About: Kane Barker


Recent Posts by Kane Barker

Apr 28

The Direct Marketing Brief: Only 44% of Eligible Vehicles Have Coverage and How to Find Volume and Keep It in a Mostly Uncovered Market

Issue No. 4 | April 28, 2026 Intelligence for direct marketers in insurance, home services, warranty, and protection. This Week: The Coverage Gap THE NUMBER: 44% Only 44% of eligible U.S. vehicles carry VSC coverage, per Colonnade Advisors’ March 2026 whitepaper. Set against approximately 296.5 million passenger vehicles on U.S. roads, roughly 70% of which […]

Apr 28

The Dealership Brief: 55% of Buyers Leave Without VSC Coverage and Why That Is a Remarketing Opportunity, Not a Closed Door

Issue No. 4 | April 28, 2026 Intelligence for F&I agents, administrators, and dealership finance professionals. THE VEHICLE MARKET NUMBER: 45% Only 45% of new car buyers purchase a VSC at the point of sale, per NADA industry data cited in Colonnade Advisors’ March 2026 whitepaper. At an average selling price of $48,205 and a […]

Apr 27

The DTC VSC Market in 2026: Why the Fastest-Growing F&I Channel Is Just Getting Started

The DTC VSC industry is no longer an emerging channel. It has reached a level of scale and maturity that is attracting institutional attention. Colonnade Advisors, an independent investment bank focused on financial and business services, published a March 2026 whitepaper confirming what marketers are already seeing in their numbers: DTC VSC is the fastest-growing […]

Apr 21

The Weekly Curve: Warranty Repair Severity Has Compounded at 7% Since 2018 and Most Pricing Models Have Not

Issue No. 3 | April 21, 2026 For warranty administrators who manage loss ratios, reinsurance, and contract performance. This Week: The Compounding Repair Cost Base THE CURVE Service and parts sales per warranty repair order at franchised dealerships have grown from $343 in 2018 to $551 in 2025. That is a 60% increase over seven […]

Apr 21

The Direct Marketing Brief: A Record 27% of Trade-Ins Are $10,000 Underwater and Why the Used Vehicle Buyer Is Your Next Acquisition Cohort

Issue No. 3 | April 21, 2026 Intelligence for direct marketers in insurance, home services, warranty, and protection. This Week: The Affordability Handoff THE NUMBER: 27% A record 27% of underwater trade-ins now carry $10,000 or more in negative equity, per Edmunds Q4 2025. That is an all-time high. The average underwater balance sits at […]

Apr 21

The Dealership Brief: 114 Cars Per Salesperson, $48K Average Transactions, and Why F&I Margin for Error Has Never Been Smaller

Issue No. 3 | April 21, 2026 Intelligence for F&I agents, administrators, and dealership finance professionals. THE VEHICLE MARKET NUMBER: 114 Average new-vehicle retail sales per new-vehicle salesperson hit 114 in 2025, the highest mark in an eight-year window and up from 102 in 2022 (NADA Data 2025). Dealerships are moving roughly 12% more cars […]

Apr 20

The Agency of the Future: F&I’s Next Five Years Are Twenty-Five Years of Change

The agency of the future is not a distant concept. Joel Kansanback, in his keynote at the Agent Summit on April 15th, was direct. The next five years in F&I will compress twenty-five years of change. That is not a trend call. It is an operating reality. The agents, administrators, and dealers who adjust to […]

Apr 14

The Dealership Brief: Fewer Deals on the Front End, Higher Claims Exposure on the Back, and the Oil Shock F&I Problem

Issue No. 2 | April 14, 2026 Intelligence for F&I agents, administrators, and dealership finance professionals. THE NUMBER: +$0.20-$0.40 Average U.S. gas prices have increased roughly $0.20–$0.40 per gallon following the Iran conflict, as oil markets reacted immediately to supply risk. For dealers, that shows up quickly in the vehicle purchase decision. As fuel costs […]

Apr 14

The Direct Marketing Brief: Rising Mortgage Rates Are Compressing Your Q2 Lead Pool and the Audience Shift You Need to Make Now

Issue No. 2 | April 14, 2026 Intelligence for direct marketers in insurance, home services, warranty, and protection. This Week: Inflation Pressure On Demand THE NUMBER: 0.25-0.35 Mortgage rates climbed 0.25–0.35 percentage points through April 1 — pressured by inflation concerns, energy shocks, and broader market volatility following the Iran conflict. For DTC home warranty […]

Apr 14

The Weekly Curve: One Oil Shock, Three Warranty Cost Curves, and a Reserve Timing Problem

Issue No. 2 | April 14, 2026 For warranty administrators who manage loss ratios, reinsurance, and contract performance. This Week: RISING CLAIM COSTS THE CLAIMS COST SIGNAL The oil shock from Iran isn’t hitting one claims category — it’s hitting three at once. On vehicles, as energy and transport costs move higher, the downstream effect […]


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