What is a insurance rider?

An insurance rider is a policy provision that a client purchases at an extra price in addition to the basic policy in order to gain additional benefits. Riders help insurance clients tailor the policies to satisfy their individual needs.

If a tenant owns a grand piano, that tenant may add a rider to the contents insurance he purchases for his dwelling, because the standard payout for his belongings would not replace all of his possessions as well as the piano. Some life insurance providers offer accelerated death benefit riders that give the client money while he is still alive but has contracted a terminal disease. This is not a standard element in a life insurance policy, but it is a fairly common rider.