GB DECORATING - Why hire a professional

GB DECORATING - For all your painting & decorating needs

Professional decorating and home insurance

In tough economic times it can be tempting to try our hands at even the most difficult jobs in an effort to save some cash. However, a spot of DIY can quickly backfire with research from the AA showing that one in 10 amateur projects go wrong and can cost more than £100 to rectify leading to some expensive home insurance claims.

Why hire a professional decorator?

Unless you’re a real DIY expert it makes sense to call the professionals in for a number of reasons:

-Expense: Most people assume that a DIY job is cheaper than hiring a professional. However, most fail to assess the cost of materials they may only use once; not to mention the price of amending errors if they make a mistake.

- Fresh ideas: A professional decorator can offer new perspective to a home presenting ideas that you may not have thought of to enhance the look of a property and even increase its resale value.

- Less hassle: You don’t have to spend time or effort on a job yourself, freeing you to do other things.

- Quality: Generally professional decorators know how to properly prepare a surface and have all the tools required, producing a quality finish.

If you decide a professional decorator is right for you, then seek recommendations from friends and family and consult The Guild of Master Craftsmen website, who has a list of professions, promoting and supporting excellence. to the trade and public alike.

Talk to the professional about your budget and ensure he can comfortably work within your financial limit and to your time constraints.

How this affects your home insurance

Before carrying out any work on a property, whether structural changes or home decoration, it’s worth consulting your home insurance provider. Any work that changes the rebuild value of your property or the value of the contents within the home needs to be reported to an insurer so it can adjust your cover level appropriately.

If you’re carrying out DIY work, then you’ll need accidental damage cover. Most policies offer accidental damage cover for electrical items as standard but you may need to add an extension to this cover for DIY work to cover you against risks such as paint spillages, dropped items while moving furniture or hammering a nail through a pipe. You may also need liability cover in case anyone who is helping you with your project is injured. Remember that making a claim on a home insurance policy will increase your premiums going forward as you will usually lose your no-claims discount.

Adding this cover can be expensive, so hiring a professional could be a money saver. This is because most professionals should have cover for their own specialist equipment as well as public liability and employers’ liability insurance. Always check with a professional to see what protection they have in place before you hire them.

As long as you keep your home insurance provider informed of any work being carried out on your property, you shouldn’t run into problems. However, if you’re unhappy with the protection your insurer offers then use a comparison website to compare home insurance quotes from other providers.

For a free estimate contact GB Decorating: