Home insurance is too complicated for 85% of UK homeowners, according to a survey by UKDN Waterflow.
The firm, which specialises in drainage and structural maintenance, said the study highlighted a discrepancy between owners and renters, with 42% of tenants believing insurance is too difficult to understand.
Renters are only eligible for tenants' content insurance, said UKDN Waterflow, but when a home is bought the range and scope of policies "increases significantly", suggesting this could contribute to the complexity of home cover for owners.
The survey also reported a "significant contrast" in the levels of understanding of the product among those who actually have cover and those who do not.
For those who have insurance, 66% are "not at all confident" that they know what their policy entails. Of those without cover, 21% said they were not confident in their understanding of what is covered by contents and buildings insurance.
In addition, only 13% of owners with buildings insurance are confident of their knowledge about their policies.
Sharon Betts, client development manager at UKDN Waterflow, described the figure as "particularly worrying".
"These figures make it clear that we all need to do more to educate the public so they are fully and appropriately covered at their time of need," she said.
The survey covered 766 people in total, 629 of which identified themselves as homeowners and 119 as renters, with the remaining respondents classified as 'other'.