Within the space of just 24 hours, VINTTRO’s CEO, Simon Bennett, found himself having two very similar, and frustrating, conversations with fellow VINTTRO community members.
One involved a Maserati, the other a Porsche.
Neither owner had arranged their cover through VINTTRO Cover (though after this week, we suspect that might change!). Because the Porsche owner lives locally, she brought her car straight to Simon’s house so he could take a look. Beyond leading VINTTRO, Simon is a qualified engineer with deep roots in panel beating and body repairs. He knows proper craft when he sees it, and he certainly knows when a repair is not right!
So, how did two prestige cars end up with sub standard repairs?
The Myth of the “Approved” Network
Both owners had taken out policies with major online insurers, one purchased directly through a high-volume provider, and the other via a comparison site. The Maserati owner even said that his insurer provided the cheapest quote he could find, to which Simon replied: ‘How many times have I heard that?’
Anyway, when the accidents occurred and claims were logged, both insurers directed the vehicles into their standard ‘Approved Repairer’ networks. The benefits were heavily upsold
- “Free courtesy car!” (In reality, the body shop itself usually funds and provides, unless you’re not at fault, where they then guide you to a non fault company and claim a healthy commission from doing so.
- “Less hassle with getting multiple estimates!”
- “Free vehicle collection!”
- Etc etc
It sounds seamless on paper. But here’s the problem: these body shops were not Porsche or Maserati approved.
While a high-volume approved body shop might do a standard repair on an everyday hatchback, they simply don’t have the familiarity, tooling, or brand-specific repair protocols required for high-performance or niche marques.
The Hidden Catch in Cheap Policies
Why not just take the car to a specialist shop you trust?
With cheap, “stack ’em high and sell ’em cheap” policies, the fine print often works against you. If you exercise your consumer rights and insist on using your own choice of specialist repairer, standard insurers frequently penalise you with a significantly higher excess, often doubling your out-of-pocket cost.
Faced with steep penalties, many owners reluctantly give in and use the insurer’s suggested network, assuming the result will still meet a high standard.
Unfortunately, that isn’t always what happens, and this is why choosing the right repairer is crucial to niche cars.
A Closer Look at the Porsche
When Simon inspected the local member’s Porsche, the shortcuts taken during the repair were immediately obvious:
- Bumper Misalignment: There was a glaring gap and uneven alignment across the rear bumper structure.
- Freehand Badge Placement: The “Porsche” lettering had clearly been applied freehand without a factory stencil, leaving crooked, unevenly spaced badging on the tailgate.
- Unreplaced Structural Parts: Behind the bumper, the aluminum carrier had been left in place, we don’t know if this was damaged, but having seen the pre damage it does suggest it may have been required.
- Misalignment of the rear light units – Tailgate to Quarter panels
Looking at the post-accident condition, leaving that aluminum carrier untouched raises serious questions. Without seeing the official repair estimate, one can only wonder whether the replacement part was originally specified on the estimate and authorised, or was it missed off completely upon initial inspection? … a whole other story in itself!
The True Cost of Squeezed Rates
When insurers force body shops to work under aggressively low, highly stressed hourly rates, repairers are backed into a corner. Complex jobs on niche cars become almost non-profitable, creating pressure to rush labour, skip brand-specific steps, or repair panels that should be replaced under the manufacturers guidelines.
The moral of the story? When insuring a niche, classic, or performance vehicle, the cheapest quote is rarely the best value.
A low premium often leads to an insurer-approved body shop that lacks manufacturer approval, operates on squeezed margins, and treats a specialist vehicle like just another commodity on the assembly line.
If you find yourself in this situation, do your research to find a repairer who is approved, specialises in your car’s marque, or is renowned for expertise in restoring classic, rare and niche vehicles. Because when it comes down to it, these cars simply don’t belong under a high-volume, ‘stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap’ insurance policy.
The VINTTRO Difference
When it comes to your pride and joy, ‘good enough’ simply isn’t good enough. At VINTTRO Cover, we don’t just sell you a cheap policy and leave you to navigate the claims process alone. We sell you the right policy, which is often the most competitive price in the market because we specialise in niche cars.
We understand that rare and specialist vehicles carry a unique DNA that must be preserved, both structurally and aesthetically.
Should you ever need to make a claim, we are here to guide you through every step of the process and help direct your vehicle to the right specialists: true experts who understand your car and the exact standards it demands.
