Term life insurance policy pays out a certain amount—the death benefit—on the death of the policyholder as long as the policyholder dies during the term of the coverage. A term life insurance policy is usually made to provide financial security to your loved ones when you die. However, did you know that some term life insurance policies allow for riders that can provide you living benefits (financial support) while you are still alive? These living benefits exist to provide financial support if you are diagnosed with a critical illness or chronic illness.
Some insurance carriers allow for these living benefits to be included in term life insurance products. In this article we will look at two of these accelerated death benefits enhancements: chronic illness riders and critical illness riders.
Why is a chronic or critical illness rider valuable to your term life insurance policy?
A chronic or critical illness rider is valuable to a policyholder of a term life insurance policy because it allows the policyholder to utilize his or her life insurance policy’s death benefit amount while he or she is still living so long as they are diagnosed with a critical or chronic illness. These accelerated death benefit riders help put your mind at ease in the event you become ill because it allows you to supplement you care and your income.
What is a chronic illness?
Chronic illness is the inability to carry out specified day-to-day activities. A person is considered to be chronically ill when he or she has been certified by a doctor within 12 months as being unable to carry out two or more daily living activities for 90 days or more without help from another person. The activities of daily living are bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting, and transferring.
A person can also be deemed chronically ill if he or she requires substantial supervision or assistance by someone else in order to protect himself or herself from dangers to safety and health due to a severe cognitive ailment.
What is a critical illness?
Critical illness allows the policyholder to receive part of the death benefit when he or she is diagnosed with a specific medical condition. Usually the medical conditions that qualify for critical illness diagnose include heart attack, stroke, cancer, kidney failure, or major organ transplant.
Conclusion
Chronic and critical term life insurance riders are NOT included in the majority of term life products. Only a few carriers allow for these living benefits to be included with term life insurance products. Call us at (248) 362-1313 or fill in the form below for a consultation. We can help you get a term life insurance policy that comes with these very helpful riders .
