POLL: Have your shopping habits changed?

Around 3.6m Brits have had packages they ordered online go missing in the last year, while more than 18m people have had packages go missing or undelivered in the last five years, worth an average £68 per package, according to Direct Line Home Insurance.

22 per cent of shoppers have had more than one package go missing in the last five years, while one in 20 have had five or more packages undelivered, the study found.

The company, who said 89 per cent of UK adults now shop online, found that for one in 10 online shoppers the average value of their absent package was £300.50.

The survey of 2,011 people suggests that more than 12m UK adults deliberately ask for their packages not to be left with a neighbour. While 45 per cent say this is because they do not want to burden their neighbour with their packages, 14 per cent either do not get on with their neighbour or do not trust their neighbour.

More than two million adults explicitly request that delivery drivers do not leave their packages with a specific neighbour they do not trust or get on with, the company said.

Nearly two million people have had problems leaving packages with neighbours in the past, the research suggests.

Incidents include neighbours refusing to take in their packages (eight per cent), taking in a package and denying it (seven per cent) or refusing to give their package (five per cent).

Direct Line said

728 out of 2,011 respondents have had packages go missing, adding that as a percentage of the population this equates to 18,429,514 people.