An accidental death rider provides an additional death benefit when the insured dies as the result of a qualifying accident and the death satisfies the rider ' s definitions, time requirements, and exclusions. Its primary purpose is therefore to provide an extra death benefit beyond the base policy ' s ordinary face amount.
Such riders are sometimes referred to as multiple-indemnity riders. A double-indemnity provision, for example, may result in the beneficiary receiving an additional amount equal to the base policy ' s face value when accidental-death conditions are met. The rider normally requires death to result directly from accidental bodily injury and often requires death to occur within a specified period following the accident.
The rider does not increase the policy ' s cash value because it is primarily additional risk protection rather than an accumulation feature. It does not create policy-loan rights, which arise from accumulated cash value in qualifying permanent policies. Nor does it waive premiums during disability; that is the function of a waiver-of-premium rider.
The examination distinction is therefore clear: accidental death protection supplements the ordinary life insurance benefit when death results from a qualifying accident.
Study Guide Reference: Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders — accidental death rider; multiple indemnity; exclusions and additional death benefits.
