It's first bought when we are least likely to shop around, during the stressed-out mortgage application stage. We then might assume that we have a chance to check pricing on annual renewal, as we do with other insurance. But we never get that chance because it is usually a long-term policy that's automatically renewed. And so most people never bother and are stuck with the same deal for 35 years no matter what happens in the market.

However, it's easy to rectify that. You can switch policies any time, says John Geraghty, boss of discount internet broker Labrokers. ie. "Your best bet is to arrange a new policy first so that the bank has no excuse not to cancel the direct debit, even if there is a little overlap."

Check out the Financial Regulator's new survey or download it from www.financialregulator. ie/data/cr_costsur_files/Life%20surve y%20-%20issue%204. pdf - and you will see a wide discrepancy in quotes.

A 49-year-old male smoker would pay up to Euro73.65 a month for the dearest from Canada Life - that's Euro883.80 a year. He can save himself Euro123.36 a year - or Euro1,233.60 over the ten year life of the plan - by signing up for the cheapest deal in this group, Euro63.37 a month with Ark Life.

Ark Life does well in the older age group, winning three out of four top spots. Eagle Star emerges with the main plaudits, coming tops in seven of the 12 sections with a top four placing in the rest. Bottom of the class is Friends First , which comes last in "ve and doesn't exactly cover itself with glory for the rest.

Smokers can see that fags damage their wealth as much as their health. But what should really frighten them are the mortality stats that must lie behind the fact that they pay twice as much for life cover.

A banking source warns borrowers to watch for banks ramping up their policies more than they need. "With banks you should go for the most basic option, if caught for time, and then revisit it later."

He says branch staff are under a lot of pressure to maximise sales by ramping up insurance cover to a level that may not always be necessary. "There is a big gap between what a customer pays for insurance arranged through their lender, and, let's say, Caledonian or the likes, which you can arrange through a broker. And if you use a broker that returns some of the commission, even better, " he says.

One of these is Labrokers. ie which discounts 52% to 68% of the first year's premiums depending on the size of the policy, according to John Geraghty. He warns against people unwittingly taking out term life policies - which insure you for a set figure - instead of policies where the insured amount declines along with the amount owed on the mortgage.