A life insurance policy covers your life, offering benefits in case of death or even if you survive the term of the policy. However, the policy does not provide for medical emergencies unless you opt for a rider. Riders act as additional benefits that can be attached to the main policy and help spread the risk base.
You can take riders with any life insurance policy, be it traditional or unit linked. The typical riders include critical illness benefit, waiver of premium benefit, level-term covers and accident and disability benefits, but you can opt for customized riders that are specific to insurers and are offered to make their products stand out. Some insurers offer riders at the time of taking the policy, while others let you do it at a later date, though the cost for the latter may be higher depending on your health and age.

Riders offer high value at a low cost and provide extra protection without the need for a second policy. As the premium for the rider goes entirely towards the cost of the risk cover rather than savings, the premium on a rider tends to be lower than that for the basic policy. Besides, the administrative cost goes down when a base policy is maintained along with a rider cover.
Riders are not so complex. But when you choose the right one, it is not so easy because of the wide choice on offer i.e. health riders, which combine critical illness and hospitalization cash benefits, effectively pay for your hospital stay, the waiver of premium rider in case of disability or skipping of premium during illness, and the gender-specific rider that caters to specific health ailments.

Selection is also difficult as each insurer offers at least three variants and agents try to sell as many as allowed. However, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority stipulates that the premium for all riders can not exceed 30% of the premium on the base policy. Also, the tenure of the rider and the base policy should be the same. So riders make for a wise option if you pick those that meet your requirements.
At different stages of life, Riders add more value to the life cover. They add disability, critical illness and accident riders at an early age. In the middle age, take waiver of premium rider, especially while taking a plan for a child and also add critical illness and term insurance riders with long term plans, including term policies.