LONDON - Consumers are wasting thousands of pounds on useless and expensive insurance policies, consumer group Which? said on Monday.

While some insurance policies are must-haves - such as building and contents, life and car insurance - others are unnecessary and almost impossible to claim against, the group said in the latest edition of its "Money Saving Handbook".

"You can buy insurance to cover yourself against almost any conceivable risk - even alien abduction," said the handbook's author Tony Levene.

"The insurance industry's favourite phrase is 'peace of mind' but it uses this to justify policies that cost a lot and are almost impossible to claim against."

Some products offered protection already afforded by current legislation or consumers' existing policies, the guide said. Identity theft insurance, for example, was unnecessary as losses were already met by people's banks.

Accidental death and injury cover often came with standard life insurance and home contents insurance typically rendered stand-alone mobile phone insurance worthless, it said.

Payment protection insurance (PPI), designed to cover debt repayment for people who fall ill or lose their job, was also cited as a top five insurance product to avoid.

Such products have been the object of regulatory scrutiny for months due to watchdogs' concerns that Britons have been sold unsuitable cover at excessive prices.