with Automotive Compliance:
Your Complete Solution for a Compliant Future
The clock is ticking for independent used vehicle dealers in the UK. By January 1, 2025, all dealers must be SAF (Specialist Automotive Finance) Approved or hold an equivalent certification to continue offering finance through lenders who are members of the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA). With this new provision, ensuring your dealership meets the SAF requirements isn’t just about compliance; it’s about maintaining your ability to offer finance and staying competitive in the market.
At Automotive Compliance Ltd, we are proud to be the largest industry user of SAF, administering SAF Approval for close to 1,000 dealership locations. We understand the critical importance of compliance, and we are here to help you seamlessly navigate the SAF Approval process while ensuring you have a robust, compliant system with a reliable audit trail.
Why Is SAF Approval Important?
A recent update to the FLA’s Lending Code means that FLA members can only arrange finance through SAF Approved (or equivalent) dealers and brokers. The majority of the UK’s vehicle finance providers are FLA members, making it essential for your dealership to obtain SAF Approval by the January 2025 deadline if you want to continue offering finance options to your customers.
Franchised dealers or brokers were required to be SAF Approved as of January 2023, and now independent dealers must follow suit. The good news? SAF Approval is free, and it’s designed to improve standards across the industry. Achieving SAF Approval not only keeps you compliant but also instills confidence and trust in your business from your customers.
How Automotive Compliance Can Help You
Navigating the process of becoming SAF Approved can be daunting, but that’s where we come in. Automotive Compliance Ltd offers a comprehensive solution that manages your SAF Approval process from start to finish, ensuring you remain compliant with all the latest industry standards.
Here’s how we can help:
- Direct Setup & Monitoring* We can directly set up your dealership(s) for SAF Approval and continuously monitor your team’s SAF status, ensuring you stay compliant with the new provisions.
- Compliance Academy Integration: When coupled with our Compliance Academy, which includes 15 hours of General Insurance CPD, all of your FCA compliance training is consolidated in one place. This integration simplifies your compliance efforts, saving you time and reducing the risk of falling out of compliance.
- Comprehensive Sales Procedure: Whether you are an FCA Directly Authorised dealer or an Appointed Representative, our FCA Sales procedure, incorporating the Evolution Funding Ltd powered soft search facility, has everything covered for you—from enquiry to handover. This means your entire sales process remains compliant, with a strong audit trail to back it up.
What Steps Should Dealers Take?
Instead of navigating the complexities of SAF Approval on your own, let Automotive Compliance handle the logistics for you. Our team of experts is ready to guide you through the entire process, ensuring that you and your staff meet all the necessary requirements and stay compliant.
Here’s how we can help:
- Full Support for Registration: We’ll assist you in registering your company for the SAF Expert test and ensure that your customer-facing staff complete the necessary training and certification.
- Ongoing Compliance Management: Once your team is SAF Approved, we’ll continue to monitor and manage your SAF status, helping you maintain compliance with annual retesting and any updates to the SAF requirements.
- Tailored Solutions: Whether you’re a large dealership or a smaller operation, we can provide a tailored compliance solution that meets your specific needs, ensuring that your business is always in line with industry standards.
Don’t leave this important task to chance. Contact Phil Harding or Tomos Parry at Automotive Compliance today to discuss how we can take the stress out of the SAF Approval process for you. Simply click [here] to get in touch, and we’ll be happy to assist.
