New research has reported that 39% admit to not reading the policy on their home insurance.

The research, conducted by YouGov on behalf of Paymentshield, which was based on a sample size of 1023 people, found home insurance policies to be the third least read financial document. Top of the list was credit card terms and conditions, with 58% of people admitting to not reading the contents.

The second least read documents to be car insurance policies, with 52% admitting to ignoring the details, and fourth on the list was tenancy agreements, with 38% saying they didn’t read them.

In addition, 32% of people admitted to not reading their mortgage terms and conditions.

For those people who don’t read their home insurance policy, 46% said it was too time consuming, 31% said it was too complicated and 25% said it was too boring.

Rob Evans, CEO at Paymentshield, said: “Too many people are not taking the time to read and understand critical financial documents – and we are in a position as an industry to help. As insurance providers and advisers, it is our job to deliver each individual customer with the right cover at the right price to ensure clients are not taking cover that they don’t need or being exposed to the impact and distress of being under-insured and having claims rejected.

“This is where having an adviser is a huge benefit to customers. The peace of mind from knowing that a trusted expert is gathering the right information, to get the right cover at the right price can’t be underestimated.

“At Paymentshield, as a service provider, we have an obligation to make the application process as efficient and effective as possible for both advisers and customers, but the measure of success isn’t simply speed – that’s too reductive and devalues the role both we and advisers play. We focus on delivering an experience where customers achieve the right cover, with the right insurers, at the right price, and achieve the right result with as little effort as possible.

“The increase in use of simply incorporating more assumptions into an application process, for example, can really impact on price or a claim and further increases the risk of a poor outcome for customers. So, we take a more holistic approach that looks at integration, technology and data sets to improve the process, with 50 IT people constantly working on delivering the best general insurance technology platform and more than 20 business development managers dedicated to helping advisers deliver the right outcomes for their clients.”