Most Term Life insurance policies are free of any additional fees or commissions other than the monthly premium amount. However Permanent Life insurance products such as Whole Life insurance can and do carry additional charges. Ask your agent to fully disclose and explain any of these charges and additional fees. One of the main such charges you will run into with any cash value life insurance policy is called Premium Allocation Charges. A Premium Allocation Charge is the percentage of your monthly premium that is deducted from the investment portion to be used towards administration charges. Premium Allocation Charges vary from insurance company to insurance company, and are almost always higher in the early years of the policy.