Term life insurance is considered to be one of the cheapest forms of life insurance available. With this type of policy you will be covered for a set length of time, or term, and any money will be paid out as one lump sum in the event that you die during the length of the policy. One of the main benefits to having this type of policy is that it will help to provide coverage for financial responsibilities such as care for your family and dependents, education, the cost of the funeral and your mortgage.

It is important to remember that if you fail to pay the premiums then your policy will cease and you will no longer have cover.

In some cases you may also be able to add on other forms of cover such as critical illness to provide you with an additional level of cover.

There are a number of factors that you should definitely consider before selecting your life insurance; it is definitely worth taking the time to either do your research or to get independent financial advice to help you decide which would be the best product for you.

Although younger people often pay more for products, with life insurance it isn’t the case. The younger and healthier you are, the cheaper your policy payments will be, especially if you are a non-smoker.

It is important that when you do decide on the life insurance policy for you that you ensure the company providing the investment is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

With the nature of life insurance or life assurance, as it is often referred to in the UK, you may well find that if you are a couple then two separate policies may be better value than a joint policy. Not all policies will have fixed premiums so go with a company that does offer fixed premiums as you wouldn’t want to find yourself unable to afford the premiums at a later date and invalidated your life cover.

Companies will follow very rigorous checks when asked to make payouts so always be honest about any existing medical conditions. If you don’t disclose that you have an illness then this can invalidate your policy should your relatives need to make a claim at a later date.

Ensure you also make a will so the money is given where you really want it to go and you should write your policy ‘in trust’ which will reduce the chance of relatives paying inheritance tax and should mean quicker payouts.