Nearly 3.5 million UK homeowners are putting their homes and possessions at risk by not having adequate home contents and buildings insurance, according to research from MoneySupermarket.com.

The comparison site found nearly one in ten homeowners are missing out on some form of home insurance and only have either buildings or contents insurance – not both. Nearly 1.5 million admit to having contents cover only, while 1.3 million homeowners only have buildings insurance in place. A further 2%, or nearly 650,000 homeowners have no form of buildings or contents insurance whatsoever.

Peter Harrison, insurance expert at MoneySupermarket, said: “The recent spate of bad weather and flooding highlights just how important it is to make sure your home is fully covered. Homeowners without adequate buildings and contents insurance are taking a huge risk by leaving their homes unprotected, and are potentially storing up a financial catastrophe in the event of a major incident which could even leave them homeless. At the very least, those homeowners with a mortgage on their property should have a suitable buildings policy in place since the terms and conditions of the mortgage agreement will require it.”