Londoners scrimping on home insurance

Londoners are failing to take home insurance seriously with only two in five having this kind of policy, despite residents in the capital being more at risk of arson and burglary than any others in the UK.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has exposed the home insurance statistics in a bid to get Londoners to reassess their attitude to this kind of protection.

Nick Starling, the ABI's director of general insurance, said: Many low-income Londoners struggle to access basic financial products, such as contents insurance .

This makes it difficult for them to plan for the future, and leaves them at the mercy of unwelcome events, such as burglary.

Londoners are not alone - the ABI revealed earlier this month that one in four people UK-wide have cancelled their home insurance in recent times.

A YouGov study of 2,000 adults, conducted on behalf of the insurance body, found that 22 per cent of those polled had cancelled their policies to save money .

Another 17 per cent had not renewed or cancelled their buildings cover . In Scotland the cancellation or non-renewable rates were 28 per cent and 21 per cent for contents insurance and buildings insurance respectively.