Rider
✓ Last verified 14 Sep 2026
The short version
A rider is an optional add-on to a base insurance policy, providing specific extra coverage (critical illness, accidental death) for an additional premium.
See our full article on health insurance riders worth considering for a detailed breakdown of which riders tend to close a real coverage gap versus which ones mostly add cost. In short, a rider extends a base policy's coverage for a specific scenario the base policy doesn't fully address - worth adding when it matches your actual risk profile, not simply because it's offered at purchase.
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