DIY on old houses can reveal home insurance problems

Over-50s looking to complete improvement on their houses may unearth problems which are not covered under home insurance policies .

Recent Saga research showed that ten per cent of elderly people had attempted to perform DIY on their houses.

Andrew Leech, director of the National Home Improvement Council, said that many over-50s live in old houses which may reveal problems not seen on the surface when unprofessional work is done on them.

Mr Leech said that home insurance companies would not give a second thought to those wanting to claim on damage caused by themselves through DIY.

He explained: Once you start knocking your house around, if you are not a professional … you find that big chunks of it are falling down because you've removed certain parts such as lintels over doors and windows .

Sainsburys Home Insurance recently reported that 65 per cent of British people have attempted DIY tasks in the past year, making savings of over £49 billion.