This year 39 per cent of homeowners are planning to conduct their own DIY tasks instead of calling in professional tradesmen to do the work for them, according to Santander.
This is putting home insurance customers at risk of paying for costly damage if things go wrong.
The lender's survey found that 15 per cent of those attempting their own DIY projects will cause an average of £334 of damage to their home, costing an estimated total of £331 million a year.
With more people than ever doing their own DIY to try to minimise costs, it is clear why many choose to save pennies by doing the work themselves. But despite 72 per cent of people doing their own DIY to save money, over half of them admit to not being confident in the tasks they are undertaking.
Miguel Sard, chief executive of Santander Insurance UK said: "This is traditionally the season when homeowners would take time out to beautify their home or make essential repairs.
"In the past it may have been more efficient and easier to hire help to get these jobs done, but with budgets across the country being squeezed, homeowners are instead attempting to do the work themselves."
The chances of causing further damage while attempting a DIY repair is more likely if you are aged 18 to 34 years old, with young DIYers causing on average £2,497 worth of damage when their DIY goes wrong. Women too, although less likely to consider tackling DIY in the first place are more likely to end up with a hefty repair bill if things take a turn for the worse. The average woman's DIY repair bill was £1,993 each, the research revealed.
Data also indicates that 47 per cent of homeowners intend to fit a new plug or light socket this year even though building regulations make it illegal for this work to not be carried out by a government-approved electrician.
But do not be disheartened if your DIY skills end up costing you more than you thought, it could just be that you do not have the DIY gene. An experiment conducted on behalf of Halifax home insurance found that two thirds of all Brits lack the spatial awareness required to execute DIY successfully.
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