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To declare window tint or to not declare window tint?

JustAnotherSaver
Posts: 6,709 Forumite


in Motoring
Obviously more to it than the face value question because if I go out now, get the windows tinted then the answer is just yes, it's not even a question.
Mother bought a new to her car. A 2007 Ford Focus 1.6 Titanium.
The rear 3 windows were tinted when she bought it. I wondered if this was factory although wasn't sure.
Have seen a few of these around since & they all were also tinted (same shame, also 1.6, also Titanium trim).
But then I saw one last week that wasn't & it made me wonder whether it's just coincidence everyone getting theirs tinted, or whether it was maybe an optional extra on this trim.
So bearing in mind they say ignorance is not an excuse - would you contact the insurance company in this situation & say the rear 3 windows are tinted or not? Car is already insured, not that that makes a difference I'm just saying.
Just no idea whether it came like that from factory or not.
Also not sure on the degree of the tint either. I know it's not 5% as I have that myself on my sunstrip and it's not that dark. I also think it's lighter than 20% as I'm pretty sure it was 20% I had on the rears of my last car & it's also lighter than that - but it's certainly darker than 'usual' and darker than the front.
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JustAnotherSaver said:So bearing in mind they say ignorance is not an excuse - would you contact the insurance company in this situation & say the rear 3 windows are tinted or not? Car is already insured, not that that makes a difference I'm just saying.Just no idea whether it came like that from factory or not.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN6011656.pdf
The above is a good example where the FOS believes a reasonable person should have been able to identify that some of the items were obviously after market modifications but that others weren't obvious. Thankfully for the customer the one that was causing the insurer to void the policy was deemed to be in the reasonable not to know about category and so the insurance was reinstated.1 -
Every Titanium Focus/Fiesta I've seen appears to have tinted windows as I was going to buy a Fiesta years ago it did as well.
You can't usually put extra tints on the front screen, drivers and passengers' sides as I read somewhere that factor tints on these windows are close or on the limit. I've seen fools with tints on the aforementioned and cops rarely stop them2 -
We had a Fiesta Titanium in 2014ish and that tinted back windows as standard on that model.
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IIRC it's a deletable option. The tint is on the rear windows to protect children in the back seat from heat, apparently.I need to think of something new here...0
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ThanksIt sounds like it's an optional extra on this trim level then. I actually see more Titaniums with it than not. Actually the more I think about it, the one I saw last week was the only one I can remember seeing without tints. Perhaps they hated tints & had the factory ones removed, who knows.The chances of all these Titanium owners all deciding to go out one day to get tints put in place vs the chances of all these Titanium owners having cars with tints that came from factory - I'll let my mother know that personally as things seem to stand I wouldn't bother telling them in this case, but it's up to her.0
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I had a Titanium Fiesta 09 plate - rear screen and rear passenger windows were all tinted. It also had an interior mirror that dimmed the reflection down at night. Didn't even think to say anything to insurers. The guy I got it from bought it from new and said it just came like that.
The rules on the amount of light only apply to the windscreen and front side windows.0 -
Bigphil1474 said:
The rules on the amount of light only apply to the windscreen and front side windows.I never said otherwise as I know the law on front tints. It was diystarter7 who started talking about front tintsThanks though.
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You can often tell if it is a factory tint as no bubbles whatsoever and looks classy. All Titaniums as far as I can recall have tints to rear window and rear doors.
If you are worried, search on the web re car specs for that year.
If you are still unsure, then tell the insurance people, job done and no worries.0 -
JustAnotherSaver said:Bigphil1474 said:
The rules on the amount of light only apply to the windscreen and front side windows.I never said otherwise as I know the law on front tints. It was diystarter7 who started talking about front tintsThanks though.1 -
Bigphil1474 said:JustAnotherSaver said:Bigphil1474 said:
The rules on the amount of light only apply to the windscreen and front side windows.I never said otherwise as I know the law on front tints. It was diystarter7 who started talking about front tintsThanks though.0
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