Tests have proved the success of a Kitemark scheme that aims to bring accident repairs up to a universal high standard.
Motoring research body Thatcham, and standards body the BSI behind the initiative, have shown poor repairs on a car can cancel out an originally good NCAP crash test rating.
The tests that showed a poorly repaired vehicle suffered 70% more intrusion into the passenger area following a crash, than a car repaired to the correct standard.
The kitemark scheme was launched in 2007, and 326 repair centres are currently signed up, with 600 more undergoing accreditation.
