The industry ombudsman has told Allianz to accept a car owner’s claim for paintwork damage caused by the insurer’s faulty repairs.  

The insurer carried out a “paintless dent repair” on the claimant’s Mazda in 2012 after hail damaged the body. It did more work in 2015 to fix hail damage to the roof and mirror glass.  

About 2019, the policyholder noticed paint on the hail-hit side of the car was peeling, and she lodged a claim under the insurer’s lifetime repairs guarantee.  

But Allianz attributed the damage to wear and tear, noting it emerged nearly 10 years after the initial repairs.

The insurer’s experts said the issue was common on Mazdas and attributed it to long-term exposure to UV radiation.  

The policyholder argued the damage was caused by the dent repair, which failed, and subsequent paintwork carried out without her knowledge.

The woman said the peeling was isolated to the side of the car hit by hail, and both sides were exposed to the sun.  

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority says there were several errors in the insurer’s claim notes and Allianz’s expert reporting was “brief”, failed to identify damage caused by the dent repair, and did not consider factors that may have made the car more vulnerable to UV radiation.  

AFCA agrees the complainant’s evidence, including a detailed photo log of the paint problem, provides a “persuasive” explanation for the issue.  

It requires Allianz to reinspect the vehicle, repair the damaged paint and pay $750 compensation for failing to consider the previous repairs could have contributed to the damage.

See the ruling here.