Thanks to someone who tailgated me in the rain some time ago, I had to have a new rear impact limiter and bumper. The bumper was painted with the paint shown on the car's paint code, but in a lot of lights it looks like a different shade of silver. The repairers said the bumper really needed blending in to the rest of the car but most insurers won't pay for it. Anyway, I had a conversation with the insurers and they will now pay for the rear bumper to be blended into the car.

I have 3 questions about this as I try to decide whether to have it blended or not:

1. What is blending and how is it done?
2. Will this solve the problem or just 'spread' the colour change across a wider area of paintwork so it's less obvious?
3. Does blending cause any issues/problems itself? E.G Am I going to see the blending itself or will it not be as durable as the original paintwork.

I have no idea about paintwork or blending so all information and comments are very welcome.