Full service, AFIP Certified F&I consulting for dealers.
Customized solutions, tailored to the needs and goals of our dealers: the right products, dealer-owned reinsurance, compliance, and training for the F&I professionals on the front lines.
- AFIP CertifiedAssociation of Finance & Insurance Professionals
- Presidents Club Platinum AgencyWarranty Solutions, an Amynta Group company
- Number one in the countryWarranty Solutions agent, 2015 and 2016
- Since 1995Founded by Nick D’Amico, Atlanta
- An Amynta companyBacked by a large corporation, run as an independent agency
Solutions
Our solutions are first and foremost custom. They are comprehensive strategies, meticulously crafted after in depth discussion and analysis of each dealer's individual businesses. We design solutions and strategies with our dealer's needs and interests at their core. We take a holistic approach, focusing on all vital areas of the dealership's F&I health, areas like compliance, training, compiling the ideal product mix, the optimum way to present and sell the products along with the dealer's overall financial goals. We employ tools and strategies to meet short term income, long term financial planning and estate planning goals.
Protection products
Products your F&I office sells, and your customers keep coming back for.
Dealer profit and compliance
Own the underwriting profit, stay out of court, and see the numbers every month.
Fourteen programs, one account plan. Every product we place comes with training on how to sell it and monitoring on how it performs.
The AAG Advantage
Our commitment to the Financial Services business has made us the number one Directors Club Platinum Agency Partner for The Amynta Group's Warranty Solutions Programs.
Many industry changes the past few years have caused us to focus our efforts on how we can help our dealers navigate grow their businesses, reach their goals and navigate today’s challenges.
Today’s auto dealers are feeling pressure from many areas. Shrinkage in franchise dealers, scores of dealerships becoming publicly traded corporate assets, pricing pressure, increasingly sophisticated consumers demanding transparency and of course the ominous reach of the CFPB and so much more.
A New Business Plan for Your Growth
Our Goal is to offer our dealers an alternative to the choices of F&I support providers that are limited in ability to bring a complete approach to dealers. To Partner with our dealers with turnkey solutions that improve the results of the customer experience in F&I and to address the many challenges facing todays automobile dealers.
Our Account Development Plan
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Products
- We will select the products that provide the greatest long term benefit to the dealership and arrange menu and training around those products. This selection will be completed based on dealer participation, risk reduction benefits to dealer and customer retention.
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Pay Plan
- We will assist dealer in creating a matrix pay plan that rewards the proper behavior and achieves realistic PVR and penetration goals of the dealership. The payout objective should be a goal of 18%.
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Selling Practices
- We will assist dealer in instituting the proper selling practices to ensure F&I department operates as a standalone profit center held accountable to same standards as other departments of the dealership. Policies will be established as to who determines where deals are placed, what lender is used, rates and payments quoted. A structured process for proper rate discussion will be created by using the average rate used by the dealership the previous 30 days.
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T.O. to F&I Department
- We will implement a proper method of 100% T.O. of deals regardless of lien holder or form of payment. Customer Interview process must me instituted. When does customer go into F&I, after the interview, or after the input of deal? The issue of how these process are done are completed are flexible with our program.
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F&I Presentation
Proper transition to the menu will be taught based on the personality type determined from the interview. Use of a menu to present will be utilized with proper explanation that will allow the customer to pick one before going on with value selling. Other selling and objection handling techniques will include:
- Use of ala - Carte Menu.
- Use of sales tools in Menu to show value, use of final menu to show payment chosen, use of accept decline form as standard practice showing final payment. Keeping notes on log on common objections from customer to use for training.
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CIT
- We will assist dealer in creating a CIT tracking process and deciding who is responsible for tracking and what reports are available to determine status.
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Compliance
- Discuss with dealer the various compliance pieces and who will be responsible for overseeing them. Assist dealer in the selection of proper process and programs available. To include the following and more: Unfair & deceptive trade practices, OFAC, Red Flags, Safeguards, Graham Liech Bliley and Adverse Action letters.
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Compliance Reviews
- These reviews will be held monthly and will include; but, are not limited to Manual Deal Reviews, Red Flag Training and Process Development, OFAC review and Training, Safe Guard assessment and training. All findings will be discussed as well with any additional managers at their request.
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Reporting and Monitoring
- Work with dealer to determine the methods that will allow us to oversee progress. Visits from ADR to be at least monthly in store, and remote with phone calls or emails in between. Recap submitted to dealer and or GM, copied to Nick to be added to BCM on all visits and communication. Basic information to be reported to dealer will also include progress toward goals, and areas seen needing improvement, as well as suggestions made to obtain improvement.
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Ongoing Training & Development in Store
We will determine monthly our sales training focus for the month to share in your stores. Such training will include:
- Service department walk through, to determine why cars are in the shop
- Building evidence manual to use in presentations to overcome objections
- Review of log on common objections to brainstorm on ways to overcome objections
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Month End Round Table meetings
Create monthly meetings to review numbers, share best practices that are used from successful people and identify areas that need improvement. We will also find solutions for the “biggest challenges” that were faced that month. Quarterly visits with the Wells Fargo credit team during these meetings will ensure that dealership is fully benefiting from all of Wells Fargo’s programs.
Leadership team
Dealers work directly with the people below. Every one of them came up through the retail side.
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Nick D'Amico
President
ndamico@automotiveassurance.com
Nick D'Amico's career in the Automotive Industry began in 1976 when he became a salesman for a Miami Ford dealership. He quickly showed ability in Finance, accepting a position of Finance Manager at a Nissan dealership, part of a six-dealership chain. He continued to rise through the ranks of the chain, becoming Vice President of Sales & Finance, and in 1989 he transferred to Atlanta, Georgia, to take over a franchise for that group. During his 14 years with the chain, D'Amico completed a two-year program in Automotive Management offered by GM University at Northwestern University in Chicago and Oglethorpe in Atlanta. By 1992, Nick was instrumental in helping the dealerships increase profits from the Finance and Insurance protection programs. He became a consultant, offering his services to other dealerships. Nick saw a need for expanded training and revenue development for dealership Finance departments and started Automotive Assurance Group in 1995. Nick D'Amico specializes in setting up reinsurance companies as separate businesses for auto dealers to own and control their own insurance company on the business they write through their stores. These offshore reinsurance companies provide underwriting profit and investment income opportunities with preferential tax treatment for the dealership owners. Nick believes strongly in giving his dealers the opportunity to own their own reinsurance company and strives to make it easy for them to understand, while always looking out for their best interest. As an AFIP Certified F&I professional, Nick and the Automotive Assurance Group team represent a number of leading insurance provider programs. Under his leadership Automotive Assurance Group has been responsible for selling over 250,000 policies and grossing over $280 million in revenue. In addition, Nick has helped establish numerous reinsurance companies with preferential tax treatment for dealers resulting in net profits for his clients in excess of $80 million.
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Ashley Coots
VP of Sales
acoots@automotiveassurance.com
Ashley Coots served as a Marine, from 1994-1998. His career in the car business began in 1999 in sales at Legacy Auto Group in South Georgia. He quickly learned the business and was promoted several times from Sales to Internet manager, to New Car Manager at Ford and Toyota for Legacy. Ashley moved into the Finance & Insurance department and was soon promoted to Finance Director of the operation. He enjoyed the Finance Department and saw how the two departments could work better together. Ashley took an opportunity with Don Jackson to manage both the Finance Department & the Sales Department, where he excelled, until leaving the retail side to join with Zurich as a F&I specialist. After joining Zurich, he exceeded his territory goals and was offered the position of Property & Casualty Consultant for Zurich. He acquired all the insurance licenses to be a P&C agent for Dealer Business Insurance. Ashley was given the Presidents Club award in 2011 with a ranking of 11th out of 166 agents with the company. Ashley joined Automotive Assurance Group in 2012 after recognizing the versatility of the offerings he could bring to the table for clients. As Vice President of Sales for Automotive Assurance Group, Ashley has been responsible for direct account management for a large book of business from Atlanta, the Carolina's and Florida. Ashley is well liked by his clients for his no-nonsense approach to getting things done. He is a hard worker with integrity and is focused on doing the best he can for his clients.
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Christine Tyrrell
VP of Operations
ctyrrell@automotiveassurance.com
Christine Tyrrell began her career with Automotive Assurance Group in 2007. As Vice President of Operations, she manages the full range of financial, administrative, sales, and operational duties for the Company. As a Reinsurance expert, Christine oversees the formation and setup of dealer client Reinsurance Companies along with their ongoing performance and profitability management. In 2014 she oversaw the expansion of Automotive Assurance Group into Northeast Florida by opening our Ponte Vedra Beach office. In 2015, Christine was appointed to and began serving on both the Advisory Councils and Reinsurance Steering Committees for several top industry provider partners. In 2017, she led the acquisition efforts of Automotive Assurance Group to AmTrust Financial, a Fortune 500 Company. This strategic move granted AAG the opportunity to come to market with the backing of a large corporation while continuing to operate as an independent agency. With over 17 years of experience in the automotive industry, Christine understands the challenges that dealers face and has a proven track record of helping our clients overcome these challenges to achieve greater success. She is dedicated to delivering exceptional service while driving growth through F&I for automotive dealers nationwide.
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Marshall Daniels
Regional Director of Dealer Services
mdaniels@automotiveassurance.com
Marshall Daniels graduated with a degree in accounting from Old Dominion University. He began his career in the automotive space, spending seven years working for the Southern Automotive Group in Hampton Roads where he started as a salesperson and worked his way up to Finance Director. As F&I Director he was recognized multiple times for being the auto group's top performer and led his store to top finance performance for the group. In 2021, Marshall transitioned to the consulting side of the automotive space and joined another small F&I Agency, The Providence Group. Marshall quickly adjusted in his new role, earning the trust of his dealer clients and helped them to increase their F&I performance through implementing proper products, training and development. When Automotive Assurance Group completed the Asset Purchase of The Providence Group in early 2024, Marshall was retained by the Company and promoted to Regional Director of Dealer Services.
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Sam Rainey
Business Development Manager
srainey@automotiveassurance.com
Sam Rainey is a graduate from UAB with a degree in Finance. He started his career in the automotive industry over 25 years ago with retail experience from both the auto and recreational side. He has worked various positions in retail, from Finance to General Manager roles. Throughout his tenure in retail, Sam has been recognized with various awards including the Honda Presidential Award, Honda Best of the Best, Top 50 Dealer Award winner at RVDA and more. Sam is NCMGM/Executive Owner Certified, Spader TMW Certified and has also served on dealer councils for Winnebago, RVTrader.com, and Tiffin Vanleigh. In early 2022, Sam joined the team at Automotive Assurance Group as a Business Development Manager. Sam prides himself on helping dealers improve their processes and streamline efficiencies, as well as working on income development and training.
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Jessica Smith
Compliance Manager
jsmith@automotiveassurance.com
Jessica Smith's career in automotive began in 2000. She's held various positions during her time in retail, including sales, office manager, and parts supervisor. She also held a position at Georgia Automobile Dealer Association as personal assistant to the Director, as well as Southeast Toyota performing production forecasting and analytics. Jessica Smith joined Automotive Assurance Group in 2021. As Compliance Manager, she specializes in overseeing the adherence to laws and regulations in the F&I office by performing monthly and/or quarterly deal review audits for our dealer clients. Jessica also is responsible for auditing blanket programs at dealers utilizing Lifetime and or 3/3 Limited Warranty, ensuring all qualifying vehicles have issued contracts. Jessica is certified by the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals (AFIP), which demonstrates her commitment to ethical and professional standards in the industry.
About Automotive Assurance Group
Automotive Assurance Group is a full service, AFIP Certified, Finance and Insurance consulting firm that specializes in offering dealerships the latest in F&I training, individualized attention, along with suitable F&I products in order to assist business growth and increase profits.
We have Partnered with the best of the best providers, representing such companies as The Amynta Group and their Warranty Solutions Programs and others. We have earned the title of Directors Club Platinum Agency and hold the number one position in the country with Warranty Solutions, an Amynta Group company.
The majority of our time and efforts at Automotive Assurance Group are spent developing our existing clientele. Using business analysis and strategies with products and services that best suit an individual dealership's needs, as not all approaches work for all dealerships.
Automotive Assurance Group is comprised of a highly experienced team of employees with years of expertise in creating wealth building programs, such as Participation and Reinsurance Equity programs.
Talk to AAG
Tell us about your dealership and we will show you what a complete F&I approach looks like for your stores.
- Phone
- 770-578-9500
- Office
- 236 Canal Blvd Unit 1
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 - Follow
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