Horizons March 2009

HORIZONS e-NEWSLETTER
Volume 2, Number 2
Member Issue

Latest update of news and items of importance to members of the Automotive Warranty & Service Contract Association (AWSCA).

ATTORNEY GENERAL MULTISTATE UPDATE!!

As you know, the Attorney General Multi-State investigation of the first 5 automotive warranty companies has been completed. Companies affected received consent orders containing required terms and conditions. Your association’s attorney identified the following items that were covered:

Use of the terms “warranty,” “factory warranty” or “extended warranty.”

  • Affirmatively disclose that you are not affiliated with a dealer, the manufacturer or the warranty administrator and that you are not selling an extended motor vehicle warranty.
  • Disclosing all material terms in solicitations and during marketing contacts with consumers.
  • Obtaining driver/vehicle information directly/indirectly from state motor vehicle departments.
  • Offering the consumer a right to review the service contract before they buy it and at least 10 days to cancel without any penalty after receiving the written contract.

More information may be available during the next member meeting – conference call. Please sign up – see next page. Also, if you have any direct or specific input, please contact Helen MacMurray, the AWSCA attorney, as soon as possible.

AWSCA TRAINING

Certified Audit Training will take place on Thursday, March 5, 2009. Training will cover the following:
Marketing Laws, Legal requirements including UDAP, Fax laws, registration statutes, Do Not Call requirements, Privacy Policies & Disclosures, Outbound Telemarketing and much more. A few seats remain. Registration fee for members is $695 for members and $1195 for non-AWSCA members. $500 of the training registration fee may be applied toward the cost of Certification when you submit your company’s application for Certification prior to May 1, 2009. To sign up, go to: Thu, Mar 5, 2009 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM CST

MEMBERSHIP MEETING

The next quarterly meeting of AWSCA will be held via conference call on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 10 AM Central (11 AM Eastern, 8 AM Pacific). Agenda, so far: (1) Inform members re: Multistate and impact on industry (2) Discuss association’s role in negotiations with AGs (3) How should it be funded? If you wish to participate, please send an e-mail to larry@vpanet.org. He’ll make sure there are enough “seats” and use that e-mail address to send you the call-in and log-in information. Please participate; there are no additional fees or costs to do so.

Best Practices for AWSCA

The AWSCA Best Practices are now called: the AWSCA CODE OF CONDUCT. While they have been re-drafted, the Board of AWSCA has decided to delay distribution until the results from the Attorney General Multistate investigation can be analyzed and incorporated, where appropriate, in the document. We apologize for the delay, but we want to make certain that the final version is the most valuable to AWSCA members.

AWSCA Membership

Take this opportunity to encourage your colleague and business associates to join AWSCA. Attached is the AWSCA membership application. They’ll want to be dues paying members so they can include their opinions on one or more of the committees and vote for recommendations to the Board. Equally important, while today everyone in the industry is receiving the communications and our "open-door policy", that door has closed, and ONLY MEMBERS will be receiving news and important updates. So, please join very soon so no one misses out.

Other items

If you have any suggestions for newsletter items or any other recommendation, please send me an e-mail at any time. I'll appreciate it.
Larry Hecker, Executive Director, AWSCA, Phone: 302 524 1150, e-mail: larry@vpanet.org