A mortgage business has estimated that intermediaries could be missing out on a market worth a potential £30 million in sales commission this year.

Abbey for Intermediaries claims that a failure to exploit the lucrative general insurance market might mean that intermediaries lose out on millions.

A new report by the company says that irrespective of whether the property market returns to full health this year, intermediaries could still increase revenues by cross-selling insurance products to property owners.

Ricky Okey, managing director of Abbey for Intermediaries, expressed surprise that intermediaries continue to overlook the insurance market .

He added: Brokers are missing out if they do not take advantage of the opportunities available to them in this lucrative market.

A recent report by Paragon Mortgages said that ten per cent of landlords intend to buy a new property in the first three months of the year.

However, landlords also acknowledged that the buying market worsened in the final quarter of 2009.