Up to a third of Britain's homeowners could be paying too much for their buildings insurance.

That is the message from Confused.com, a price comparison website, which warned that failing to understand the difference between rebuild price and purchase price could be costly.

"The fact that one in three consumers consider rebuild cost to be the same as purchase price is unprecedented, and could see them paying over the odds year-on-year," said Debra Williams, managing director of Confused.com.

"Being financially savvy certainly pays; not only does it mean that consumers can gauge whether they are paying an acceptable amount for insurance, but they are more likely to shop around for lucrative deals if they feel that they are being sold short."

Ten per cent of respondents to the Confused.com survey said they thought rebuild cost and purchase price were the same.

A further 20 per cent thought the rebuild costs would be higher than purchase price.

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