What is accidental death benefit rider?

A life insurance policy is designed to pay a certain amount of money when the insured person dies. Sometimes the policy can have an additional clause which awards a larger amount of money in the event that the death was accidental. That is to say, if the insured person dies peacefully in bed from heart failure, that is a natural death. If the insured person is hit by a car and killed, that is an accidental death. You might have a policy that pays $50,000 for a natural death, but $200,000 for an accidental death. A possible reason for this kind of arrangement is that when people die a natural death, it is usually at a more advanced age and it is usually not a great surprise. People gradually decline in health before they die, most of the time. Accidental deaths can happen at any time and you may not be as well prepared to cope with them. Insurance companies are also playing the odds. Most deaths are not accidental, so it does not cost insurance companies a lot to sell you an accidental death rider. Chances are, they will never have to make that accidental death payment.