Pet insurance with Nova

ellymoo

I bought the above a week or so ago. It said that included a 24 hour vet helpline. I've just tried to get the phone number and have been told it's an optional extra which they aren't offering at the moment because they're changing suppliers. I said, but when I bought this policy it wasn't an optional extra - it was part of what you were offering. They said it was an optional extra and now I can't add it. But I was never given an option to add anything in the first place.

I tried to requote through Moneysupermarket as I thought I as going barmy, but Nova don't appear at all in the insurer lists. I have tried doing a quote direct with Nova, and they say they can't insure my dog - despite me answering all the questions in exactly the same way that I did when I took out the policy! I've checked my insurance certificate so I know I have done it correctly.

They are now "looking into this" apparently.

Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know what is going on?
Thank you. 

ellymoo

I have an update to this. It turns out that the policy is "non advised" and I should have read the documents which said that I could add this on as an extra. However when I tried to do this I was told that I couldn't!

Now they are saying that this was sold as a "non advised policy". But they sold the policy via Moneysupermarket as a policy which included the vet helpline - never saying that it could be added on as an extra (not that it is possible to do that anyway). I am going to cancel it and ask for a refund of the monies paid thusfar but surely this is fraud? I have just done another quote and found that they are offered (at £999 a month!) with vet helpline as an option.

DullGreyGuy

Almost all consumer general insurance is sold on a non-advised basis which does mean its up to the customer to decide if a policy meets there demands and needs rather than the seller to say policy A will be better for you than policy B because XYZ. 

Advised or not they do have to correctly state what is included or not included, else how can you judge if it does meet your needs/demands. Having gone through the process then yes MoneySupermarket is still showing it has a 24hr advice line. If you click through on the £9,999 premium it gets you to go through the Qs again and down the side are links to the policy terms, IPID and Demands & Needs. You have to declare you have read and accept these before buying. 

The IPID states the advice line is an optional extra, along with some other things, and as you say there is no way to select to add these (or not) at present on their site. The policy wording is silent on any advice line. 


Your main issue with any complaint is the fact the documents were available before purchasing and you clicked to say you read them. They will get some wrap for the wrong information on Money Supermarket but the £9,999 price currently being shown suggests problems have been identified and they are making themselves unattractive in the interim until things are fixed. 

ellymoo

Thanks for your reply. That makes sense as I couldn't figure out why they were charging so much all of a sudden! I will report it anyway because they are still selling it as including vet calls, and not telling you that you can't add it on afterwards as they claim you can when you get the policy document. It didn't occur to me that everything I was checking as I went along should also be checked on the policy documents because - well, I was checking it as I was going along. I will find a better policy and then cancel.