Currently 14% of the UK population – or 6.8 million people – live unofficially in other people’s homes, with a further 7.1 million registered under the wrong address with banks, insurers, locals councils and the DVLA and other key organisations. 

Of the 6.8 million ‘unofficial’ residents across the UK, many live in rented accommodation but are not listed on the tenancy agreement, or live unregistered with friends and family, according to insurer Direct Line.

Jenny Trueman, home insurance manager at Direct Line, said: “Changing address details is one of those administrative tasks that is frequently put-off or forgotten. However, the consequences of using the wrong address are far worse than a few lost letters – people risk being fined by the DVLA, losing highly sensitive financial information from their bank and invalidating their home insurance.”

Doctors and dentists are most likely to forget to update organisations with new address details, the report found.

For the vast majority, this ‘unofficial’ status is by no means a temporary status, with many stating they have been living like this for an average of eight years.

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Trueman added: “On the one hand, it’s very generous of the registered residents to allow these people to live with them, but it’s important to understand the implications of these arrangements, particularly in terms of home insurance as their possessions may not be covered and the validity of the policy itself may also be affected.”