Getting the right insurance policy to cover you and your family doesn't have to just involve taking out life cover.
There are other types of policies that you may also want to consider at the same time such as critical illness cover.
Although these policies may be taken out separately, many people opt to take out a joint life and critical illness insurance option as an alternative.
This may well be a good solution if you are thinking about everything that might go wrong in the future.
Life protection as a whole is designed to help your family cope with money if you die.
But, many people do survive their life policy but may get an illness or serious medical condition that affects them financially as well.
Their life cover isn't designed to help in this instance.
But, if they have critical illness protection then this may do the job for them.
This kind of policy is taken out so that they have an insured lump sum to tide them over if they do fall seriously ill.
If you, for example, had a serious heart attack or contracted a form of cancer then you might not be able to work to earn the money you need.
This is where critical illness may come in useful.
A combined life and critical illness insurance policy may work well for some because it does potentially cover all the angles.
So, you may be able to get protection against:

• Your death -- the life element of your policy may help protect your family against financial problems if you die unexpectedly.
  This may, for example, help them cover your mortgage commitments, debts and their everyday living expenses for a period of time.
  
• Your illness -- the critical illness part of your policy may help protect both you and your family if you do get really ill.
  The lump sum payment here may just help you carry on meeting your monthly financial commitments, for example.
  Or, you may decide to use it to pay off your mortgage so you don't have to worry about it.
  Many people in this situation find money a big worry.
  

There are things you may need to think about before trying to take out a life and critical illness insurance policy.
For example, you may want to consider:

• Whether you want a single policy or one that also covers your partner/spouse.
  
• Whether you have any medical conditions already that may affect the cover you get.
  
• If you have any lifestyle factors (i.
  e.
  smoking) that may influence your policy costs.
  
• How much you need to insure yourself for for both elements of the policy.
  
• How long you want the policy to last for.
  

These considerations may well have a bearing on the policy you are able to get and how much it costs you in your monthly premiums.
For example, taking out a joint life and critical illness insurance policy with your partner may work out cheaper in some cases.
In others separate policies may be a better option.