Accidental Death Rider
The Dictionary of Insurance Terms and Definitions
An accidental death rider is an endorsement which can be attached to any life insurance policy in order to increase the indemnity your beneficiaries receive in the event that the insured's death results from an accident. A common term for this extra financial protection is "double indemnity."
What qualifies as an accident may differ from one insurance carrier to the next, but generally, everything but natural causes, disease, and suicide is covered. In fact, even a death by disease may be considered an accident if the disease was contracted as a result of an accident and if the insured perishes within a certain time frame.
In life insurance policies or in any other contract, riders enable you to modify the standard provisions of your agreement. To make use of an accidental death rider, select whatever life insurance policy best meets your coverage needs, then instruct your life insurance advisor that you would like to attach an accidental death rider to the policy.
An accidental death rider will increase the cost of your policy beyond the price you would pay for a standard, rider-free policy, so it would behoove you to involve a life insurance advisor in the process of comparing quotes.
