Mr Lunn is a national and regional member of the training division of the Collision Repair Association (CRA), which this week highlighted the industry's plight, citing an increase in car crashes in the region as a major concern.
"Insurance companies are setting the pay rates for panel beaters. The insurance industry is not doing us any favours. [Collision repair] shops that have not invested in modern crash repair technology are choosing to close too, putting more pressure on existing shops," he said.
Not all crashes that require vehicle repair are reported to NZ Police, or are presented for insurance claims, so it's hard to see the true scale of the problem.
However, Ministry for Transport's most up-to-date data does show an increase in reported vehicle crashes in 2015, compared to 2014.
There was an increase of 24 crashes in the Far North (to 181 crashes in 2015), 33 more crashes in Whangarei (from 217) and nine more crashes in Kaipara (from 66)
Craig Dowling, head of corporate affairs for Insurance Australia Group (IAG) New Zealand, said it had seen an increase in excess of 3000 Northland claims for damage in 2016, which reflected a 46.8 per cent increase when compared to 2013.
The IAG brand boss, which includes AMI, State, NZI and NAC, said insurance companies were surprised by the speed of the increases in crash claims.
He said the company, which had the lion's share in the national private motor vehicle insurance market, but could not reveal the actual number of claims, due to commercial sensitivity.
A spokesperson for Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) said full regional data was unavailable.
Carl Henty, director at Louie Berkers Collision Repair Centre on Whangarei's Dent St, said he and other CRA members would be promoting the industry as an option to early school leavers through a number of high school visits in the district this year.
"If every shop took two apprentices, it would help the future of the industry," he said.
Three years ago, he was getting 50 to 60 applications for job vacancies. He has been proactive in recruiting staff - taking four on since 2013.
However, a summer apprentices recruitment drive only got 20 applications.
He said there were more repairs of late with the most common being traffic jam related rear and front damage.