A spate of fires linked to do-it-yourself home renovations has prompted warnings that insurers may not pay out for damage caused by faulty workmanship.

Badly installed chimneys have been linked to at least three Melbourne blazes this month, with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade urging residents to check their flues.

LMI MD Allan Manning told insuranceNEWS.com.au a quality policy will not cover the cost of rectifying faulty workmanship, but will cover damage resulting from an incident.

However, a growing number of policies have blanket exclusions, he says. “Suddenly you have no cover and you could be facing huge losses.

“Another exclusion cropping up is where you don’t have the necessary council approvals. Again, the insurer will refuse to pay the claim and a lot of people don’t realise until it’s too late.”

Professor Manning says TV shows such as The Block encourage people to try their hand at renovations.

“People increasingly want to try to do this kind of work themselves. But they need to be aware that many policies, particularly direct policies, have very harsh exclusions.”