Motor insurance specialist ASA Insurance has completed its initial launch in Northern Ireland with more than 80 dealers joining the scheme.

The AXA-underwritten policy provides a dealership-based 'quote engine' that allows showroom staff to offer immediate insurance cover at the point of sale.

Dealer can earn, on average, more than £300 commission on each ASA policy, which allows customers to fix the cost of their insurance cover for up to three years.

ASA has announced the second stage of its NVQ training initiative. The programme is designed to ensure ASA staff deliver an efficient service to dealers.

SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan, who attended the launch, said: “I am delighted to support an initiative where a company which only provides dealer-based products is taking the development of their young people so seriously.

“This major push for staff to attain external qualifications and encouraging them to look to the motor trade for a long-term career is an attitude that I would like to see replicated in other companies.

“Customers are ever more demanding and we now have to produce complete motoring solutions – to do so, staff must be better trained than ever.”