The report by MoneySupermarket analysed 3.5m home insurance quotes run on the site over the last 12 months and showed urban hotspots like London topped the league table as most likely to claim on their home and garden.

The research found LS13 in Leeds, made up of Bramley, Gamble Hill, Moorside, Rodley and Swinnow, takes the top spot overall, followed by BD12 (Low Moor, Oakenshaw and Wyke) in Bradford.

The suburb of North Finchley (N12) in London came third. Eccles in Manchester (M30) also featured in the top ten, coming in at number four, followed by Harold Wood, Harold Hill and Noak Hill in Romford (RM3) in fifth position.

At the other end of the scale, homeowners in SA9 in Swansea, SA62 in Pembrokeshire and LA14 in Cumbria are amongst those least likely to have made a claim.

Hannah Jones, home insurance expert at MoneySupermarket, said: “While there are clearly some areas of the country with a higher proportion of insurance claims for burglary than others, this doesn’t actually mean the area is “rife” with crime.

“Thieves often specifically target areas with wealthy residents, or quieter areas where there’s not a lot of passing foot traffic, where the rewards are potentially greater and the risk of being caught in the act may be lower.”

Areas that are affected by higher rates of burglary insurance claims will mean that homeowners in those areas shell out more in insurance premiums, some with an increase by a fifth.

Jones said: “Higher value properties could expect to pay even more than this. Insurers take a blanket approach to assessing postcode districts for home insurance premiums rather than looking at insurance applications on a case by case basis.

“So, although you may not have been a victim of burglary directly, you could be paying more for insurance if there are higher rates of burglary claims made within your postal area.

“The key thing is not to simply accept your insurance renewal – even if you live in a postcode which has a higher claim rate for burglaries, you can still save a packet by doing your research and switching to a better deal online.”

Homeowners are being urged to take precaution over their home security, keeping doors and windows locked when you are sleeping or not at home, installing timers on your lights ensuring items of value are kept away from easy view through windows, are simple things that can reduce risk.

Installing a suitable alarm system and having adequate locks on doors and windows could help bring your premium down, as well as increasing security.

MoneySupermarket also says it is crucial to ensure your home contents insurance is fully up to date and is at a high enough level to cover all your belongings sufficiently as opportunistic thieves could strike at any time.