The media storm surrounding the credit crunch has got many nervous savers withdrawing their money from banks in favour of storing it under their mattress. These nervous savers may be sent into meltdown if they were ever to find out that their home insurance policy may not cover large amounts of money if it were to be stolen.

Mike Pickard head of risk and underwriting at esure offers some sound advice for people looking to save outside of the banks. "People looking for a safe place for their money should look no further than buying a safe for their loft or under-stairs cupboard," he said.

"Although a good quality domestic safe is the perfect option for petty cash, perhaps some jewellery, and a spare set of car keys, it isn't a good home for your savings. Consider renting a safety deposit box if you have decided that you want a substantial sum of cash to hand."

So with a massive recession looming and people looking to save money what is the best thing to do when considering a home insurance policy?

One idea is to ditch the home insurance policy all together, although this may save some money in the short run the long term effects could be disastrous!

Home insurance costs vary greatly with many different variables affecting the cost of your policy. These variables range from the contents, security measures, crime rate, and risk of damage from flooding etc. The average policy would range from a couple of hundred to a thousand although it may be more or less depending on your own circumstances.

So in an attempt to save money you may decide to cancel a home insurance policy and leave it up to the gods of fate. So let’s say based on the law of averages you will get burgled once in five years, and the contents of your home is valued around £2,500, based on this the home insurance premiums will be around £500 pounds a year. After five years the home will have to be burgled at least once and the amount lost will have to be around £2,500 for the home insurance policy to be seen as value for money.

On average a burglar won’t take goods to that amount of that value, but lets say that a burglar took items to the value of a thousand pounds. Not only will you have to deal with the trauma of being burgled but you will also have to find the money on your own to replace the items stolen. In this current crisis it seems that many of us don’t have the disposable income to replace expensive items that may have been taken in a burglary.

The simple fact of the matter is, in this time of economic struggle we should be taking less and less risks with our money. Home Insurance and many other different types of insurance offer many a safety net and although there may be an immediate gain in getting rid of what may seem as unnecessary insurance, many will not be able to replace what is lost especially if your life savings are stored under the bed.