The Complete Guide to Automotive Reinsurance for Dealerships

Dealer reinsurance has become one of the most powerful long-term wealth-building tools available to automotive dealers, yet it remains one of the least understood. While many dealers participate in reinsurance programs through their F&I product providers, few have full visibility into how those programs are structured, what fees are being charged, and how much profit is actually being retained versus absorbed by third parties. Automotive reinsurance is not simply about deferring income or participating in underwriting profit. It is about control, transparency, and the ability to make informed decisions that materially impact dealership profitability over time. What Dealer Reinsurance Is and Why Dealers Use It Dealer reinsurance allows a dealership to participate in the underwriting profits generated by F&I products such as vehicle service contracts, limited warranties, and ancillary protection products. Rather than allowing all underwriting profit to remain with an administrat...

The landscape of automotive finance and insurance has evolved far beyond simple product markups. For modern dealership owners, the most significant driver of long-term financial stability and wealth creation is a properly structured automotive reinsurance program. At its core, dealer reinsurance allows a dealership to form its own insurance company to insure the F&I products sold at the retail level. Rather than allowing a third-party carrier to retain the underwriting profits and investment income, the dealer captures these funds, creating a powerful engine for capital accumulation. However, the effectiveness of this engine depends entirely on the program's structural integrity and transparency. While many dealers view reinsurance as a standard industry practice, there is a profound difference between basic profit-sharing arrangements and sophisticated automotive reinsurance models. Profit-sharing programs often leave the dealer with limited control and a smaller slice of the ...

When auto dealers search for the best reinsurance companies, they are usually doing so with intent. Either they are exploring dealer reinsurance for the first time as their F&I volume grows, or they are questioning whether their current program is truly delivering the profitability, transparency, and long-term value they were promised. In many cases, dealers are already participating in reinsurance but lack a clear understanding of how their structure works or how performance is actually measured. Dealer reinsurance is not a product and it is not a shortcut to higher income. It is a financial strategy that allows dealers to participate in underwriting profit, retain risk in a controlled manner, and build long-term wealth when structured correctly. Choosing among the best automotive reinsurance companies requires education, transparency, and comparison, not marketing claims. Dealers increasingly turn to advisory firms like Elite FI Partners that focus on education and structure rath...

The finance office has traditionally been measured by one primary metric: Profit Per Vehicle Retailed (PVR) . For decades, PVR has been the "North Star" for F&I managers and dealer principals alike. It’s the number that dominates the morning meetings, dictates the month-end bonuses, and serves as the ultimate yardstick for departmental success. However, after 25 years in this industry, I’ve seen a recurring pattern: dealerships that focus only on the immediate PVR often find themselves on a treadmill of high turnover, inconsistent performance, and missed financial opportunities. If you are only looking at the cash that hits your financial statement at the end of the month, you are looking at a snapshot when you should be looking at a feature film. At Elite FI Partners , we challenge our partners to shift their perspective. It’s time to move beyond the "monthly grind" and start viewing the F&I department as a powerful engine for long-term wealth constructio...