Bodyshop owners carrying out work through intermediaries, such as accident management companies, are advised to review their contracts and procedures to ensure that the "go-between" company has a secure ring-fenced payment procedure.

Some intermediaries do not have such a secure system and pay accounts out of general revenue, many times on the basis of "whoever shouts the loudest gets paid", says the VBRA.

Its director-general Ron Nicholson says: “It is essential that intermediaries specifically allocate and ring-fence the monies paid to them by their clients. In the event of them ceasing to trade, vehicle repairer businesses may lose a disproportionate amount of money for the work they have carried out, as it may have been used to pay others.”