Nearly a quarter of UK homes have no home insurance, according to Assurant Intermediary.

The insurance company says advisers play a vital role in making sure that every new and existing customer is adequately insured. It estimates £6 per week on average is all it takes to fully cover all properties and their contents.

According to the firm’s research, Ireland and the South East recorded the lowest percentage of homes without cover at 18% and 19% respectively. High risk areas are the North East (32%), the West Midlands (28%) and Scotland (26%). London, however, had 45% of homes without cover – the highest risk recorded in the study.

It is estimated that insurers pay out £7.8 million pounds every day for domestic claims.

The most common home insurance claim is for burst water pipes – averaging in the region of £25,000 per claim – with water damage claims making up 31% of total claims in 2018. Other top reasons for claims are fire and explosion damage (17%), theft (16%), weather (8%) and accidental damage (13%).

Carl Stacey, head of distribution at Assurant Intermediary, said: “Any customer who says either they can’t afford [home insurance], or it will never happen to them, is not only unrealistic, but taking a considerable financial risk.”

“With these statistics it is very clear that it is not a risk worth taking. I would urge every mortgage or financial adviser to make sure that all of their customers are properly covered.”