Insurance provider, the AA, have revealed that Brits are putting themselves at risk of being hit with costly damage to their homes as a result of putting off routine repairs. According to recent statistics from the Home Emergency Response Scheme, 18.5 million UK homeowners, 39% of the home owning population, have delayed taking care of repair work on their properties or tried to fix the issue themselves in an attempt to cut back on spending. In the last 12 months alone, 14% of homeowners have attempted to tackle DIY projects or home repair work which they would ordinarily have paid a professional to do, while 11% of people have turned to friends to help with repairs about the home. Worryingly, 8% have avoided getting their boiler fixed in an attempt to budget, 5% have not replaced damaged windows and 4% have delayed repairing a damaged roof. The collective cost to repair damage to UK homes stands at £1 billion with 20% of those homeowners revealing that the damage was exacerbated by their decision to delay taking care of the issue. The average amount spent to rectify these problems was estimated at £378, however unfortunately for the majority of those homeowners, only 5% of the problems were covered by their home insurance policy, meaning many ended up forking out extra to cover the repairs. With this in mind, insurers are warning homeowners that delay routine repairs to save money are actually causing themselves more problems and more expense in the long run.