Home improvers up and down the UK are at risk of paying out an average of £3,000 to rectify DIY disasters, according to Towergate.

The insurance firm said that home improvement enthusaists are taking on large-scale, complicated DIY work, with millennials being particularly keen to take on risky tasks usually left to professionals.

A worrying 19% admit to tackling electrical wiring and 13% said they would attempt a house extension.

This ‘have a go’ tendency is also putting the safety of DIY enthusiasts at risk with 220,000 ending up in hospital every year due to their keenness.

Pride before a fall

Ladders and step ladders are particularly dangerous pieces of DIY equipment, sending 41,000 to hospital annually. Saws are also amongst the most dangerous with over 15,000 people being hospitalised due to accidents with the tool and nearly 6,000 a year reporting hammer related accidents.

For the 20% of DIY enthusiasts who resort to calling in experts to fix their mistakes, there’s a heavy price to pay for not getting it right. Millennials and men retrospectively outlay the most, with 39% of millennials calling in experts to fix a DIY disaster at an average cost of over £4,000 –  25% higher than the national average of just over £3,000.

Comparisons up and down the country reveal that those in London and the Midlands appear to be the most haphazard, forking out close to £5,000 and £3,600 respectively on rectifying DIY disasters.

Natalia Freeman from Towergate said: “DIY season has officially begun and our research reveals people taking on ambitious DIY projects, resulting in some alarmingly expensive mistakes. We would urge DIY enthusiasts to carefully consider the potential dangerous and expensive repercussions of undertaking complicated DIY projects, as most DIY jobs are not as simple as they may seem and mistakes with electrical wiring, for example, could be fatal.

“Furthermore, accidents and mistakes aren’t covered by standard home insurance policies, therefore it’s crucial that prior to undertaking DIY work people check their policy exclusions and contact their insurer before they pick up their tools and get to work.”