Members of the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) are demanding that dealers that want to work with them must be Specialist Automotive Finance (SAF) accredited by January 1, 2025.
SAF was originally introduced in 2007 as a way to improve standards in terms of dealers’ knowledge of financing.
After a 2019 report into the use of motor finance products revealed that there was significant room for improvement around the sales process involving the use of finance products, it was decided to make SAF a mandated accreditation for all independent used vehicle dealers, meaning any dealer who wishes to work with lenders who are members of the FLA must become SAF approved from the start of next year.
Lisa Watson, sales director at Close Brothers Motor Finance, said earlier this year: “We know dealers remain either unaware of the date they need to become SAF approved itself, or don’t have any idea how to become approved.
“Recent research we conducted with motor dealers, as part of our Forecourt Foresight campaign, found that as many as a third of dealers remain unaware of SAF.
“Yet failure by dealerships to comply with this regulation could lead to dire consequences for their businesses.”
With less than a month to go to SAF, Close Brothers Motor Finance has put together a Q&A for dealers who have not yet signed up for SAF approval.
Who needs to be SAF accredited?
All customer-facing staff will need to pass the SAF Expert test for the dealership to become accredited.
How do you become accredited?
The accreditation process is relatively straightforward. It involves staff taking a 60 minute test involving 60 questions. Questions range across technicalities on finance products and regulations around the provision of these products.
How do you take the test?
Dealerships must register with SAF Expert and enter the number of customer-facing staff they have – all of whom will need to take separate tests, and will have three attempts each to reach the 75% pass mark.
What do dealers need to do once they’ve taken the test?
Once tests have been passed, the dealership must complete a statement of compliance and send it to the FLA, who will in-turn award the SAF-approved status.
Is the test a one off?
No, staff will need to retake the test once a year for the dealership to retain its SAF-approved status.