Music fans are putting a potential £1.3billion worth of downloaded tracks at risk by not protecting them with home insurance, research from Sainsbury’s has found.

Brits have spent an estimated £1.3billion on downloading music, an average £85 per person, but only 24 per cent of home insurance policies offer cover for this type of purchase.

More than a third of the UK adult population owns downloaded music, bought from one of the growing number of retailers, such as iTunes and Amazon, and nearly a million people estimate that their downloaded music collection is worth in excess of £250.

Without sufficient home insurance, however, the loss or damage of computer equipment could render the digital music collection lost forever, and could leave music lovers without their tunes and out of pocket, Sainsbury’s warns.

More than half of digital downloaders have no idea whether or not they would be covered in the instance that their music collection was lost, while just five per cent are certain that they would be covered, nearly a quarter are relatively certain that they would not be insured.

Ben Tyte, manager of Sainsbury’s home insurance, explains that many music owners might assume they will be covered. Some digital music providers offer purchase receipts, which could be used to make a home insurance claim, but those without the correct home insurance would not have this option.

Mr Tyte recommends that downloaders check their home insurance policy to see if they are covered, and to back up their music collection on another computer as a precaution.

“Downloading music has taken off in recent years, but many home insurance policies are lagging behind in terms of covering people for their purchases,” he said.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd