Home Emergency
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Personal risk will be determined at the sole discretion of our helpline. When assessing the personal risk to your health our helpline will consider your age, health history, lifestyle, personal circumstances, weather conditions and time of day. For example, an 80-year-old female without heating in the middle of the night and at the height of winter will be at a greater health risk than a 25-year-old male without heating in the middle of summer. The event itself must cause an immediate detrimental effect to your health which if left unattended will cause harm to your person.
For an event to be deemed an Emergency event it must satisfy two tests.
The first is that the event must have been a sudden and an unexpected event. For an event to deemed sudden and unexpected it must have been reported to us within 24 hours of you first noticing the fault.
The second is that the event must do one of the following:
i. Render your home unsafe or insecure,
ii. Damage or cause further damage to the structure of your home,
iii. Cause personal risk to your health.
If you satisfy these two tests, your event will be deemed an Emergency event and our policy will provide you with assistance.
Home Emergency Insurance covers your home against ‘Emergency events’.
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 48 hours for non starting issues. However for gadget and non starting issues there is a 30 day cooling off period.
The quickest, easiest and simplest way is to raise your claim online by visiting nova-direct.com/customer-service and clicking “Claims”. We ask you to raise the claim online because we will need a variety of documents to support your claim and at the same time securely take the claims excess payment.
The documentation or evidence requires does depend on the type of claim; damage, loss or theft.
(1) Check mend report within 24 hours of incident (if damaged)
(2) Report my loss within 24 hours of incident (if lost)
(3) Proof of usage from your network provider
(4) Repair estimate from a repair centre
(5) Proof of blacklisting (if stolen)
(6) Images of damaged device
In all claims circumstances we will require (1) Purchase invoice for the device (2) Details of any financed used to purchase the Gadget (3) Proof of usage in your name. 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. You are also required to settle any outstanding Premium Finance prior to your claim proceeding.
All claims are unique and dealt with on an individual basis based on its own merits. The time frames are dependent on many factors which include; the time it takes for us to receive all required documentation, the time taken to settle any outstanding finance and the time taken to provide a repair estimate. Once a settlement is accepted, payment will occur within 14 days of acceptance.
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 a few reasons that you are not covered. Below is a list why you may not be covered for home emergencies
- Toilet not flushing
- If your boiler has not been serviced within the last 12 months and there is no certificate
- You have lost the keys to the doors within your house
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.
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. We do charge a small fee of £4.99 for postal documents. Please use our live chat or callback request options to request this.
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 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.
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.
We will attempt to charge the debit or credit card we have on file, however this may be unsuccessful for a number of reasons. This could include a lack of funds, new card details, blocked card or additional security is required. Contact, either in the form of SMS, email or phone, will be attempted to discuss the renewal and obtain new card details. If this is not possible then your policy will lapse and cover will cease from the date noted on your Policy Schedule.
Emergency cover is when your family or home is at risk due to the certain circumstances. This could be because of :
- If you have a boiler that is about to breakdown and may burst
- If your plumbing is blocked or you have a burst pipe or a leak
- If your main electrical supply has gone due to sudden electrical failure
- Home security , if you are locked out of your house and there is no spare key
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, and receive a refund of the premium paid. This does not mean you can exit the contract without any charges being applied. Please see the Fees & Charges Guide for full details. Regardless of time on cover there is an administration fee for cancellation. Full details of our cancellation fees can be found in our Terms of Business.
Boiler Breakdown usually covers the repairs and/or replacement of a home boiler following a partial or complete breakdown of your primary heating system. Our Home Emergency policy does not include Boiler Breakdown cover but instead provides temporary emergency relief to personal risk created within your household following the complete loss of your primary heating system.
If you have bought our Home Emergency Platinum Cover, it is a requirement that your boiler has been serviced within the last 12 months for cover to apply. We will service your Boiler upon renewal of your existing cover providing it is paid on an annual basis. If you are paying on a monthly basis and you cancel your policy mid-term we reserve the right to charge £100.00 for the boiler service benefit. Please note that the Boiler service benefit is an unregulated term of the policy.
Your policy is an automatically renewing policy. This means that the contract continues until the cancellation process is followed. You can opt out of your auto renewal online. Once the process is followed your policy will not renew and any renewal monies will not be deducted from you.
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.
The assistance provided under our Home Emergency policy is limited to a temporary fix. The purpose of the policy itself is to alleviate further distress or damage caused by the event itself. For example, if you have a leaking pipe the engineer will stop the water flow. If a permanent fix is possible at the same cost of a temporary repair, our engineers may provide the permanent fix at no further cost to yourself. However, this is not a right under the policy and will be at the sole discretion of the attending engineer.
In order to lodge a claim for assistance with your primary heating system the following must first apply:
i. Your heating system must have been serviced within the last 12 months and a certificate of service must be available,
ii. Your heating system must not be older than 15 years old,
iii. Your heating system must have undergone a complete failure.
Your Home Emergency Insurance policy only covers 1 heating failure per policy term.
The key situations where your insurance claim maybe denied are as follows:
i. Claims within the first 30 days of your policy commencing,
ii. Claims for events which are not deemed emergencies,
iii. Claims for primary heating systems which have not been serviced within the last 12 months,
iv. Claims for general maintenance following wear and tear to your home.
Your home emergency policy provides cover for the following emergency events:
i. Plumbing and drainage
ii. Restoration of an electricity supply
iii. Security to your home e.g. broken fitted locks
iv. Primary heating systems
v. Inoperable toilets
vi. Damage to roofs
vii. Pest control
viii. Damage to an internal gas supply
We suggest that you thoroughly review your policy wording in order to understand which events are covered and under what circumstances.
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