Unwanted Paint Job Costs $90K
FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA--The right coat of paint can make a masterpiece out of an already luxurious car.
But not when it’s architectural paint and the coating splatters the entire interior of a high-end Maserati.
According to RAA Insurance, an Australian driver swerved to avoid hitting a dog. That sent a paint can he had in his back seat flying throughout the car. The lid came off, and chaos ensued.
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An insurance company paid more than $90,000 to a driver after white paint splattered the inside of his Maserati. The driver had swereved to avoid hitting a dog. |
“As the tin flew around the car like a mini tornado, the leather interior and windscreen were liberally splashed with a thick coat of white paint,” said Hayley Cain, an RAA claims manager.
“Fortunately the driver was fine, but given the extent of damage to the interior, our insurance assessors declared it a write-off and we settled the claim for over $90,000.”
The dog was also OK, the company said.
Colorful Claims
The claim may be unusual, but it’s not in a class by itself. RAA’s assessors look at 23,000 cars per year, the company said. With that many, some odd ones are bound to come up.
RAA said other unusual claims have included:
• A Caravan that was wedged under a rest stop roof, $63,000;
• A coat hanger lodged in the convertible roof mechanism of Mercedes-Benz, $33,900;
• Wiring in a Land Cruiser destroyed by rats, $4,300;
• Dog-trashed car interior, which included seat belts connected to airbags, in the $1,000s; and
• Door trim eaten by a parrot (the parrot is now covered with a towel when it travels).
Cain said that although some of those claims sound far-fetched, RAA assessors sometimes have a harder time believing those stories that aren’t as entertaining.
“Truth can be stranger than fiction with flying paint tins, hungry rodents or destructive coat hangers – but sometimes it’s the apparently straightforward claims that have our experts smelling a rat,” she said.
Tagged categories: Architectural coatings; Automotive coatings; Coating Materials; Coating types; Insurance; Transportation
