Moreover, the charges imposed by 44 per cent of home contents policies on the market for paying via direct debit remain a mystery to many customers, the survey reveals.

Customers choosing from 215 policies stand to suffer from direct debit charges on 94 of them, with substantial average APR of 19.16 per cent, rising to 34.9 per cent on the most expensive product.

“There is no point using a competitively priced insurer if they then go and add to your annual bill using back-door methods,” Abbey’s head of insurance marketing Prasad Shastri commented.

Earlier this week, research from Moneyextra.com revealed that motorists pay £182 extra on average if they pay for their car insurance using a monthly direct debit arrangement.

To learn more about Abbey home insurance, click here.

© Adfero Ltd