Home Insurance Should Cover DIY Accidents: M&S Finance

The majority of Brits are more likely to do DIY rather than employing a skilled tradesman, however this can prove costly in the long run, research for M&S Money has found.

64% of British adults would rather try and save money by undertaking DIY tasks themselves instead of paying for a skilled tradesman to do the work, according to research for M&S Money.

The problem is that bodged work and DIY accidents can prove costly – over 200,000 people visit hospital each year with injuries from tackling DIY tasks in the home. Poorly performed work can be costly to rectify and may also reduce the value of your home when trying to sell it.

A fifth of DIY Dads admit that they have spilled paint on carpets and flooring while decorating at home, for example.

As a result of these findings, M&S Money is recommending that anyone tackling a DIY task should ensure that they have the necessary skills and also have sufficient accidental damage insurance should a problem occur.

This advice is particularly timely as the onset of Spring often triggers bouts of DIY activities that have accumulated during the Winter months.

Should the prospect of DIY prove too challenging and a tradesman be employed to do the task, it is important that they are also fully insured. Sainsbury’s Finance has discovered that £118 million of damage may have been caused by uninsured tradesmen. It is particularly important that the tradesmen have adequate public liability insurance which will cover any accidental damage they make to your property.

Some home insurance policies may be invalidated if tradesmen are not insured, as Ben Tyte, Sainsbury’s Home Insurance Manager, explains:

“Some home insurers, like ourselves, will review matters of damage on a case by case basis and may cover damage done to a property by a qualified tradesperson. However some insurers may not.

“All homeowners have a duty of care to look after their properties and if no effort to check for public liability cover is made and damage is done, they could find their home insurance invalidated and risk having to pay for major repairs themselves.”