Benefits for the Terminally Ill
Depending on how you structure it, a
life insurance policy can be a pretty cut and dried product. On a most basic level, the policy guarantees that a death benefit will be paid out to the named beneficiaries after the death of the insured, provided the premiums have been paid on time and the death occurs within the term of the policy and not after an excluded incident. But life insurance policies are like blank canvases with many different coverage options in the form of riders, and these riders can create a unique work of financial protection for your family.
One helpful rider available on many life insurance policies is the accelerated benefit rider, sometimes called a terminal illness benefit. When your policy has an accelerated benefit rider, you pay a slightly higher premium (unless your insurer provides this rider at no cost) and in exchange you can access a percentage of your death benefit before you pass away, provided you’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Some accelerated benefit riders may even provide access to a portion of the death benefits without the terminal illness diagnoses as long as you’ve suffered a medically incapacitating illness or injury or require long-term care—but you should talk to your agent to see if the insurers you are considering offer these benefits as well.
Before adding this valuable rider to your policy, find out how the benefit is paid, what the specific requirements for access are and what the additional premium cost is. In order to make the process easier for your family if they need to access the benefit that the rider provides, be sure to have the instructions for benefit payments somewhere that they can easily find them, should you someday become unable to explain them.
Check with your agent at ECI Agency to speak about your options for Oklahoma City Life Insurance.