Insurance Claim Affected By Car Colour Change?
Discussion
Hi all, hopefully this is a quick one to put a friend's mind at ease.
Someone ran into the back of him (which also punted him into the car in front) - as it stands, it appears to be a fairly clear-cut situation, the bloke behind has admitted liability, and insurance should sort it all out.
However, while he was talking to his insurers, a comment was made about his car being the "wrong" colour. Fair enough, yes, it certainly is, courtesy of him repainting it, but he did put the change down on the V5, and the only wrinkle is the insurers say they weren't told. Now, my friend says he did do so, at the same time as he was calling to tell them he was moving house, so it's possible something got lost in translation there, but if the insurers remain adamant about not being informed... Does it actually matter?
I can't see how the car being a different colour makes the slightest difference to anything, other than maybe causing someone to double check it's definitely the same car, which is five minutes to eyeball the chassis number. He's just mildly worried about them using it as an excuse to be difficult, though seeing as he's not at fault, I don't see why they'd have any impetus to look for trouble.
Yes, it is a friend, and not me!
Someone ran into the back of him (which also punted him into the car in front) - as it stands, it appears to be a fairly clear-cut situation, the bloke behind has admitted liability, and insurance should sort it all out.
However, while he was talking to his insurers, a comment was made about his car being the "wrong" colour. Fair enough, yes, it certainly is, courtesy of him repainting it, but he did put the change down on the V5, and the only wrinkle is the insurers say they weren't told. Now, my friend says he did do so, at the same time as he was calling to tell them he was moving house, so it's possible something got lost in translation there, but if the insurers remain adamant about not being informed... Does it actually matter?
I can't see how the car being a different colour makes the slightest difference to anything, other than maybe causing someone to double check it's definitely the same car, which is five minutes to eyeball the chassis number. He's just mildly worried about them using it as an excuse to be difficult, though seeing as he's not at fault, I don't see why they'd have any impetus to look for trouble.
Yes, it is a friend, and not me!
ZOLLAR said:
Not going to be an issue.
Thanks, that's what I expected, and was hoping for comfirmation.steve-5snwi said:
Do insurance companies ever ask for the colour when quoting ? I thought it was taken direct from the dvla.
Cold said:
Which colour was declared on the proposal form?
(Rhetorical question)
Yes, I think they just take it from the DVLA, and thus would have the details as were at the time of taking out the policy. The question was whether a change in the meantime was an issue.(Rhetorical question)
I appreciate that there is some logic to an angle of "if they didn't ask when insuring you, they can't care all that much"
KungFuPanda said:
Doesn't matter. He'll be claiming from the third parties insurance.
Even if he was driving uninsured and a third party hit his car and they were at fault, it wouldn't matter.
Yeeeees... Though as part of the accident, he hit the car in front due to being shoved forward, so has made the sensible decision to get his own insurance involved in case there's some wrangling over that.Even if he was driving uninsured and a third party hit his car and they were at fault, it wouldn't matter.
Jujuuk68 said:
As long as it's factory spec, I would struggle to see the insurers issue.
But if it were a solid colour, and he's changed to some custom pearlescent, meaning that if the event of repair the whole car needed paint, that might have been a relevant, disclosable mod.
I worked for an insurer who had a little squit with some awful car with custom paint that just couldn't ever be matched properly, (I'm not clear why, but this was 15y ago, paint tech might have changed) and he had 3 minor fault prangs in a year, and each time was horrifically expensive to fix.
It's not a standard factory colour, but the above scenario is unlikely to be a factor, as it is not a high-value car, and I am absolutely certain it will be written off as uneconomical to repair regardless of the paint.But if it were a solid colour, and he's changed to some custom pearlescent, meaning that if the event of repair the whole car needed paint, that might have been a relevant, disclosable mod.
I worked for an insurer who had a little squit with some awful car with custom paint that just couldn't ever be matched properly, (I'm not clear why, but this was 15y ago, paint tech might have changed) and he had 3 minor fault prangs in a year, and each time was horrifically expensive to fix.
Thank you to everyone who has given input. He will be having a more detailed discussion with his insurance shortly, so one way or another I should be able to give some update.
Now it's a Pistonheads thread. But anyway.
No specific update as of yet. It looks like - as my friend would rather keep/buy back the car - they will be sending out someone to take a look at it rather than collecting it, so I assume that will result in a conclusion of the situation one way or the other. Apparently they're checking if the car was available in that colour, but that's a different question. Does it matter if it's "black" or "red", or does it have to be the factory paint code version? I guess we shall see.
99dndd said:
If it's a repair rather than a write off, they'd get the money required to return the car to its original colour.
Well, as I said, my money is 100% on it being a write off, but in that event, he'd probably be quids in.paintman said:
That's about the only issue I could see as the cost of some of the special paints is eyewatering: http://www.specialistpaints.com/products/chromacoa... £239.99 a litre
and the work involved due to the prep & basecoats is going to take a lot of time & so more £££££££.
Yeaaaah... This is more £10 a litre stuff!and the work involved due to the prep & basecoats is going to take a lot of time & so more £££££££.
cologne2792 said:
I looked at two 406 coupes last year - one red, one blue - same age, spec, mileage.
Ran several insurance quotes and on both occasions the red one was approximately £100 dearer which as I'm 47 was substantial.
Are insurance costs really affected that much by the colour or am I missing something here ?
I bought the blue one.
I've never encounterd this myself. Perhaps an oddity of that particular insurer? Your name isn't John Icrashredcars or something?Ran several insurance quotes and on both occasions the red one was approximately £100 dearer which as I'm 47 was substantial.
Are insurance costs really affected that much by the colour or am I missing something here ?
I bought the blue one.
TooMany2cvs said:
What did he answer when they asked him if it had been modified?
Well, when they would have asked that - at policy start - he would have said "no", because it wasn't. But as I said, he is pretty sure he told them he did it, and I can't see why he wouldn't, given that he told the DVLA, and it's not something he even thought was an issue.Rick101 said:
As long as it wasn't camouflage I can't see it being a problem.
Haha! Actually, I saw a bloke the other day riding a bike in camo trousers and jacket. I wonder what his thoughts would be if he got SMIDSY'd?Mandat said:
In the OP's case, statistics might show that the type of driver who has a colour modified car is a greater risk than one who drives a non-modified car.
Hmm, I can see that. Though I can't see why it would matter when someone hit him.pork911 said:
Not if the respray was ropey 
- Cough* I'm saying nothing...
Monkeylegend said:
Probably just pub talk, maybe.
I can see it being "a thing", yes, but I guess the question is whether it actually does happen.Dodsy said:
So its unlikely a colour change on the log book would make it through to the inurance company
I agree. Do they check the DVLA themselves, or do they check a separate database that is itself updated from the DVLA? Perhaps that's a factor?TwigtheWonderkid said:
If it was camouflage you wouldn't be able to see it at all! 
No specific update as of yet. It looks like - as my friend would rather keep/buy back the car - they will be sending out someone to take a look at it rather than collecting it, so I assume that will result in a conclusion of the situation one way or the other. Apparently they're checking if the car was available in that colour, but that's a different question. Does it matter if it's "black" or "red", or does it have to be the factory paint code version? I guess we shall see.
Let me just give people a little closure so we can advance straight to the frozen sausages part of the argument cycle.
The insurers have phoned back, and said that they aren't going to consider it an issue. While that's not quite the same as them saying it's fine and not something they'd want to dig into in other circumstances, for this particular situation, it'll do just fine.
The insurers have phoned back, and said that they aren't going to consider it an issue. While that's not quite the same as them saying it's fine and not something they'd want to dig into in other circumstances, for this particular situation, it'll do just fine.
4rephill said:
When the insurance company look into the claim, they're being asked to deal with a red Mondeo rather than the blue Mondeo they were expecting to be dealing with.
The first question on their mind will be: "Is this actually the car that was insured under the policy, or is this a completely different car that was not covered by the policy?"
I would agree with you on that as a baseline, but the impression I got was that their questions were less "is this the same vehicle?" and more "has this vehicle been modified?".The first question on their mind will be: "Is this actually the car that was insured under the policy, or is this a completely different car that was not covered by the policy?"
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