The survey looked at the amount of property wealth held by British families and the value of the contents of their homes.

Contents accounted for 14% of total household wealth, while properties themselves made up 60%.

Older people were more likely to have more value stored as contents inside their home. It found 10% of this age group had home contents valued at more than £75,000.

At the other end of the scale, almost three-quarters (73%) of households have contents worth less than £20,000.

Those who own properties typically had more valuables than those who rented, the survey added. Of renters, 20% had home contents worth less then £5,000.

For those who own their properties. 37% of Brits who own outright and 24% of those with a mortgaged property had home contents valued between £40,000 and £74,999.

Kevin Roberts, broker director at Legal & General, said both homeowners and renters must take steps to ensure their properties and contents are adequately protected.

“Brits are keeping significant amounts of wealth within the household and this trend looks set to continue in future,” he said.

In total more than half (56%) of people aged between 18 and 59 had both building and home contents insurance. However, 13% did not and had never taken out such a policy.

An additional 12% have only home contents insurance while 3% had only taken out buildings insurance.