Introduction

At Nova Direct, solid advice provided in plain English and good customer service are at the heart of what we do. Our Breakdown Customer Service Charter aims to set out the standard of service that you can expect from us and to provide you with full advice on the relevant processes that you can expect to encounter in the event that you need to rely on our services.

Our Service

We will always treat you with respect, courtesy, empathy and fairness. In return we request that the same courtesy is afforded to our Breakdown Call Centre agents.

We will always look to provide you with all applicable information, advice and guidance. Whilst our staff are motivated, friendly, well trained and knowledgeable; they are not infallible and so we do request your patience as we endeavour to assist you. Our staff will always attempt to answer your queries in full and will attempt to resolve your issues immediately wherever possible.

Our staff always aim to answer all telephone calls as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, unexpected delays can occur during peak times. We kindly request your patience and as our call centres are open 24/7, an agent will be with you as soon as they are available.

We pride ourselves on providing up to date information in a clear and available manner. We will always ensure that we provide full professional support in order to meet your needs. We welcome all feedback including compliments, suggestions and complaints in order that we can improve our service to you. To provide us with this information, please email us at customer.service@nova-direct.com

Your Policy

Please note that you have an Insurance Breakdown policy with us. This is not a service offering but instead is an FCA regulated insurance policy. The policy itself is governed in accordance with the policy wording, which you warranted to have read at the time of your policy purchase. If you require a copy of your policy wording, please contact your broker to request this.

Our Claims Process

Validation

Every claim submitted to us begins with a Policy Validation process. This process is required in order for us to ensure that your policy is live and valid. Every policy sold includes a 72 hour waiting period in which you cannot make a claim.

Our products are often sold through intermediaries. These intermediaries are required to provide us with details of policies sold within 24 hours of sale. Occasionally there are delays which can mean that we are unable to validate that your policy is on cover. In the event that we are unable to validate your policy, we may require that you pay to us a £100 deposit. In the event that we validate your policy at a later date we will refund this deposit in full.

We will validate your policy by checking your postcode, your address, full name and vehicle registration number. If you have your policy number this will greatly assist us in tracing your policy record.

Once your policy has been validated, the claims process can begin.

Insurance Claim

Your policy is an insurance policy and as such is governed by an insurance claims process. This process will firstly assess whether your vehicle has broken down, and secondly whether the circumstances of your breakdown are covered in accordance with your policy terms.

If it is determined that your policy does not apply, we will always email to you a formal insurance claims rejection letter which explains why and under which policy terms your claim has been rejected.

In the event of a claims rejection, we will always offer you a recovery service, however this service will be provided at your own cost. In the event that you opt for this service offering, we will endeavour to provide this service to you at our discounted contractor rates wherever possible.

Dispatch

If it is deemed that your policy will respond, your call will be transferred to a dispatch agent. The agent may ask you to re-provide and confirm your details to ensure that the recovery agent is provided with accurate information of your whereabouts and the difficulty that you are currently experiencing.

In order that our agent can get to you quickly and accurately, you must provide us with your exact location including postal code. If you do not know this, you can find it quickly using Google Maps. Our agents will attempt to help locate you as best as possible, but they are reliant on the information which you provide them.

Please note that our agents are unable to dispatch a recovery without your exact location and intended destination.

Levels of Cover

There are 4 types of insurance cover offered depending on the policy type that you have selected. These are:

• Roadside Assistance
• Local Recovery to a Garage within a 25 mile radius
• National Recovery to your Home
• European Cover

Your policy only covers 1 call out per unique fault and as such if your policy can respond, we will always begin the process by offering you 2 options. These options are either Roadside Assistance or a Recovery. Please note that Roadside Assistance is typically an engineer in a van with tools. Whilst the engineer can assist with the repair of your vehicle, they cannot recover your vehicle. Likewise, a recovery agent can tow your vehicle but cannot repair it.

Please note that our call agents are not engineers and so cannot make appropriate decisions regarding which service to provide to you. This does ultimately mean that if you select Roadside Assistance and the agent is unable to fix your car, and if you call us back and request recovery, you will be charged for the second call out in order that we can recover your vehicle.

During office hours, only local recovery to a local garage will apply. Office hours are defined as 7am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, 7am to 4pm on Sunday. Please note that we cannot nominate a garage for you. You must choose and supply the address for your chosen garage in order that recovery can occur. Only if your breakdown occurs out of hours will national recovery be applicable.

If you have Gold cover and suffer a breakdown in Europe, please note that your policy will primarily only provide Roadside Assistance and Local Recovery to a garage within a 25 mile radius. If all other options have been exhausted only then will repatriation be considered. Please note that if your vehicle can be economically repaired in accordance with the market value of the vehicle, repatriation will not apply.

We are not responsible for the cost of repairing your vehicle, nor are we responsible for the time it takes to repair your vehicle. You must be able to fund the cost of your repairs yourself. Please note that once your vehicle has been dropped off at your chosen garage our obligations under your policy will cease to apply.

Recovery Service

We have a wide network of national recovery agents who can provide you with breakdown services. Our breakdown agents will always attempt to get to your vehicle as a matter of urgency. The typical time for arrival is between 60 and 90 minutes. During this period we encourage you to remain with your vehicle and in a safe location. If you breakdown on a motorway, please ensure that you get out of your vehicle and wait for assistance on the grassed area off the hard shoulder.

Whilst our contractors endeavour to get to you urgently, we cannot warrant the time it will take for them to arrive with you. We would encourage you to be patient and await the arrival of the agent, who may be delayed for a variety of reasons including but not limited to; traffic jams, roadworks and other road obstructions. If you wish to check on the agents progress, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0203 745 2812 – option 1, in order to enquire.

Our Complaints Process

If you are dissatisfied with the claims service provided, we would kindly request that you email us with your complaint to complaints@nova-direct.com. We endeavour to acknowledge all new complaints within 48 hours of receipt. Once received we will investigate your complaint and provide a full and final response within a 2week period.

We publish our complaints statistics monthly. These can be found on our website: www.pexinsure.co.uk.