Riders are amendments which can be added to a life insurance contract.  Attaching riders to a life insurance policy before it is purchased is one way to tailor a the policy to the customer's needs, similar to electing factory-installed options on a new car.  Typically, the attachment of a rider to a policy will raise its cost.

Common riders

A spousal rider effectively converts a single-life insurance policy into a multiple-life insurance policy, providing coverage for both you and your spouse.

A child rider works like the spousal rider but extends coverage to an offspring rather than to a spouse.

A disability rider augments the coverage of a life insurance policy so that it provides a benefit if the insured becomes disabled, even though such is a non-lethal event.

A return of premium rider (ROP) effectively converts an ordinary term life insurance policy into ROP life insurance.  At the conclusion of the term of coverage, if the insured is still alive, the policy owner is remitted the sum of all his premium payments.

A waiver of premium rider stipulates that your insurance company will waive your premiums in the event that you become disabled.

A guaranteed no-lapse rider is attached to a universal life insurance policy and relieves the policy owner of responsibility to monitor his cash value.  This rider comes with a required payment schedule, effectively hybridizing the universal policy with whole life insurance.  So long as the policyholder adheres to the payment schedule, the policy will not lapse.

A no-lapse guaranteed death benefit rider produces the same result as a guaranteed no-lapse rider, freeing the policy owner from responsibility over his cash value growth, but the two riders differ in the machinery used to accomplish this end.

A long-term care rider works much like a disability rider in augmenting coverage to pay a benefit even for a non-lethal event.  In this case, the benefit will be paid if the insured comes to require long-term care.  This may or may not coincide with debilitation.

An accelerated death benefit rider (including chronic or critical illness) provides access to a part of the death benefit, which can then be used as living benefits.