Cornhill Direct has warned Britons that their home contents insurance might not cover large sums of money that is being stashed in their property.

Research by the insurance provider found that some £4.6 billion is lying around in people’s homes, with £127 on average stashed everywhere from drawers and tins to freezers and flower pots.

Nearly one in ten people admit to having between £300 and £1,000 in their homes at any given time.

And in spite of the fact that around the same number have seen some of their stash disappear from where they had hidden it, 45 per cent of respondents said the Northern Rock crisis is likely to result in more people keeping large amounts of cash at home.

Cornhill Direct spokesman Mark Bishop commented on the findings: “Our home contents policy provides protection for money kept in the house, but it is never a good idea to keep large sums in the house.”

Earlier this year, Virgin Money research found that six per cent of people stashing cash at home do so to hide their money from their partners, with four per cent citing distrust of their banking institutions as their main motivation.

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