Check your home insurance policy before calling in the experts to rectify your DIY disaster.

A spot of DIY on a Sunday or a bank holiday Monday is a British tradition, many people love to get in on the DIY act and impress knowing they’ve created something they can be proud of. This is not always the case however, according to research by Zurich, approximately one in six homeowners who attempted DIY have to call in an expert to rectify mistakes made due to non-experienced DIY ventures. Within the sample of people who had to call in professionals, a third of people cite wanting to save money as the reason for attempting to make the improvements they have no experience of doing. As well as the stress of having to arrange a professional to rectify a mistake your house insurance policy could also be at risk.

For example if an attempt to plaster a wall goes badly wrong you may have to call in a professional plasterer to sort out the mess. You’ll probably have to pay the plasterer up front but you may end up getting a nasty shock when you try and claim this back on your home insurance because in making the “improvements” you may invalidate your policy. If you do require tips information on plastering a wall so that you don’t encounter this issue, please click here.

To avoid any danger of not being able to claim for any DIY mishaps on your home insurance it is recommended that you compare home insurance policies by reading the policy summary documents online before buying so that you know what you are covered for and what you are not covered for.

You may also need to inform your insurance company of any improvements you make as this may mean that your home insurance premium increases, this is a small price to pay though to ensure your insurance premium is not invalidated.