A poll of 2039 adults by Sainsburys Bank Life Insurance said 39% did not think it was necessary to review their cover while 37% said they could not afford to.

The poll also revealed that 44% of homeowners who had a mortgage did not have any life insurance at all, and 10% of these had been covered in the past but no longer held a policy.

A further 3% said they didn’t know if they had cover, the research highlighted.

Meanwhile, official figures revealed that house prices rose by 9.9% in the year to April 2014, and the average property now costs £260,000.

Scott Gorman, head of Sainsbury’s Bank Life Insurance, said: “Moving home can be an exciting but stressful experience and with such a long checklist of things to do, it appears that life insurance is often forgotten about.

“We would encourage anyone who is moving home or may have just moved to take some time to check their policy and the level of cover they have and make sure it’s suitable for their change in circumstances.”