The Road to ROI with F&I

Reinsurance sounds like a good technical term. However, this technical term can be among the best things you do for your dealership and customers. Reinsurance is an excellent strategy for insulating your dealership from volatility and protecting your bottom line.

Reinsurance is an agreement between two insurance companies. In this definition, the reinsurer is the second business and is responsible for clearing the claims that arise from the first insurance company.

As with most auto dealerships, your service and parts department is possibly your company's lifeblood. In a previous report, the National Dealership Association revealed that service and parts accounted for 46% of the gross profits at the average dealership. If your Financial and Insurance (F&I) Department isn't a close second as far as profits are concerned, there is no better time to consider Dealer Reinsurance than now.

On average, services and parts departments make up a significant chunk of the business revenue in car agencies. However, your finance and insurance section should be a close second. If that isn't the case, then it's about time you had a rethink of your whole strategy and make more provisions for dealer reinsurance.

A Dealer-Owned Reinsurance company gives your dealership the ability to handle and oversee extended vehicle service contracts and related products as an additional source of revenue. The most common reason dealerships avoid opening a reinsurance company is misconceptions about the risks and benefits. Since your company will only re-insure the business your dealership writes through your F&I operations, you will never be affected by another company's losses. The ownership of your reinsurance company can yield greater profits for the dealership and allow you to provide your customers with better service.

In a recent interview with Intelligent Insurer, Brad Kading, the president and executive director of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR), did something you don’t hear much about, unfortunately, and that’s touting the proposition of reinsurance. And though reinsurance is his business, after all, Kading was right about one thing: reinsurance as a whole is under-reported. But why? Well, likely because the focus is either misdirected or there simply isn’t enough information circulating about what reinsurance really is and particularly, how it saves money for industries like the automotive and ultimately benefits consumers, making for quite a profitable and business-savvy venture.

Reinsurance keeps you safe.  It's hedging your bets against catastrophic occurrences that could cost your dealership.  With profit margins growing ever tinier due to innovations, market share and internet sites it's vital to investigate revenue streams.