Autoguard Warranties has partnered with training provider Catalyst to ensure its workforce and appointed representatives are qualified and well regulated ahead of the Consumer Duty and Specialist Automotive Finance (SAF) regulations.
As we grew exponentially over the past 24 months, Autoguard Warranties required a platform that could comply with all our FCA training, reporting, and educational needs. We recognised that with the ever-changing automotive industry regulations, the need to share knowledge with all areas of the business was greater than ever.
Because of its specific business needs, Autoguard Warranties required a training provider that could deliver exactly what we needed to continue being compliant throughout the whole business.
The partnership of Autoguard Warranties and Catalyst will help our employees develop and enhance their ability and knowledge, and in turn support the dealer partners and their customers.
With Catalyst’s Finance & Leasing Association (FLA)- and SAF-approved training, Autoguard Warranties is engaging its agents, embedding knowledge and promoting the importance of self-development.
The FLA introduced SAF in 2007 to help raise the standards of car finance information provided in showrooms for the benefit of car buyers. By 2025, independent dealers must be SAF-approved to offer finance to their customers. This regulation will have a huge impact in the automotive sector, with more than 80 per cent of customers financing their vehicle purchase*.
The Catalyst training platform stands out in terms of how interactive, informative, current and inclusive it is.
Stevie Luxton, risk and compliance officer at Autoguard Group, said: ‘The competence and knowledge of all employees, to me is the very foundation upon which a great company is built – everyone knowing everything they need to in order to conduct their roles professionally, effectively and compliantly.’
She added: ‘Through the Catalyst training, we can ensure the knowledge of our employees remains strong and that we able to keep up with ever-changing regulation while also delivering the highest standards of customer care.’
The services offer continuous internal staff training alongside providing Autoguard Warranties’ appointed representative network with all the up-to-date regulated training they need, allowing Autoguard to continually add value and support its dealer partners.
Stuart Berry, director of Catalyst, said: We are delighted to be supporting a business with the calibre, reputation, and ambition of Autoguard.
‘We hope that our easy-to-engage-with, animation-based training provides the team at Autoguard with an enjoyable and intuitive learning experience around these crucially important compliance subjects.
‘With our SAF-equivalent accreditation, Autoguard customers can be assured that they are dealing with skilled and fully informed professional advisers.’
By providing their appointed representatives with up-to-date regulated training, the dealer partners will enhance their business’s reputation and deliver transparency about their products.
Autoguard Warranties believes that when the customer is put at the heart of the business, the dealer partners can build stronger relationships with them, improving their standing in the automotive industry and future profitability.