Half of all Australians admit a death in the family would make them consider buying life insurance, according to a survey.

But only 23.16% would think about taking a policy when marrying or having their first child, the research by comparison site LifeInsuranceFinder shows.

“Aussies are more likely to consider purchasing life insurance when taking out a new mortgage than when having a child,” website founder Fred Schebesta said.

“According to the survey, 32.5% of Aussies haven’t even thought about putting together a financial plan for their family in the event of their death.”

It seems to take a death or crisis to make people think about life cover, he says.

“Taking out a life insurance policy doesn’t require huge sacrifices and the benefits of being covered far outweigh the costly risk of not doing so.

“Death, serious illness and injury can be sudden and unexpected and Australians shouldn’t wait until it is too late before they consider the value of life insurance.”

For more on the survey, see Wednesday’s edition of Life+Health insuranceNEWS.com.au.