Dealer staff may soon be targeted by claims management companies with cash offers for customer data according to ITC Compliance. Matt Dyer, CEO of ITC Compliance said, “With a growing number of claims management companies chasing market share, it is only a matter of time before those individuals who have access to dealer customer records will be offered significant inducements to hand them over.” This further risk comes on top of the recent comments by the head of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) signalling that the ‘light touch’ approach that they have adopted for the regulation of financial products will change. “Regulation is clearly about to become much more complex and time consuming for Directly Authorised motor dealers. Inevitably, this will see more switching to the safety and security of Appointed Representative status as has been the trend in other regulated industries such as with Financial Advisors and Mortgage Brokers,” continues Dyer. “Mis-selling scandals and the credit crunch have made regulators rethink their approach and the actions of some claims management companies are only going to make things more difficult for dealers. Any slight discrepancies in documentation, systems and controls will leave dealers unable to defend themselves against such complaints brought.”
In response, ITC Compliance, the UK’s largest independent FSA network, has launched a free FSA Healthcheck Programme whereby its nationwide team of compliance professionals assess dealers’ compliance and provide a free report detailing areas where improvement may be prudent, potentially saving dealers thousands from mis-selling claims. If dealers act quickly, ITC can also help them achieve Appointed Representative status before 31st March – so avoiding their full FSA fees for 2011/12. “ITC’s systems and controls are some of the simplest and most robust in the industry and we have an enviable success rate when dealing with claims management companies. With every unwarranted complaint vigorously defended by our dedicated team, ITC Network members can leave the claims management companies to us. The numbers tell the story – by the end of this year we will handle compliance for more UK car retailers than the FSA themselves,” adds Dyer.
Delaers to register for a free ITC FSA Healthcheck simply visit www.itccompliance.co.uk or call 0117 953 9068
Subscribe to Motor Trade Insider by Email
We are always looking for experienced writers who can write good original quality posts on motor-trade-insider.com. 
