Insurer Allianz has set a 2009 deadline for all its approved accident repairers to conform to the body repair Kitemark.

The 173 bodyshops have until July 1 next year to gain the PAS 125 Thatcham/BSI standard – otherwise, they will no longer receive work from the insurer.

The same deadline will apply to any crash repairer that wants to join the Allianz network for the first time.

The Kitemark will supercede the Quality Control (QC) standard provided by the RMIF, which Allianz has backed for its repairers until now.

The announcement was made by Simon Law, the newly-appointed motor damage supply manager following Phil Brailey’s second-ment to Allianz’s global head-quarters in Germany.

Law said: “Allianz Insurance has always supported standards through its association with the RMIF and sees the Kitemark as a natural progression.”

Body repairers that gain Kitemark approval will be rewarded through use of the partner performance review matrix, giving them the potential to increase their labour rates by up to £2 an hour, the insurer added.

PAS 125 was developed by Thatcham, insurers, professional bodies and bodyshop owners in con-junction with the British Standards Institution.

Its objective is to provide a set of common standards and controls to the accident repair industry under a Kitemark which is easily recognised by the motoring public.

Ray Holloway, director of Independent Member Associations for the Retail Motor Industry Federation, said: “The RMIF is continuing to work closely with Allianz. We are helping to prepare the body repair network by using QC which was revised last year to conform to PAS 125.”