Press release -
No room for AI when it comes to DIY
- Biggest DIY disaster claim cost more than £14,600 after homeowner drilled through water pipe
Artificial Intelligence has got work to do if it’s going to crack the home improvement market, according to new research from insurer Allianz UK.
In a recent survey, just 1% of people said AI would be the first thing they’d turn to for advice on a range of jobs and problems around the home.
Surprisingly, social media didn’t fare any better, with only a tiny proportion of Brits saying they’d use it first for help.
When it comes to needing help for traditional DIY jobs, such as painting or assembling furniture, partners were the most common source of support, with more than a third of people saying they are the person they’d ask for help first.
But for bigger challenges, there was a clear favourite when it comes to getting help – experts. About half of people said that when faced with a water leak or a problem with their car, a professional is the first person they would turn to, while 1 in 6 people also said they’d want an expert’s help with traditional DIY jobs as well.
In the event of the following situation, who or what would you turn to first for help?
Who/Task | DIY jobs | Water leak | Car problem |
Professional expert | 17% | 53% | 47% |
Partner | 38% | 26% | 26% |
Social media | 2% | 1% | 1% |
AI | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Other (friends/ family) | 42% | 19% | 25% |
Graham Wright, managing director of home insurance at Allianz UK, said:
“While AI is increasingly embedded in more places, it’s clear that professional experts are still very much trusted, even with those traditional DIY jobs such as painting and building furniture.
“Home insurance policies can provide protection against the cost of DIY disasters - like putting your foot through your loft floor or drilling through a water pipe – if accidental damage cover is selected and can provide experienced tradespeople to make repairs.”
DIY Disasters
The research also found that 42% of homeowners have experienced a DIY disaster at home. The average claim cost for accidental damage is more than £2,100.
The biggest claim for DIY damage* paid by Allianz UK totalled more than £14,600 after a policyholder drilled through a central heating pipe causing a leak that led to extensive damage to the property.
The research found that the most common DIY mishaps were:
Spilt a tub of paint while decorating | 16% |
Made a hole in a wall | 13% |
Broken an appliance while trying to fix it | 12% |
Put up a shelf which fell | 9% |
Cut through an electrical wire | 8% |
Some of the more unusual examples cited included:
- Slipping in the attic and putting a foot through the ceiling
- The cat stepping through paint and leaving pawprints over the house
- Putting wallpaper on upside down and not realising until the job was finished
- A roll of carpet falling and smashing a glass window
- Standing on the toilet to paint ceiling causing it to collapse
When asked why they attempted the job themselves, almost half (48%) said they’d done it before successfully but more than a quarter (26%) of respondents blamed ‘misguided self-confidence’ and 19% not having the time to wait.
Notes to Editors
- *Cover for accidental damage caused by DIY will vary depending on the individual home insurance product selected and policy excesses could apply.
- Allianz UK surveyed 2,000 homeowners in August 2025.
- All claims cost figures are based on paid accidental damage claims from 1 Jan 2023 to 9 Sept 2025.
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About Allianz Holdings plc
Allianz Holdings plc is the non-regulated holding company which owns the principal insurance operations of Allianz SE in Great Britain including Allianz Insurance.
About Allianz
The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with around 128 million* private and corporate customers in nearly 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 776 billion euros** on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 1.9 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are among the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2024, over 156,000 employees achieved total business volume of 179.8 billion euros and an operating profit of 16.0 billion euros for the group.
* Including non-consolidated entities with Allianz customers.
** As of December 31, 2024.
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