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Optional Coverage/Riders 
Modifying Your Coverage
Policy "riders" and "endorsements" are additional policy benefits that you may be able to add to the basic coverage, usually for an additional premium. You can use riders or endorsements to modify the coverage of an existing policy to better suit your needs. Some of the most common types are:
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Additional term insurance essentially adds term life coverage to a whole life or universal life policy. For instance, if you need $500,000 worth of total coverage, you could purchase a $100,000 cash value policy with a $400,000 additional term insurance rider. As your financial resources grow, you could convert some or all of the term rider into the main cash value policy, in the same manner that most stand-alone term life policies are convertible to cash value insurance.
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Guaranteed insurability ensures that you will able purchase additional coverage from the insurer in the future, regardless of your age or health condition. These factors may still be used to determine your premium rate, however. Options to purchase additional coverage must generally be exercised by certain named dates or life events, such as retirement or reaching age 65.
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Accidental death provides for an increased death benefit ý typically double the value ý if the insured dies as the result of an accident. Certain restrictions may apply.
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Disability waiver of premium suspends your obligation to pay premiums if you become disabled as defined by the rider. The benefit lasts for the duration of the disability. This rider is typically only available to individuals under age 60.
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Accelerated death benefit option provides for prepayment of some or all of the death benefit while the insured is still living if the person is diagnosed with a terminal illness, specified disease, or a long-term care illness. The rider is typically purchased to help pay the costs of end-stage care for the insured, which can be expensive.
To qualify as a long-term care illness, the rider will usually require a physicianýs determination that the insured is unable to perform a specified number of defined "activities of daily living," such as bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting, or transferring.
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Spousal rider provides an amount of additional term insurance coverage for the spouse of the primary insured. Essentially, this rider combines two policies into one.
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Children's rider provides additional term insurance for the insured's children. Age limitations for this coverage typically extend from at least 14 days old until age 21 or 25.
Special Case life insurance
Some policies provide only certain narrowly defined types of coverage or are sold in unique circumstances:
Credit life refers to a type of policy purchased by lenders to cover the balance of a loan in the event the loan recipient dies before repayment. A bank or lender may require you to purchase a credit life policy as a condition of a loan. "Credit accident and health" coverage, technically health care coverage and not life insurance, is frequently also required in case the loan recipient becomes sick or injured and unable to repay the loan.
The premium for these coverages is usually automatically factored into the loan's payment schedule. You should expect to be required to undergo some level of underwriting for credit life insurance. Texas law contains several restrictions on the circumstances under which purchasing credit life and credit accident and health insurance may be required by a lender, however:
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A lender may never require credit life or credit accident and health coverage as a condition of any home loan - although in this case you will probably be required to purchase a "mortgage guaranty policy" instead, which is a type of coverage that protects a lender from default under more general circumstances.
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Credit life and credit accident and health coverage may never be required for any loan with a duration of more than 10 years.
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A lender may never charge a loan recipient more than the amount of the insurer's premium for the coverage or otherwise profit by requiring the coverage.
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The lender may never require you to purchase the coverage from any specific insurer.
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If you already have a life insurance policy, you may not need credit life. You may instead agree to an "assignment of benefits" to the lender promising to repay the loan balance using the death benefit of your existing coverage.
Prepaid funeral insurance is a special type of policy to prearrange payment of funeral services. An advantage of this insurance is that it "locks in" the funeral cost at current prices. However, funeral insurance can be relatively expensive compared with other types of life insurance. Often the amount of premium individuals pay exceeds the amount of the death benefit within a few years. At the same time, many policies will not pay the full amount of funeral expenses if you die before paying a required amount. A standard life insurance policy or a well-planned savings program may be a better way to pay funeral costs. You should shop carefully before you buy funeral insurance and make sure you understand a policy's details.
Home service life refers to any type of insurance that is sold door to door. Some companies also market these policies as "industrial life insurance." Be careful with these policies. Some home service life policies can be a good deal, but many offer low death benefits, accumulate cash value at a low rate, and have high premiums.
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