Nova Direct Breakdown cover ripp off

kurasw

really poor customer service, cheap policy but a rip-off. Waiting time up to 4 hrs, when complained they charged me £100 and sent it straight to debt collectors. Really nasty company. AVOID unless you don't mind being ripped off. Their policy's wording is confusing. If you are in an emergency forget it, pay a bit more, and get a decent policy

The complaint process is flawed, and does not follow good practice, instead, they pass it to debt collectors.
My complaint is with the Ombudsman but Nova still passed my invoice to the debt recovery agency.

I copied the below review of the customers with similar experience:
-"This company is a scam. DO NOT PURCHASE! They lie and do not honour their own policy wording. I was left stranded away from home. My policy stated national recovery. They would only allow a 7 mile recovery to a CLOSED garage. Disgraceful customer service."
-"SCAMMERS This company operates with another company called PEX insurance. Both are a scam. I had to wait for 20min to be answered. I was told the claim was rejected. All I needed was the car to be checked into a garage as advised by BMW. The person was very rude and unprofessional. Refused to help. It looks like people are getting scammed. PLEASE DONT buy from them, please check trust pilot under PEX insurance. DONT WASTE your energy. GROUPON should stop these sellers"

kurasw

any similar experiences with Nova?

Hencapel

Three years ago I I took out breakdown cover with Nova Direct. After two terrible experiences with Nova recovery and their customer service,(being left stranded once and being refused recovery once) I cancelled my automatic renewal.
Depite getting an email comfirming this, on the renewal date last year, they took my money. After failing to get any sense from Nova, I contacted my bank who recovered the money for me and blacklisted Nova on my account..
Last week I received three emails from them to say they were going to take my renewal fee. I did nothing as I knew they couldn’t. I then received two phone calls and a text message asking me for my new card details so they could renew my cover.
Not only is their breakdown cover appalling they totally ignore their own systewms in order to try to sell insurance cover.
AVOID THEM AT ALL COST.

ClementR

DO NOT USE Nova Direct for European Recovery! It is a scam. Our car broke down on a French motorway (one tire puncture). They never answered the phone and they refused to reimburse the cost of French Motorway recovery.

We called the "Emergency" number on their policy document, no answer after 1 hour and 10 min in 35 degrees heat with my pregnant wife and 2 kids by the motorway.
The next day, after sorting out recovery and changing the tyres ourselves, Direct Nova refused to reimburse the £220 cost of recovery.

They say it's because we didn't notify them of travel dates... DESPITE BOOKING SPECIFIC DAYS ON THE POLICY 10 days before the breakdown.

Adyspade

Whatever you do, don't purchase breakdown cover through this company.  I broke down woth a blow out, as well as engine problems near to the highest point of the M62 westbound.  When I got through to the call handling centre (apparently a separate entity to Nova breakdown insurance, but operate from the same building) I was met with a call operator whose sole objective was to use the traumatic situation that I was in, with my wife and 10 year old daughter, on a windswept hill, absolutely freezing, with lorries howling by, to extract extra costs (£40.00 to send a mechanic out and replace the wheel) or £140.00 if I wanted a tow truck, as he had determined that my car had gone into 'limp mode' and therefore my full cover, was made void under those circumstances! I ended up paying a breakdown guy which was patrolling that section of the motorway, as he was accustomed to do, a £120.00 fee to take my car away.  In my 35 years of driving, I've never experienced a breakdown company like this one.  When you try to complain, it is impossible to speak to a human being to voice your complaint. Steer well clear of this shocking company!

RooJF

kurasw said:

any similar experiences with Nova?

100%! Avoid them at all costs. If you are going to use them, make sure you read the terms and condition VERY carefully, as they will do everything in their power to avoid coming to your assistance. They are complete scam artists and they know exactly what they are doing. I would encourage everybody who has been denied a claim to forward their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. The chap handling our complaint admitted that the 'limp mode' issue has been brought to the attention of the Financial Ombudsman before. And yet they have failed to act. 

Mr_Blonde

kurasw said:

any similar experiences with Nova?

This week,
Car had a coolant leak lots of smoke from bonnet pulled over imidiatly.
Call The breakdown line as we had Gold Cover.
Asked if the car could be put in first and reverse. Which I said yes thinking that would help with the low loader receovery. Informed that the car was NOT imobile therefore not eligable for recovery! So I couldn't drive it 10 meters due to the steam coming out of the bonnet plus I didn't want to damage the engine. But told again it's not eligable as the car was not imobile.
 They contributed £50 towards the recovery which was a couple of hundred but thats proving hard to recoup.
Please do not use this company it really is a scam.