In a survey of 2000 homeowners, the comparison site found that almost a third (30%) of UK leaseholder property owners think that the freeholder arranges contents insurance or combined buildings and contents insurance on their behalf.

In reality however, the freeholder is only obliged to organise buildings cover for the property and does not insure the contents. With the average UK home containing £45,000 worth of contents, being underinsured could lead to millions of pounds in “unclaimable” lost, stolen or damaged goods.

There are 5.37 million leasehold properties in the UK. Taking the findings and applying them on a national scale, comparethemarket.com estimates that approximately 1.6 million households do not have contents insurance, despite believing that they are in fact covered.

Damian Reilly, head of home insurance at comparethemarket.com, said: “With the proportion of new build leaseholds growing, these findings are worrying. A large number of people are blissfully unaware the contents of their property are not insured.

“Potentially millions of households face the prospect of double devastation – discovering they’ve been burgled and finding out their prized possessions are not covered. It is vital leaseholders make sure their contents are covered as well as the building in which they live. With home building firmly on the Government’s agenda, there are going to be even more leaseholders and potentially, more people underinsured.”

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