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August 2, 2012

This claim pertains to a H03, open peril policy. Our insured hired someone to do some interior staining on the woodwork in her home. The stain was not the color they expected and does not match. They have filed a claim with us for restaining the woodwork. It does not appear this would be “physical loss to property”. However, I was curious to see if you had previously run across anything like this.  Any help would be appreciated.

 

Kentucky Subscriber

This really belongs back at the contractor. If he promised that he could match the staining, then it's up to him to make the situation right. Anytime you're working with dyes, paints, or stains matching colors is always difficult, especially if the old stain was more than a few years old or is no longer made and the existing woodwork had wear to factor in as well. Dyes/paints/stains are known for being different between lots. Merriam Webster Online defines damage as loss or harm resulting from injury to person, property, or reputation. This circles around on itself as injury is defined as an act that damages or hurts. The woodwork is the wrong color, but it isn't really damaged. Therefore restaining to get the color to match is not covered; there is no loss that precipitated the original restaining, it's just something cosmetic the insureds decided to do. This is faulty workmanship and as such is excluded.

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