The home insurance arm of price comparison site Go Compare said around 7.5m people worked from home at least once a week.

However, only 42% of homeowners surveyed were confident that their home insurance covered items they use for work such as computers, printers and tablets.

Workers aged between 35 and 44 were most likely to work from home with almost a third (32%) in this bracket spending some time working from home each week.

The website found that while 87% of home insurance policies provide cover for business equipment the remainder either give no cover at all or treat it as an optional extra.

Of the policies that do provide cover around half are limited to £500 worth of insurance, meaning expensive items like laptops could go over this amount.

Ben Wilson, home insurance spokesperson at Go Compare, said: “With many companies offering flexible working to employees, it’s not unusual for people to work from home either on a full time or occasional basis.

“But if you do so regularly you need to let your home insurer know that you are using your home for business purposes. This doesn’t apply if you only work the odd day or two from home, for example to look after a sick child.

“Your insurer will want to know the type of work you undertake at home.  For example, whether it’s clerical work or whether you’re providing a service such as physiotherapy and have regular business visitors.

“As a rule of thumb, clerical work doesn’t make much difference to the cost of your cover because many policies cover administrative duties. However, receiving regular business visitors or storing stock could have a bigger impact on your insurance premium. However, some home insurers give a discount if your home is occupied during the day so it’s important to shop around to find the cover you need at a good price.

“Failing to tell your insurer that you work from home could invalidate your policy if you need to make a claim.”