“Hastings Direct was the provider of my buildings insurance. I found them through Gocompare. I took out a policy with them with a premium of £295.03 per annum. After 12 months without any awareness or consent from me they began deducting £211.74 per month from my account. It transpired that they had sent an email with no warning in its title and with the detail buried deep below that my premium was to rise to £2541.37 per annum. I have not made any claims on my house insurance in the 8 years we have lived here and cannot think of any reason for this exorbitant increase. My main complaint is that this all happened without my awareness. I have received no refund or apology for the deduction of 3 months of £211.73 from my account. I'm lucky to have a friend who is a Managing Director at AON. He explained that Hastings Direct has a poor reputation in the business and that I should take the matter up with the UK Financial Ombudsman. I suggest you avoid.”
Hello. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry you’re unhappy with our service. To make a complaint, go to www.hastingsdirect.com/about-us/customer-complaints or call us on 0333 321 9801. 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. You’ll find more information at www.hastingsdirect.com/help. Thanks again ~ Jodie, Customer Care
Hi there,
Thanks for your 5-star review!
We are so pleased to hear that you find us to be a good company.
Thanks for taking the time to leave us your review. ~ Tamera Dambrauskas.
“We have had a multi car policy with Hastings for the last two years, our renewal is due 1st Jan had a quote last night rang up to pay in full this morning (£920), which was a £300+ increase on last year, to be told that there has been a system error on our policy and they can’t insure us anymore. We have been on the telephone to them on and off for 2.5 hours this morning with no plausible explanation as to what the problem is, just to be told with less than 24 hours left on our policy to go elsewhere. To add insult to injury even though we paid in full Dec 2023 they now want to charge us £46 for cancelling the policy which they cancelled not us. If I could give 0 stars I would. I am sorry to say their customer service staff tried their best but do come across as polite but clueless.”
Hello. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received. We always aim to deliver the highest level of service to all our customers, so if you’d like us to look into this for you, please call 0333 321 9801 or 0333 321 9790. Alternatively, send us a direct message on X (formerly Twitter) @HastingsDirect or on Facebook. You can also find more ways to contact us at www.hastingsdirect.com/help. Thanks again ~ Jodie, Customer Care
“If minus stars were possible, I'd be adjusting my answer!
I have the home insurance premium which includes home emergency cover. The leak initially started the size of a coin and is now 4 ft in diameter! They've sent 3 plumbers who have made my home go bad to hell! Plus when I phone I'm bounced from the emergency team to the buildings and contents team which are two different companies and do not coordinate or work together at all! It's a living nightmare. I still have a leaking ceiling, which has even started to cause me to have panic attacks. Avoid them at all costs!”
Hello Jade. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry to hear you weren’t happy with our service. We always aim to deliver the highest level of service to all our customers. If you’d like to discuss this, we’d be happy to talk about your claim with you. To get in touch please call the Home Emergency line on 0800 633 5088. Thanks again ~ Cat, Customer Care
“سلام من دو سال سابقه بیمه با کمپانی هاستینگز دارم با ماشین تویوتا سی اچ آر خانوادگی و حالا میخواهم این بیمه و سابقه را برای استفاده از ماشین ون استفاده کنم آیا این ممکن است؟ و درخواست دوم من در مورد قیمت هست که قیمت مناسب مثل همین دو سال برای ون در نظر بگیرید .ممنونم”
“I had a renewal quotation then I asked to contact me before start date of renewal to confirm that then I was surprised they cancelled the quotation and I called many times but they didn't give me the quotation which I had.”
Hello. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry you’re unhappy with our price for renewing your policy. Just so you know, the price we offer is based on the current details on the policy. We’re happy to look into this for you in case changes need to be made.
If you’d like us to help you further, please call our Renewals team on 0333 321 9790. Thanks again ~ Beth, Customer Care
“I’ve been a customer for 9 years and after receiving a renewal quote of over £200 increase I called and asked for my policy to be cancelled. A 30 minute phone call resulted in the customer service advisor laughing at me when I suggested that my policy was being increased to pay for other people having accidents! He was so rude that I honestly switched off from the rest of the conversation. Now I’m being charged £20 to cancel my policy when I never agreed for it to be auto renewed in the first place. Shocking! Customer services are less than helpful and the rudest company I’ve ever spoken to. I would never recommend this company to anyone and will be contacting the likes of Martin Lewis to bring attention to the shocking way in which they deal with customers!”
Hello and thanks for letting us know about this. If you contacted us before the renewal date to cancel your policy, we need to see evidence of this. Please send it to customersupport@hastingsdirect.com and we’ll then look into this issue for you. Thanks again ~ Beth, Customer Care
“Called this morning to cancel my car insurance as the renewal price was going to go up ALOT! Got through to a lovely gentleman called ash on the phone in the morning, But as my boyfriend is better at dealing with stuff like this I was promised I'd get a call back in the evening when I had my boyfriend here to go through it with me.Ash called back bang on time and helped us massively with getting a better price than anywhere else was offering and was a pleasure to talk to on the phone.So after all I ended up staying with Hastings and would like to say a big thankyou to ash for being such a big help.🙂”
Hi Ionie,
Thanks for your 5-star review!
We're so pleased that Ash delivered exceptional customer service, its amazing to hear. I've passed on your lovely feedback to Ash and his manager so he can be recognised for his service to you.
Thanks for taking the time to send us your review. ~ Tamera Dambrauskas, Customer Care.
Hello. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry you’re unhappy. 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. Thanks again ~ Cat, Customer Care
“So I went with Hastings in Oct 22 without a problem. I always go to a compare site before renewing my insurance. I got a much better deal on line so cancelled my DD before my renewal date. Sometime later I read my emails from Hastings and I admit I don't always read my emails on a daily basis anyway they emailed to say that they had auto renewal at a cost of £700 from £365. Why would I possibly want to renew with them at that cost? They emailed to say my DD had been cancelled (well what would that say except "oh maybe she doesn't want to renew with us otherwise it would still be open"?)
Then I start to see emails saying I had to pay £20 which I emailed back and told them I did not give them permission to renew my policy in the first place so what was I paying that for, which they said but we told you we would auto renew and I replied with the fact that I cancelled my DD should tell you I'm not staying with you! Then they emailed saying that I now owe them £135! again I sent the same reply but by now I was getting really upset over this as I felt I was being harassed by them so as my partner was also on my policy he said he would ring them but he was just getting the same story about the fact that they automatically renew your policy. This has been going on for sometime now and after my partner rang last week and was told that they would ring him back, but that call never came. So he rang back today and they said they would ring me this morning, but that call never came either. This is such a terrible company, most people would nowadays go to a comparison site as you know that the company your with will put a few hundred pounds on top of last year's cost which is so wrong when your details haven't changed and you haven't made a claim so why do they increase it? I absolutely refuse to pay any money to them for nothing. I feel they are ripping people off and making thousands of pounds in the process.
All the years I have driving and this is the first time I have ever known a company to charge you for not renewing your policy. That is absolutely disgraceful.
Never going with Hastings again.”
Hello. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re really sorry we didn’t call you back in response to the fee. If you’d still like our help, please send us a direct message on X (formerly Twitter) @HastingsDirect or Facebook. You can find other ways to contact us at www.hastingsdirect.com/help. Thanks again ~ Cat, Customer Care
“The battle of Hastings
Well we're do I start,both my partner and I have been with Hastings for over 9yrs,and can't express enough ,to how bad they've handled our complaint.Like everybody else's policy going up,so did ours £300 ridiculous, my partner has breast cancer and is under treatment,unfortunately she forgot to cancel the insurance as it went up,so while on a mini break to take her mind off matters ,we received email stating it wasn't cancelled and had to pay£20 administration fee,which I would have gladly paid,but as there were no facilities to pay this,couldn't do it as she didn't activate her Hastings app.As this has now esculated to a dept collector now,I have been trying to sort it out,being told they would get back to me,as all conversations are recorded,I have categorised the name ,date and time,I am now going to take them to court for none compliance,and as the waiting time for a complaint response is 8wks,yet they have handed the case to a dept collector,see you in court guys,.”
Hello Steve. Thanks for letting us know about this – and we’re sorry you’re unhappy with the length of time it takes to deal with your complaint. The Financial Conduct Authority (our regulator) says we can take up to eight weeks to do this, and we ensure all complaints are dealt with before then so it might have been an oversight that resulted in your complaint being logged incorrectly. Please call our Complaints team on 0333 999 8904 as they can rectify this and ensure the fee is removed if due to those circumstances. Thanks again ~ Cat, Customer Care
“Just had my renewal quote and it has increased from £318 to £611. Nothing has changed in my circumstances no accidents. No claims. and the car is the same car. I do 6500 miles a year. Are they serious. Nearly a 100% increase. This is truly outrageous behaviour. Not justifiable in any shape or form. This is a complete confidence trick by a so called REPUTABLE company. In my view they have become totally disreputable. Hastings. It’s disgraceful”
Hello David, we’re sorry you’re unhappy with your renewal price. There are lots of factors that can affect your renewal price, including the cost of claims. All insurance companies are facing rising claims costs, and this is causing motor insurance prices to go up across the country. For more details about our renewal pricing, please go to www.hastingsdirect.com/renewal-prices.
In addition, the price we offer is based on the current policy details. We’re always happy to check the quote details, make sure you’ve got the right level of cover and give you an updated price. If you wish to discuss your renewal quotation, please contact our renewals team on 0333 321 9790 and they will be able to assist. ~Thanks Aadam
“I tried to renew my home and contents insurance with Hastings Direct. I missed the renewal deadline by 12 hours. The agent told me that I had to do a new policy. She told me to go on a compare site to get quotes. I called back in an hour and another agent told me the same. So I did, the compare comparison web site introduced me to other companies that were £££’s cheaper than Hastings Direct. Thank you for the good service, however I am unsure how the Hastings Direct agents win any commission.”
Hi Russell,
I am very sorry to read about your poor experience with. Thanks for taking the time to send us your review. ~ Tamera Dambrauskas, Customer Care.
Hi there, I am sorry to hear this. If there is anything we can improve on to make your experience better or further assist you, please visit https://www.hastingsdirect.com/help/. ~Thanks Aadam
“I took a car insurance policy, policy required mobile app install and connect/pair device to send driving data. I drove car one day while I receive their device and next day was snow and car battery did go down. When I received device in a week or so I wasn't driving, trying to follow up on battery replacement with warranty and forgot to pair the device. Hasting direct cancelled my policy and worst when I called, not a happy experience at all. Now insurance prices so high for me becasue I have to declare them my policy is cancelled. Hasting Direct has made me a fraud while seating in living room doing nothing....what a shame and I will have to declare this cancellation lifetime, OMG I feel like killing myself”
Hello. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry you’re unhappy your policy was cancelled. I hope this reply finds you well, and please let us know if you are struggling with mental health as there are a few charities we can suggest. In regards to the cancellation, we cancel a policy when a term or condition for your insurance hasn’t been met. You should have received an email from us that explained why we were cancelling your policy and included the date we’d cancel it from. We apologise if you didn’t get this email. If you think your policy was cancelled incorrectly, please call our YouDrive team on 0333 999 8911. Thanks again ~ Cat, Customer Care
“I am not insured by Hastings Direct, but a car Driven by a Woman insured by then ran into the back of my car at 50mph, injuring my Son. I have had letters from Copart to my address, with the Woman's name on them (an obvious Data Breach), and several conversations regarding the low offers they have made for my car which they want to write off, each time I end up being upset and feeling like a victim again. They have little compassion and poor empathy, all I want is a car similar in condition to the one their Client wrote off.”
Hello Chris. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry to hear you weren’t happy with our service. We always aim to deliver the highest level of service to all our customers. 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. Thanks again ~ Cat, Customer Care
“PLEASE READ THIS AND PLEASE LISTEN
I went with hasting you drive(black box ) for my daughter
Unfortunately she had a crash of no fault of her own and the car took a long time to be fixed so she wasn’t using it . I replied to emails that didn’t state you couldn’t reply to ( so no one read them apparently) explaining she wasn’t using the car as they wanted to no why it wasn’t alerting them and
I had many convos with them about the crash and told them when she got the car back from being fixed she was shaken up and wasn’t driving so I assumed all was ok
I have had her insurance cancelled by then they won’t reinstate it and have not been at all helpful this has had CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES for my poor child I’m devostated for her and now it’s around 7:8 thousand pound with a specialist insurer with a crash and a cancellation. If I can help one person not go through this heart ache Iv achieved something do not please do not insure with them on you drive
Discusting”
Hello Susan. Thanks for letting us know about this and we’re sorry you’re unhappy your policy was cancelled. We cancel a policy when a term or condition for the insurance hasn’t been met. You should have received an email from us that explained why we were cancelling your policy and included the date we’d cancel it from, and there are also all our contact methods stated within. We apologise if we didn't get any emails from your daughter. If you think your policy was cancelled incorrectly or want to discuss this further, please call our YouDrive team on 0333 999 8911. Thanks again ~ Cat, Customer Care
Hi Jaroslav,
Thanks for your 5-star review!
We’re pleased that you enjoy our service, we do appreciate your kind words.
Thanks for taking the time to send us your review. ~ Tamera Dambrauskas, Customer Care.
Hello, I am really sorry to hear this. So that we can assist, we need to speak with you to learn more about your issue. Please call us on 0333 321 9801 or you can find other ways to contact us at www.hastingsdirect.com/help.- Thanks Aadam
