“These people are the worst of the worst. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the reviews on here under hastingsdirect.co.uk
The co.uk is the wrong site to comment, and Hastings won’t take any notice of it, but the reviews on that site echo my own poor experience of them.
Obtained a good quote from them, which was dependent upon having a DriveWell Tag put into the vehicle. Whilst this was not a problem in of itself, it turned out to be a nightmare of ridiculous proportions.
After a couple of weeks checking the app, my driving score was in the low percents; which I could not understand. Despite continually checking my speed, acceleration & braking (which the app said was troublesome) it got no better.
In late March, we got a notification from Hastings, informing that the policy would be cancelled at the end of March; no warning, no opportunity to either refute or repudiate the claims, or to respond and ask for the evidence being cited. Nothing, just an ignorant silence.
After registering a complaint, we at last got some action. The lady dealing explained that one’s mobile phone registers the driving stats, through its gyro facility. She took us through the readings, and then came the KO. The app claimed that I had been using my phone whilst driving, which was an outright lie. This was why the percentages were so low, a great big hole in your numbers, if an inanimate object believed that you had been touching your phone!
I pointed out that I never do this, as it’s connected by Bluetooth, the vehicle has an inbuilt sat nav, and any music is on an iPod connected to the ICE system.
There was no right of reply, no chance to challenge any of the data, in fact no opportunity to get any form of opinion across.
Furthermore, no one could tell me what the parameters were for assessing the scores. No one could say what “hard acceleration” or “hard braking” meant. These are subjective terms, to say the least.
So, I’ve taken my business elsewhere, and I will do the same with the home insurance I have with them at the earliest opportunity.
Even murderers get their day in court, Hastings though, are quite happy to be prosecution, judge, and jury.
Avoid at all costs.”
Hello, we really appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and it’s fantastic to hear you received such a great level of service. If there’s anything else you need assistance with, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Thanks again, ~Nicole. Customer Care
Hello, we really appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and it’s fantastic to hear you received such a great level of service. If there’s anything else you need assistance with, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Thanks again, ~Nicole. Customer Care
Hello Douglas, I can appreciate the frustration the fee would cause. We do all we can to reduce this frustration by making our fees clear before you buy a policy from us, and they’re stated in the policy documents you receive in the cooling off period.. We're very sorry if this information wasn't seen. If you need any further help, please visit www.hastingsdirect.com/help. ~Theo. Customer Care
“Complete time wasters. I have a brand new bike in the showroom and Hastings that I’m already insured with won’t even quote.
The bike is cheaper and a lot less powerful yet I’ve been left without insurance.. phone multi times and all I get is “computer says no” !!!!”
Hello, I can appreciate the frustration this can cause. When we work out the price of our policies, we consider various things, including your vehicle, address, drivers and personal details. On this occasion, it seems we can’t offer cover based on a combination of the above. I'm very sorry that this is the case and I hope that you are able to find suitable cover for your bike soon. ~Theo. Customer Care
“Tried to get a quote for multi bike insurance. Met with rude, disinterested call handler who barely spoke to me. Wouldn’t clarify any questions I had. Clearly somebody who hates their job! Had to terminate the attempt at getting a quote. Will go elsewhere.”
Hello Tim, I'm very sorry to read about the poor experience you had while trying to purchase a policy with us and if you didn't get the level of customer service you deserved for the advisor. Thank you for considering us as your insurer and I hope that you have since been able to find suitable cover for your bikes. ~Theo, Customer Care
“Hit by a third party insured by Hastings vehicle failed to stop no mot stupidly allowed Hastings to get involved rather than my insurers AXA , obtained parts second hand and fitted for less than £100 Hastings had a belligerent attitude , didn't want a cheap hire car saved them in the region of £1000 been offered £70 ,insured with AXA through Saga never again customer service nil”
Hello, I'm very sorry that you had such a poor experience with us. We always aim to deliver the highest level of service to all our customers so we regret if you didn't receive this. If you’d like to discuss this, we’d be happy to talk about your claim with you. To get in touch either call 0333 321 9800 or email motorclaims@hastingsdirect.com with your claim reference in the subject line. ~Theo. Customer Care
“i got Access back to my funds with EVIDENTLTD.COM ...... If not for them i would have been dead by now with what Hastings Direct did for me and my husband, THIS IS ALL SCAM ... STAY AWAY PLEASE”
Hello, I'm very sorry to see that you've had a poor experience with us. If you need any help with your policy, please contact us at customersupport@hastingsdirect.com. We'll do all we can to help you. ~Theo, Customer Care
“Absolutely appalled at this company’s customer service and mediation. Definitely would not recommend this company. Evidently Hastings have their own definition of ‘renew’ that is substantially different from any lay persons definition. Please look elsewhere and get a customer service that wants to help the customers rather than themselves”
Hello Carl, I'm very sorry to read about the experience you've had during your policy's renewal. I can see that you had a formal complaint, with us that wasn't upheld also. If you would like to escalate this further but you are unaware of how to do so, please email us at customersupport@hastingsdirect.com. I hope that you have since been able to find suitable cover for your vehicle and thank you for having been insured with Hastings Direct. ~Theo, Customer Care
“Subject: Complaint Review: Unfair Treatment and Poor Customer Service from Hastings Direct
I am deeply disappointed with the unfair treatment and poor customer service I experienced with Hastings Direct regarding my car insurance. Despite no longer owning the car due to a fault caused by Hastings themselves, I was unfairly forced to continue paying nearly £90 a month for unusable insurance.
For seven months, I endured a frustrating back-and-forth between Hastings Direct and the financial ombudsman, with no resolution in sight. While Hastings eventually resolved the issue, the damage to my trust and satisfaction with their company is irreparable.
Throughout this ordeal, Hastings Direct displayed a lack of professionalism and empathy in their communication with me. They consistently missed deadlines and failed to provide adequate solutions, exacerbating an already stressful situation.
In conclusion, I strongly advise against using Hastings Direct for insurance services. My experience with them has been nothing short of a nightmare, characterized by incompetence and disregard for customer well-being.”
Hello Cameron, I'm very sorry to read about the poor experience you've had while insured with us or if you've not received the level of customer service that you deserved. If you have raised a formal complaint which has not been resolved to your satisfaction, the next port of call as mentioned in your review would be the Financial Ombudsman.
If there is anything that you need to discuss further on the complaint you can reach the Customer Care team on 0333 999 8904. You can also contact us at customersupport@hastingsdirect.com if you have any questions concerning your policy. ~Theo, Customer Care
“After taking out a policy and providing the anticipated mileage for the year, I was contacted by them and accused of lying about my annual mileage expectations. They had looked back over other car insurance quotes I had run in the past and because I had run a number of quotes to find the best deal they accused me of lying. When I explained I was sure of my maximum anticipated mileage and was happy to not be covered if I exceeded it they still wouldn't let it drop. Then I was accused of lying about when I bought the car. I estimated it to be in February 3 years ago but they claim to have run a credit check and know I bought it on 22nd Jan. First of all, I bought it for cash so there is no way a credit checked showed anything. And why does being 9 days out on the purchase date from 3 years ago affect this years insurance policy! After 10 minutes of being talked to like a criminal I asked to cancel the policy with immediate effect as I was so annoyed at the way I was being treated. They have now cancelled the policy are claiming on the cancellation notice that it is because I failed to provide them with details of my annual mileage. This is an outright lie! The policy was cancelled at my request. I have been charged absurd cancellations fees and feel that they never wanted my business in the first place and were looking to find a reason to cancel the policy just so they could keep the fees without providing cover, it felt like the kind of thing a scam company would do to take your cash without providing the service.”
Hello Andy, I can appreciate the frustration that can be caused by the validations process. I'm sorry that you had such a poor experience during these checks and that this led to the cancellation of your policy. Our New Business Review team pick a handful of policies at random, checking all details and updating them when necessary. This is our standard business practice and we apologise if you weren't aware of this. We need the information to make sure an insurance policy is valid, fit for purpose and that there is no chance that you are not covered in the case of an accident or claim.
If you believe that this was incorrectly handled and if you wish to raise a complaint concerning this, please visit www.hastingsdirect.com/about-us/customer-complaints or call us on 0333 999 8904. When we’ve logged your complaint, we’ll get back to you within five working days. Our regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, says we have up to eight weeks to settle your complaint, however the vast majority are resolved well within that time. You’ll find more information at www.hastingsdirect.com/help. ~Theo. Customer Care
Hello Chloe, this is really good to see. I'm glad we were able to offer you a competitive price and thank you for taking the time to share this with us. ~Theo, Customer Care
“Hastings I will never use again , car is still with their approved repairer Dentec
6 months after accident due to headlight being on back order only once I complained about timescale do I get a call back apologising and admitting faults their end but quoting the t&c's in the small print and saying nothing they can do
Should never take 6 months to repair a car that was driving but only had one headlight”
Hello Brian, I'm very sorry to see that you didn't receive the service you deserved during your claim. I can see that you do have an ongoing complaint with us and our advisor is currently discussing this with you. Please continue to discuss this with us so we can help. If you do need to call, you can reach our Customer Care team on 0333 999 8904. I hope you receive a satisfactory resolution to your complaint. ~Theo, Customer Care
Hello, I'm very sorry to see that you've had a poor experience with us. If there’s anything specific we can help you with, please let us know. You can find all the different ways to contact us at www.hastingsdirect.com/help. ~Theo. Customer Care
“Because of the customers service is really awful unprofessional rude unexperience they don't even know what they talking about iam saying this because from past 4 days iam setting at home still waiting for Hastings help but unfortunately the are unable to help out well the agent are totally useless unprofessional rude unexperience iam I got fully comprehensive insurance if iam having hard time so iam thinking about 3rd party insured well I can only say legal Thief I never had this bad experience in my entire life the way iam going through because of Hastings direct and another bad point about Hastings is I moved home just to change the address they increased £336 a year and when I asked them they that's why is work and biggest bad experience someone hit and run my park car outside of my house i provide all evidence of conclusions images CCTV videos recording and they said to me pay from your own pocket and than claim it from 3rd party's my question is if i have to do everything myself than why we need insurance some time i feel these companies think we are living in jungle not in the great Britain”
Hello Ronnie. I'm sorry to hear you weren’t happy with the service you received. We always aim to deliver the highest level of service to all our customers so we regret that you haven't experienced this. If you’d like to discuss this, we’d be happy to talk about your claim with you. To get in touch either call 0333 321 9800 or email motorclaims@hastingsdirect.com with your claim reference in the subject line. I hope that some positive progress can be made soon concerning your claim. ~Theo. Customer Care
“Don’t insure with Hastings Direct unless you want a small job to last 8 months of stress and inconvenience. You have to pay £600.up front if it’s a water leak or they won’t start the job.
They then use incompetent workmen to do the job who waste time visit after visit doing nothing except for destroying your home. You are pressured to sign a disclaimer or you are told they won’t start the job until you do.
When they then cause damage to your home they then use the disclaimer to avoid righting the damage.
To top all this off they cancel out all your 9years no claims because of this one claim. They then gave the cheek to say they can’t insure you again . As if I would use them ever again.
Last year was one of the worst years of my life all down to Hastings and Metro Rod.
Other than Clive who tried to help me customer service is none existent.
Insure yourself at your peril. I have now put my case in the hands of the ombudsman I can no longer cope with the stress.”
Hello, I'm very sorry to read about the poor experience you've had and if the level of service you've received isn't at the level you deserved. I regret that you have had to raise a complaint concerning this and I hope that you receive a satisfactory resolution to this complaint. ~Theo, Customer Care
“The premium for my car insurance policy with Hastings Direct in April last year was £315.31. My renewal invite from Hastings Direct this year is £551.55, an increase of £236.24 or 75%! There have been no changes to my situation (except my car and myself are both one year older), I have had no claims, it’s the same car, I have not moved house, ie everything is the same. I am aware that car insurance premiums have increased but a 75% increase is totally ridiculous. I immediately used an online comparison site and obtained a quote which gave me more cover and included RAC breakdown and recovery cover for a total of £351.50. My Hastings Direct policy was on auto-renewal so I deselected this option and immediately got a response wanting to know why. I explained I had a cheaper quote and was asked what it was. I told them and, surprise, surprise, they immediately said they could beat this and reduced their quote to £1 less than the new quote I had received. I find this practise deplorable. We are ‘sold’ the auto-renewal option as a benefit but there are serious issues with companies relying on customers inertia or forgetfulness resulting in policies renewing at much higher rates than can be obtained elsewhere. My house insurance is currently with Hastings Direct. Needless to say I have deselected the auto-renewal on this policy too.”
Hello. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry you’re unhappy with the price of renewing your policy. There are many reasons your policy’s price may have increased, and you can find further information here: https://www.hastingsdirect.com/renewal-prices/.
Please note that the underwriter sends the renewal quote when the time arrives. Hastings Direct's Retention team has no interaction with the renewal price until the customer contacts them to discuss the policy and the quote. This is why we ask that you contact us if the price isn't acceptable. The policyholder's authorisation is need to look into this quote and discuss the price. I'm glad that you were able to get a more competitive price for your insurance this year. ~Theo, Customer Care
“I dealt with Paresh via the phone and he was extremely helpful. I had lots of questions about different policies and logistics, which he was more than happy to help with.
His customer service and patience was probably the best I have ever received, I hope he gets the recognition he deserves for his fantastic work with me and help renewing my policy.”
“Put my premium up by £73 to £522 even though I haven’t made a claim found a cheaper deal at £388 with a different provider., offering key protection and more cover on different policy points.
I received an email saying payment would be taken from my credit card.
I tried to stop the renewal on the app all it would say was to phone. This is not the first time I’ve had problems with the app. I tried 3 times to phone eventually got through after 31 minutes. In total what with fiddling about in the app and phone calls it took over two hours to stop the renewal. When I took out the policy I was told I would be able to cancel the next automatic payment on the app. This is not the case.”
Hello, I'm sorry that we were unable to offer you a more competitive renewal price this year. There are many reasons your policy’s price may have increased, and you can find further information here: https://www.hastingsdirect.com/renewal-prices/.
You can read about automatic renewal in your terms and conditions – you’ll also find it mentioned in your renewal documents, along with the steps you can take to stop automatically renewing. Please note that these documents would show that the auto-renewal can be removed at any point during the 1st months of the policy. I'm sorry if this information wasn't seen. I am sorry you struggled to reach the call centre quickly to discuss this and I hope that you have since been able to get suitable cover for your vehicle. ~Theo, Customer Care
