Your standard life insurance policy may have options that can enhance your coverage. Did you know some policies let you add a spouse or your children or protect you against an accidental death? These options are called riders and they may increase your premiums, but some people feel the additional security is worth the expense. Policy riders are sold separately from insurance policies in most cases.

Other examples of riders include a waiver of premium and guaranteed insurability. A waiver of premium makes it possible for you to discontinue payments for a policy should you become disabled for a prolonged period of time before reaching 60 or 65 years of age. If you anticipate needing additional life insurance coverage, a guaranteed insurability rider enables you to do so without having to obtain a certificate of insurability.

When adding riders to your policy, take note of the restrictions; some plans have age limits. Your plan may require children be 18 or younger, and some plans have an age limit for spouses. 55 years old is the limit on some standard life insurance riders, while others allow spouses to be as old as 65.

Some policies have riders specifically for term life, whole life or other plans, and coverage may vary between each type of insurance. Some insurance policies even allow you to add specialty riders for jewelry, precious heirlooms, furs, important equipment (such as in your home office for instance) and more. Check with your agent to learn what rider options come with your life insurance.