Breakdown Cover
Frequently Asked Questions
If you purchased either Basic, Bronze XS, Silver XS or Gold XS cover, these products will carry an excess payable of £30.00. Please check your policy wording, or contact a member of the customer service team if you are unsure. If you purchase Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum cover packages you will not pay an excess.
No, we don’t cover the cost to repair your tyre, this is stated under our breakdown policy. We will however send someone out to assist you to change your tyre if you are unable to do it yourself.
Nova Direct will not be liable for the repairs of your vehicle. Your policy does not cover the cost of parts or labour to repair your vehicle. However, Nova – Direct will cover the cost to get your vehicle to the nearest garage or for roadside assistance.
Our Breakdown Insurance Policy is a ‘best efforts’ type policy. This means that we are unable to warrant for recovery times. Recovery times are dependent on weather and traffic conditions. We typically estimate that our estimated time of arrival at the scene of your breakdown will be between 60-90 minutes. Our typical stats are 42% of customers are recovered within an hour of incident, 70% of customers are recovered within an hour and a half of Breakdown, 5% of customers are recovered over 3 hours post Breakdown. Unlike other providers who give unrealistic promises with regards to arrival times, we prefer to be upfront with our customers in order to manage expectations. These recovery times are unfortunately industry standard.
There is a 30 day cooling off period following the start of your policy, during which you cannot make a breakdown claim for a battery issue or electrical fault to your vehicle. You can only claim after the 30 days and if your car is immobile.
There is a 72 hours cooling off period following the start of your policy during which you cannot make a breakdown claim. Once the 72 hour cooling off period is over, you may only claim once for the same symptom within a 28 day cycle.
The product you have purchased is a non-advised product. This means that all the information was presented to you online, including the policy wording and the terms and conditions, which you opted into upon payment.
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Section 3B(1)(d) provides ‘the general principle that consumers should take responsibility for their decisions’. Section 3C(2)(e) notes the general principle that those providing regulated financial services should be expected to provide consumers with a level of care that is appropriate having regard to the degree of risk involved in relation to the investment or other transaction and the capabilities of the consumers in question.
At Nova Direct we attempt to be as upfront with our customer base as possible and aim to provide all policy information upon purchase with the detail clarified on our website under our FAQs. We feel that this adequately provides all our customers with the information they need to appropriately decide whether our products are fit for your purposes. It is on that basis that our typical approach is, ignorance of our policy wording or terms of business are not valid defence against being held accountable by them.
Please note that you have bought a non-advised insurance product. This means that the policy terms and conditions were available at the time of purchase and you were required to read the terms and agree to them at the time of policy purchase. By accepting these, and our terms of business, you have consented to be bound and be held accountable by both. There is a general legal principle called Caveat Emptor, which means that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made. Ignorance of the policy terms post purchase is not a valid defence to a claims denial, nor is it a valid defence against being bound by our Terms of Business.
As soon as you’ve completed the payment process you’re covered. Depending on the insurance package you take out, you have 7 – 15 days to email us your documents, if you do not email the documents your insurance will not be valid. For breakdown insurance you can claim after 72 hours for non starting issues. However for gadget and non starting issues there is a 30 day cooling off period.
To make a claim you can either call in on 020 3745 8216 or send us an email to customer.service@nova-direct.com
We pretty much need any outstanding docs required for cover – your serial number as an example if you haven’t provided that yet. But if you’ve lost your phone or its been stolen you’ll need proof of blacklisting.
If you damaged your device and our suppliers do not have a suitable replacement device in stock, you will need to provide two (2) repair quotes.
The claim payout will take approximately 2 weeks once we have received all the appropriate documents.
If your claim has been denied, there may be a few reasons. Make sure you have sent us all documents required within the first week of signing up. Make sure you are always on the right side of your policy. Remember to always carry a spare tyre. Remember you cannot claim for the same symptom within 28 days. We’ll let you know why your claim was denied, if this is the case. But most of the time its something we can help you resolve.
In order to protect your new Gadget you will need to declare and validate your new item with us.
There may be many reasons you are not covered. Below is a list of reasons why you may not be covered:
- You may not get breakdown assistance if the fault is due to your negligence, for example hitting a speed bump at a fast pace
- If you have already claimed for the same symptom within a 28 day cycle
- If you do not have the correct registration numbers corresponding with your vehicle and our systems
- If you have not updated your details with your broker prior to having a breakdown
- Acts of Vandalism
- Road Traffic Accidents
- Misfuelling your vehicle
- Where your vehicle is not completely immobile
- If you do not have a replacement tyre or wheel lock nut
You may change your policy or amend your details at any time, please note that there is an amendment fee of £4.99. You can request an amendment online, called a Mid Term Adjustment, by visiting the Change Your Details page.
You have two options when you breakdown, you may either have roadside assistance or be towed to the nearest garage.
If your vehicle can not be fixed roadside and you call in again, you then will be claiming for the same symptom within a 28 day cycle. We will not just leave you stranded, we would be happy to arrange for your vehicle to be towed to the nearest garage, but this will be treated as a private job rather than an insurance claim and an additional payment maybe required from you.
In order to treat our customers fairly we apply the terms of our policy wording and terms of business strictly to the letter irrespective of personal circumstances, to ensure a uniform service to all our customers. This does mean that on occasion a premium difference may occur on new policies, or your claim may be denied during a claims process. In these instances we will endeavour to explain the reasons and will provide full details of this in a full and detailed written correspondence. Whilst we appreciate that this may leave you frustrated, our staff are only doing their jobs and therefore deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Customers who take their anger out on our staff by using unacceptable language, threats and other such unacceptable behaviour may find their policies being cancelled off without further notice and no refunds of premiums paid being made.
There is a few instances where you will pay extra
- If you have taken out Bronze Excess, Silver Excess or Gold Excess cover there is an excess due
- If you claim for the same symptom within 28 days and we assist you and arrange breakdown tow truck on your behalf it will be a cost of £100
- Renewal of your policy once the 12 month period is up
Yes, as a Nova – Direct Client you can receive a copy of your policy wording / Schedule on request. Please email customer.service@nova-direct.com with your request.
Your excess will not be refunded if you cancel the claim as the job would have already been dispatched.
Please note that you have bought a non-advised insurance product. This means that the policy terms and conditions were available at the time of purchase and you were required to read the terms and agree to them at the time of policy purchase. By accepting these, and our terms of business, you have consented to be bound and be held accountable by both. There is a general legal principle called Caveat Emptor, which means that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made. Ignorance of the policy terms post purchase is not a valid defence to a claims denial, nor is it a valid defence against being bound by our Terms of Business.
A private job may be done when you have already used your roadside assistance and then need recovery. We would call on your behalf for a tow truck to recover you to the nearest garage at a cost of £100
According to the policy wording we must tow vehicles to a local garage however, we may tow your vehicle if applicable due to certain reasons such as garages being closed to your home. If you are covered for home assistance, you then can be assisted for roadside or recovery from your home.
The policy wording states that you need to exhaust your local recovery before you get national recovery however, if local recovery is not possible at the breakdown scene then we may recover your vehicle nationally.
No, once the vehicle reaches the garage, we have fulfilled our obligation of getting you assistance. However if you are covered for onward travel, you then can use this policy to either use bus, train or courtesy car for up to £50 per day up to two days.
As we would not be liable for any damages done at any recommended garages by our agents / We would not be held liable for towing you to any incorrect garages/unknown buildings. We can not guarantee that one garage is better than another and therefore we do not want to advise you incorrectly.
Any parts required to fix your vehicle, labor done or vehicle storage would be to the clients expense.
A broker is the party which has sold the policy to you. The broker is the party that places your risk with an insurer. They act as the intermediary between yourself and the insurer. Your brokers number should be stated in your policy schedule.
Your Broker is the party from which you purchased your policy. The name and contact numbers for your broker can be found on the original mail sent to you with your policy documentation.
Refund requests can be sent to claims@pexinsure.com. Please ensure that you provide as much information as possible regarding the reason for your refund request as well as any supporting documentation.
Your insurance product is an emergency based product, it is not a service based product. This means that the intention of the product is to provide assistance in the unlikely event that your vehicle breaks down. If a pre-existing fault is known to exist on your vehicle, under the teams of your insurance policy you are obligated to have it repaired. Failure to do so will invalidate any future claims. Subsequent call outs for the same fault are classified as knowledge of an existing fault which have not been suitably repaired.
The refund process is started as soon as your refund request has been accepted. We do have to follow internal procedures which include verifying your identity as well as banking details. For this reason, a refund can take up to 4 weeks.
In the majority of situations dashboard lights serve as a warning that something maybe wrong with your vehicle. They provide a warning that you should take your car to an authorised dealer for inspection. However, in the majority of situations the cause of the warning light illuminating is usually either a light fault or a sensory fault. Should a dashboard light come on, but your vehicle remains driveable, our standard advise is to drive your vehicle to an approved dealer for inspection. Unless your vehicle has been rendered completely immobile due to a mechanical or electrical failure, our policy will not provide assistance.
Our Breakdown Insurance Policy is designed to assist with unlikely and unforeseen circumstances. This means that if your vehicle is already broken down and you require immediate assistance our Insurance Policy will not be able to assist you. In order to restrict parties purchasing our Insurance Policy and lodging immediate claims, our Policy includes a no-claim within the first 72 hours post Policy inception clause.
No. When the engine or transmission control unit of your vehicle recognises a serious fault from the engine or transmission, many modern cars will force the vehicle into a ‘limp mode’. The aim of limp mode is to reduce the power output of the vehicle and limit the RPMs of the engine. Doing so enables your car to be driven to a garage without causing further damage to the engine. In order for our Breakdown Policy to apply your vehicle must be rendered completely immobile. Because vehicles in Limp Mode are still driveable, our Breakdown Policy will not recover your vehicle or offer forms of roadside assistance whilst the vehicle remains moveable.
We aim to get to all policy holders as quickly as possible, though do consider circumstances when responding to breakdowns.
Our cancellation fees are detailed within our Terms of Business, which you confirmed that you had ‘read, understood and accepted’ at the time you completed your insurance application process with us online. These terms have been opted into and as per your acceptance, you have confirmed that you understood that ‘Ignorance of these terms post payment will not be deemed a valid defence against being held accountable by them’.
The 14 day cooling off period allows you to exit your contract of insurance, which is an annual contract. It does not provide that you can exist the contract without any charges being applied. This means that if you request a cancellation within 14 days we will initiate one but a pro-rota charge will be made for your time on cover and our cancellation fees, which are administrative fees, will still apply irrespective of time on cover. These charges are detailed within our Terms of Business and our Fees & Charge guide.
There appears to be a myth that the 14 days cancellation period does not invoke any fees at all and that customers are entitled to an automatic full refund. This is incorrect. Under the FCA’s Insurance Codes of Business Sourcebook (ICOBS), rule 7.2.2, we are entitled to charge you for the services that you have used regardless of your time with us. Our cancellation fee cover our resource costs, advertising costs and the cost of our pre-acceptance searches. Full details of our cancellation fees can be found in our Terms of Business.
Your policy is an automatically renewing policy. This means that the contract continues until the cancellation process is followed. In order to cancel your policy a £4.99 fee is payable and you can opt out of auto renewal online. Once the process is followed your policy will be cancelled and the renewal monies will not be deducted from you. We detail this during your quotation and is mentioned prior to policy purchase under the “Key Terms & Conditions” in the “Renewal Process” section.
No. Your policy is an Insurance Policy. This means that it has terms and conditions which must be met in order for your claim to be deemed valid. Your policy is not a Service Contract, such as the RAC or AA, which guarantees you a right to an automatic recovery.
Your Breakdown policy covers either assistance or recovery.
Policies with assistance cover provide either Roadside Assistance or Home Assistance. This is where a man in a van with tools attends your location and attempts to fix your vehicle. This is only possible on basic faults such as a locked steering wheel, flat batteries and other minor issues. Major faults such as snapped clutch cables cannot be repaired roadside and will need recovery to a garage.
In terms of recovery, in office hours (between 8am and 4pm), recovery to a local garage will be the primary method of recovery. Outside of hours (between 4pm and 8am), national recovery to a home address maybe permitted. In hours customers must be recovered to a local garage, outside of hours customers can opt for national recovery to your home address.
Your policy only affords you one call out per unique Breakdown. Customers will be given the choice between assistance or recovery. If assistance is unsuccessful the service van will be unable to tow your vehicle. A second claim will then be required to deploy a towing vehicle. As this will incur a second claims cost, and your policy only allows for one call out per each unique fault, your insurance policy would not cover this second claim and you would be required to fund this callout yourself.
Our basic advice is, if in doubt opt for recovery to a garage.
Nova Direct is a trading name of Policy Excess Insure Ltd. We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm no. 836031. Our FCA registration can be checked at https://register.fca.org.uk. Nova Direct is an authorised insurance intermediary, or broker, who places insurance risks with a panel of insurers.
Nova Premium Finance Ltd are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm no. 716933. Nova Premium Finance’s FCA registration can be checked at https://register.fca.org.uk. Nova Premium Finance Ltd are an authorised credit lender who charge interest on monies lent. Their typical interest rate can range between 11% and 15% depending on your risk and credit score. Nova Direct and Nova Premium Finance are not the same company but do operate under a linked arrangement.
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