various riders and extras. While these enhancements can make your policy better suit your needs, they're by no means free; each carries an additional charge that will bring up the cost of your monthly premium.

When purchasing a Kansas life insurance policy, carefully consider each rider before attaching any to your policy. While they all might seem like good ideas, adding every one that's available would likely be cost prohibitive. Talk to your insurance provider and discuss the various options with your family to decide which riders best suit your needs.

The various riders that can be purchased with a life insurance policy include:

• Waiver of Premium. A waiver of premium rider is more or less insurance on your insurance policy. It excuses you from making monthly payments if a serious illness or disability prevents you from working. During that time your policy remains if full effect.
• Accidental Death Benefit. Sometimes called a double or triple indemnity, an accidental death benefit rider guarantees a payment two or three times the promised amount if the insured party dies accidentally.
• Guaranteed Insurability. By adding a guaranteed insurability rider to your policy, you'll be able to purchase additional life insurance at any time in the future--regardless of your health. Because the price of an additional policy will be based on your age, the premium may go up a bit ... but, in accordance to the rider, no questions will be asked about the current state of your health.
• Guaranteed Increase. Similar to a guaranteed insurability rider, the guaranteed increase option allows the insured part to increase his or her coverage every three years regardless of health. However, the increases are permitted only until the policyholder turns 40.
• Level Term. A level term rider allows you to attach temporary coverage to your permanent policy should the need ever arise.
• Long-Term Care. Although at a glance it may seem similar to a waiver of premium, a long-term care rider is quite a bit different in that it provides money to cover expenses if the policyholder has to be admitted to a long-term care facility. The total benefit amount is usually limited to 50 percent of the policy's face value, and whatever is used is deducted from the final payoff.
• Accelerated Benefit. An accelerated benefit rider allows a policyholder who's been diagnosed with a fatal illness to receive either a portion or the entire amount of his or her benefit.
• Family Income Benefit. Upon the insured party's death, a family income benefit rider provides the family with steady flow of income for a specified period to compensate for the loss of his or her salary.
• Children's Insurance. A children's insurance rider provides term life insurance coverage for the policyholder's children. While it covers an unlimited number of children parented by the policyholder, each child is removed from the policy upon turning 25 years old.
• Spouse Insurance. Like the children's insurance rider, a spouse insurance rider provides life insurance for the insured party's husband or wife.

Its also a good idea to safeguard yourself against common insurance scams.