Published: 2 April 2012 By Peter Thompson
Over the Easter bank holiday more than a third of DIY-ers will get stuck into home improvements but for 10% of Brits their DIY will end in disaster, costing them dearly to put right damage they've caused. Will your DIY end in disaster or smiles?
Research from Allianz Your Cover Insurance shows that in an attempt to save money, many Brits have taken on more jobs around the home over the last 12 months – but that means more can go wrong.
Interestingly enough though, despite being left with a large repair bill, over half of Brits rate their DIY skills as either 'good' or 'excellent'.
As Andy James of Allianz Your Cover commented: "Unfortunately a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing so people should check they have adequate insurance to cover DIY damage so it doesn't cost more in the long run."
Brits top five DIY disasters are:
1. Spilling paint/glue
2. Damaging a wall
3. Breaking a window
4. Breaking furniture
5. Damaging a ceiling
Some DIY lovers are cashing in on their skills and starting to charge others for their services. Some, given the chance, say they would even change to a job that involved DIY skills if they could.
Even though they might love DIY, Brits will still turn to the professionals for such as building (e.g. an extension), large scale electrics or plumbing and installing something large (e.g. bathroom or shower).
They will however themselves tackle such as the small odd jobs that need doing, painting or wallpapering a room, putting up shelves or putting up a decorative feature.
Andy James said: "Considering the amount of damage they are causing in the process of DIY, over a quarter (26%) of Brits didn't even consider claiming on their home insurance which could have helped them to cover the cost.
"A further 30% could have but didn't claim on their insurance and only three in 10 (30%) Brits did decide to claim on their home insurance for DIY damage in the last year.
"We urge DIY enthusiasts to speak to their insurers to ensure they have the right level of cover in place to avoid their pockets being harder hit should they have a DIY disaster."
MoneyHighStreet comments: "It is important to look at your home insurance policy to check that you are fully covered, should things go wrong, and to check your policy details carefully.
Some home insurance policies state that only professionally accredited tradesmen should carry out certain work, so make sure you don't inadvertently make your insurance invalid by failing to read the small print.
"It is also necessary to take extra safety precautions, to try and avoide those DIY disasters!
"How devastating must it be to attempt DIY to save money, only to find you end up spending more that you expect just to put right your mistakes?
"As you buy home insurance, as part of checking your cover, do check and indeed consider accidental damage cover. This may be included, for example in a high net worth policy, or maybe available as an add-on for standard policies – but there are exclusions, see our guide 'Do you need accidental damage cover?' for more on this.
"Interestingly enough, a survey by Halifax Home Insurance, found that a level of 'spatial awareness is required to be 'a natural' at DIY and yet two-thirds of Brits lack this – no wonder so many of us have disasters!"
No comments:
Post a Comment