Once you have a family or assume responsibility for another person's welfare, you need to think about life assurance. This doesn't just apply to people in employment, but to everyone in the position of 'head of the family'.

There are many different policies out there and you need to find one that suits all your requirements. So first you need to do the research. The first thing to consider is whether to go for one policy to cover all eventualities, or whether you would be better off with two or more policies to cover separate categories, which may be cheaper.

Next decision - do you figure it all out yourself or do you take advice from someone qualified to help. There are Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs) and brokers who can advise you and sell policies, although some brokers only deal with certain companies' products.

If you go it alone you can deal with an insurance company over the phone or via the internet, which is often the cheapest method. Brokers Online has a finance forum called 'Finance Talk' where you should get useful information about what cover you need to help you make your mind up.

The cost for any policy varies according to different factors, among them your sex, your age and smoking habits. The younger you are when you start a life policy the better as premiums are lower than for an older person. Women are usually charged less than men also.

One example shows a level-term policy for 100,000 pounds cover for a non-smoking 29-year old woman costing 8.07 pounds a month, and for a man 9.68 pounds. But let them age another ten years before taking out the policy and the woman pays 12.44 pounds and the man 15.55 pounds.

Smokers get hit in the wallet harder. Not only are the price of cigarettes prohibitive, but insurance premiums are higher as well. That's why you really need to shop around. At age 39 our example male smoker could pay 45.50 pounds a month for the same type of policy as mentioned above and that is a big increase. But another company could charge as little as 23.50 pounds, a saving of 22 pounds a month. Extrapolate that figure and you could be saving 264 pounds a year, or 6,600 pounds over 25 years - and that can pay for an awful lot of cancer-sticks!

The state of your health will have a bearing on the cost of your life insurance and you need to be upfront about any medical problems or risk a later claim being denied. If you have a particular condition cover may be harder to find but you should still be able to purchase a policy. A specialist broker that caters for people with health problems is The Insurance Surgery, so give them a call.

Another idea is to approach the charity associated with your condition for advice. Cancer sufferers can get information from Cancer Research UK, for example. A word of warning - be careful not to let any existing life cover lapse while you are looking around for a new policy.



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