Owner of UK's only pink Ferrari smashes £120,000 car and insurance company refuses to pay for repairs
A British businesswoman was involved, in August 2023, in a road accident as a result of which her pink Ferrari, considered the only one in the country of this color, was seriously damaged. Almost three years after the incident, the insurance company refuses to cover the costs of repairs.
Businesswoman's Ferrari/PHOTO: Video capture The Sun and Facebook Lisa-Marie Brown
According to The Sun, the owner is Lisa-Marie Brown (45 years old), passionate about the Barbie universe and known from the show “Rich House Poor House” from Channel 5.
Now she's furious after the car has been declared a total loss and the insurance company refuses to cover her. Admiral Insurance refused to cover the costs of the repairs, claiming the car did not have a valid MOT.
According to the images captured by the cameras, Lisa-Marie Brown was driving the Ferrari at an estimated speed of between 48 and 64 km/h when the accident occurred.
Following the impact with another car that changed lanes and swerved at the last moment, the pink car was thrown off the road, crossed the pavement, hit a road sign and ended up in bushes.
“It could have killed me. It was the craziest thing that ever happened to me. I was unconscious for a few seconds, and when I came to, my first thought was, 'Oh my God, what happened? Don't die.'
I was left with injuries and a neck injury and the recovery took some time. I was left to figure it all out on my own. I will rebuild my car and my life, but I should have been protected by the police or the insurance company.” told Lisa-Marie.
Lisa-Marie, who also runs a valet service and cafe through her business Supercar Hangout in Cardiff, bought the car in 2019 for £120,000.
Ferrari is known for its policy of not producing and selling pink cars, considering that this color does not fit the brand image.
However, Lisa-Marie says Stratstone Ferrari in Manchester helped her apply the pink foil to the car when she launched her business. She also owns a pink Porsche Panamera and a limited edition pink McLaren 600LT.
“The police did nothing”
Lisa-Marie Brown claims that the authorities did not take action after the accident and that the impact profoundly affected her life.
“The police didn't do anything, they just said it was an accident and treated the case lightly. My life has been put on hold for the last three years, it's been incredibly hard to bear.
We have to try and find money to get the car back on the road because the insurance company is refusing to pay the claim.”
Lisa-Marie Brown says she worked three jobs to afford the Ferrari, and that after the accident she was left with both injuries and a badly damaged car, which she is forced to repair on her own.
A car body shop in Cardiff is currently helping her rebuild the car, which could be back on the road in around three months.
How the insurance company responds
A spokeswoman for Admiral told The Sun:
“Rejecting a compensation claim is not a decision we take lightly. However, the reason we have rejected Ms Brown's claim is that her car did not pass its MOT and was not roadworthy on 8 August 2023, when the collision occurred.
The car failed its MOT on 3 August 2023 as it did not meet the required safety standards, with a major fault consisting of a rear shock absorber fluid leak. This issue should have been fixed immediately, but was not fixed.
Due to the issues identified at MOT, we have had an independent appraiser inspect the vehicle. It concluded that Ms Brown had been informed of the defect but the problem had not been rectified.”
Admiral claims that Lisa-Marie Brown continued to use the Ferrari after it failed MOT, even though a major fault had been identified that made it roadworthy.
The insurer points out that the car was not being used for servicing or re-inspection at the time of the accident and, for this reason, refused to pay compensation.
The decision was appealed by the owner, but was later upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the independent body that resolves financial disputes.
