Author: Emma Mayo

Spring, summer and bank holiday weekends are the times that people decide to spruce up their homes. Whether it’s a lick of paint on the ceiling, or a full-blown overhaul of the house, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong. You could spill paint all over the carpet for example. Or what if you accidentally put a hole through the ceiling?

DIY disasters are not necessarily covered by a standard home and contents insurance policy. To get the right cover, you need ‘accidental damage insurance’ which may not be included automatically in the policy. If it isn’t, it will be an optional extra which you will need to pay for. Standard insurance policies cover a range of common incidents including fire. Water damage, subsidence and theft – DIY mistakes or general accidents in the home are not considered to be ‘standard’. However, some policies will automatically include damage to electrical items like the TV, DVD player and music equipment.

Some items in the house are automatically insured against accidental damage, like baths and sinks for example, however if the damage arose because of a DIY incident then you will probably need the extra accidental damage cover to make a claim.

If you do a lot of DIY, or a member of your household is particularly clumsy, then it’s always worth taking out accidental damage cover. It usually adds between £20 and £60 to the annual premium, a small price to pay compared to the cost of some DIY accidents. According to the insurer More Than, the accident that causes the most insurance claims is spilling paint on a carpet, a claim which typically costs around £1250. Knocking a nail through a pipe is also a common DIY accident, and the damage caused can add up to costs of around £2000 – not something you’d be too keen on paying for yourself!

If you’re a serious DIYer who takes on large and complicated jobs such as replacing the roof or building a new extension yourself, then accidental damage cover may not be enough. You’ll need to check with your insurer and possibly have to pay extra, as any damage caused could be extremely expensive to fix.

Home and contents insurance is one of the cheaper types of insurance, and although the accidental damage cover may make it more expensive that you would like, it’s still well worth getting, especially if you intend to do any DIY. All it takes is for one nail to go through a pipe and your insurance will instantly have paid for itself! There are excellent savings to be made by buying this type of insurance online. Norwich Union Direct offer a good deal which gives you 50% off your contents insurance if you buy buildings insurance with them. Many other insurers offer online discounts of 10-20%, and some also offer you a discount if you already insure your car with them. It will take less than 30 minutes to get a few quotes using the online forms.

So next time you do some DIY, check first that you are properly insured, as you could be just about to make an extremely costly mistake.

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