Hastings DirectReviews 56

Probably the worst customer service I've experienced in over FIFTY years. This is a hands-off sort-it-out-yourself more-fool-you-for buying our SmartMiles product outfit You think you're covered when buying from HastingsDirect? You are! But woe-betide-you if you make a claim. My claim was settled. However my car - following repairs - was unroadworthy for SEVEN MONTHS following repairs. Niether Hastings Direct, its handlers Vizion not the auto-repair shop wanted to know. The courts are now the best and most enjoyable route for me to follow now.

On giving instructions for renewal It was established that as son was now owner of the property the policy could not be renewed, so they cancelled the policy with three weeks still running. For the cancellation, they issued a charge of £35 and have now threatened me with debt collectors. It is pure robbery to charge me for their own action, it was their decision to cancel not mine and I was left without cover on my contents for three weeks, no duty of care whatsoever.

Gave details of claim out to 3rd party with no permission and then want to charge for dealing with claim MD made what should have been a simple claim a nightmare do not use buyer beware m

Firstly Hastings auto renewed my car insurance 5 days early, putting it up nearly £80 then said they would charge me £12.50 for speaking to customer services, after all this I rang them again not only to be put on hold for 18 minutes, I hung up and tried again this time I was cut off after speaking with someone for 6 minutes so I went with Sheila's Wheels and saved over £100... Glad I moved now!

Waiting for claims for the past I think 11 months to be paid, we did already 5 complaints and nothing, we put this case to court and we are waiting for a reply, they don't contact us regarding the situation and my mental health and anxiety keeps raising.
We contact the ombudsman and he's fallowing the situation.
This insurer is a scammer they're running from their obligations. Got a car for repair for 11 months they don't say anything, so all that time with no car.

Absolutely disgusting and fraudulent service, paid online for car insurance only to be told after I have paid "sorry something has gone wrong but your payment has gone through please call us! Called them only to be cut off after waiting 10 mins with the message " we are closed now" so now I have to wait until the morning to call them again and can't use my car. Absolutely disgusted with these cowboys.

Shocking lack of service. Numerous errors and cockups yet still chasing. Non existent customer service

Make your own minds up about this but...
I was a customer of Hastings but their renewal price was high, so I used TWO comparison sites. After entering all my details I was refused cover by ALL companies on both sites. When I asked Hastings if I'd been blocked from shopping around the operator denied this, stumbled on his words and quoted me another high price to stay with them.
Guess what, after this conversation I had dozens of companies sending me their quotes via the comparison sites!
I have no other explanation, the insurance companies won't explain either.

If you don't want to find out someone has made a claim against you and Hastings Insurance has paid the amount without telling you and you don't become aware of this until it's time to renew your insurance, if, even though you claim the so called damage to the claimant's car could not possibly have been caused by your vehicle but they seem unwilling to support your claim, or take into account your submitted evidence. If you don't mind that they only send out an assessor to check for any ‘tell tale' damage to your vehicle after seven months and that his comment was that a minute mark on my rear bumper was not consistent with the damage allegedly made to the claimant's car, if you don't mind them telling you they are going to uphold their decision and not try to reclaim the amount they so readily paid because they don't have enough proof, then this is the company for you!

Blackmailers!
My son is insured with Hastings "brickwall" direct.
He pays for car insurance by direct debit as young driver insurance is inexplicably high.
How does any insurance company know me or my driving history etc at first? But I'm 54 so my quote is £300 a year but my sons is £4100! Utterly ridiculous. Anyway...
He was involved in an accident that was not his fault. His car was smashed into by a big van and it rammed him into another car.
HD agreed completely that he was in the clear and he would receive a payout for the written off car.
He got the call this week assuring him that he would have the money Friday or following Monday with which he plans to buy the new car he is looking at today, Saturday.
HD then called to say, unless
He puts a new car on to his insurance, they will take the rest of the years monthly dd premiums from the total of his payout.
This works out at £2859. 45 and his payout is £3000. 00.
So, his custom to HD, his trust in them to look after him in the event of an accident, which as Ive said and HD agreed was not his fault,... has now ended up with him possibly getting the princely sum of £150!
We have both been on the phone with different people at HD who just don't even try to listen or help in any way whatsoever!
They say its purely because he has paid by dd. He is 20 yrs old which means, highly unfairly, that his insurance is extremely expensive. There is no way he can pay a year up front so he is immediately forced down the dd route.
I've tried to reason with them all but they just can't understand that it's a blackmail technique that they are using.
Do something or we take your money!
They say its in the t's & c's so that's it! Like I said, brickwall.
I asked all 3 I spoke to what their mobile phone contract says is the international call rate as that is in their t's and c's and guess what? None of them knew. As I said, no-one spends all day reading all the small print, especially younger people, and that is exactly where HD explain this little blackmail trap they foist on the young drivers.
I looked on their website at the faq section about making a claim. Guess what? No explanation of this blackmail trap anywhere! Well they wouldn't have customer if they did explain it!
No one at HD was even prepared to even try and sort out some kind of arrangement to help him out.
He needs the money from the payout to buy this new car which HD are insisting he has put on the insurance so that they dont take his money!?!?
I know, stupid isn't it?
Anyway, a complaint has been lodged which I already know will be ignored "because its in the t's & c's!"
My advice, don't use Hastings Direct for anything ever. They are not there to help you, they just take your money.
Awful company.
Look out for the HD reply to this as well because you will see no offer of resolution from HD.
This is going on to as many public forums as I can get it on to hopefully make others aware of young driver dd blackmail trap.
Well done Hastings Direct. A lot of possible customers now lost as I will be advising many family, friends etc to steer clear of you!

Edit... and as I said, look out for HD reply... well there it is in the picture!
Told you there wouldn't be a resolution!
My son, whilst being extremely stressed out, still injured, in severe pain, has had to find a car, beg and borrow £3000 to buy it, I've been driving around for him and with him most of the weekend and HD then glibly say "you've completed a change of vehicle so you'll get paid!"

Zero about the complaint about their blackmailing young drivers!

All they've said is "That's that, stuff you!"
How sad.

I urge all of you to tell all your family and friends not to buy any service whatsoever fro. Hastings direct.

Rant over, for now.

Hastings Direct I feel that I have received absolutely awful customer service from Hastings.

I have never had an accident before, and we all hope that we will never have to use our car insurers, but that if we ever do it will be a simple process (words used by Hastings themselves when I called)... that is what we pay for after all.

Unfortunately I had an accident in May and the process was anything but simple, thanks to the failings of Hastings. To start off with my number was taken down incorrectly by the call handler (despite re-confirming the correct number) and I was left waiting by the roadside for over 6 hours. There was no where around for me to walk to get a drink/food or any toilets within walking distance. I waited so long for help that I actually ended up in a humiliating situation (I don't want to share exactly what due to privacy, but Hastings are aware of what happened).

I had no communication from Hastings several days after my car was towed away. The assessment centre I was advised to call said they didn't know where my vehicle was and advised me to call Hastings for an update. On ringing Hastings I was informed by their call handler that the RAC recovery team were turned away by "two men" already recovering my vehicle. The Hastings call handler did not recognise the name of the company I gave for these "two men" who came to collect my vehicle. I had to give her the number from the paperwork they gave me and she had to put me on hold to ring them to find out who they were, and where my car was! Leaving me thinking that my car was stolen! I also gave this call handler my correct number and complained to her about my number still being wrong on Hastings system. Yet it still wasn't updated.

Hastings have been awful from start to finish. I even gave my correct contact number to the person dealing with my complaint, yet it was still wrong on Hastings system. I didn't realise this until I received an email weeks later, asking why I hadn't responded to the valuation offer. I rang to update my number and later that day I received the texts that I should have received on the day of the accident. Bringing back the awful memory. My accident was on the 22nd of May and I received the texts on the 15th of June!

I have been contacted daily by Hastings to ask why I haven't accepted the valuation offer for my vehicle, despite me ringing to explain I was waiting for my complaint to be reviewed first and sending several emails to explain the same thing, with no response from Hastings whatsoever, just the same call every single day asking if I had received the valuation offer.

The person dealing with my complaint even replied to say that I had given the wrong number to the call handler, however the number they said I gave incorrectly IS my correct number!

The last email I received from Hastings was from the person dealing with my complaint, who assured me that the added information I gave would be looked into. I discovered when ringing to chase this up after hearing nothing, that Hastings had closed my complaint without telling me and without reaching a conclusion. I even rang Hastings and spoke to someone to tell them why I wasn't accepting the valuation offer and they didn't tell me that my complaint had been closed either. The communication has been terrible between Hastings themselves and Hastings to myself.

I requested that Hastings absorb the remaining costs of my policy (which doesn't even equate to £208) due to their continued failings with my case, as I will not get a vehicle within the 30 day period they allow, but I have been informed that they cannot do this.

I would avoid in the future! Worst customer service I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. I am a nurse working through a stressful pandemic, and this was the very last thing I needed. It's the last thing that anyone needs, which is why I'm sharing my experience. Take care everyone

Edit: My re-opened complaint was closed after the exact same response from Hastings. YES THAT IS MY CORRECT NUMBER! I have reported them to Watchdog. Stay safe everyone!

Absolutely horrendous customer service. It is nearly impossible to cancel a policy with them. Every time I try to call them they never answer. This is borderline scamming.

Tuesday morning the social media team contacted me asking for more details and gave me 7 days to reply or they would declare the matter "resolved". I sent them the details.

Tuesday afternoon. Draw your own conclusions as to whether you want to deal with this company. My partner phoned them yesterday (Monday) and managed to get me put on the insurance - without a quote - because we had to be together on the phone to provide further details and get a quotation? So today, in a hospital car park (10 miles away from my work), him in a wheelchair recovering from a stroke caused by a blood clot on the brain, and me beside him duly got on the phone to them. Half-hour wait; wrong department; transferred; another half-hour-wait. Got through to someone who took details from him, began to talk to me and then we got cut off. Undeterred, we phoned again: an age of a wait; wrong department; but transferred quickly this time Ten minutes later I was a named driver on the policy. It's only taken three and a half days and the price they charged for the addition was a mere £5.10. But, in human terms, the strain it put on my partner's health is unknown. The effort it took him just to provide them with details, much less having to repeat them over and over was painful to watch. He's currently having to learn to speak properly again after the stroke and he didn't even have the strength to wheel himself out of the hospital to the car park - a nurse wheeled him to me. Shame on them.

I've just moved over to Hastings Direct, insured both bike and car couple months back, had to add another driver to my car policy, called your customer service, 0333 number, means I'm paying for that call, had to queue, so left phone hanging in queue, tried their website which advised, to use Live Chat, but cannot find your Live Chat button anywhere!
After 42 minutes waiting, call answered, raised my concerns on long wait and non existent Live Chat button, but was basically told being Monday morning, they're busy, nothing he can do with no consideration that I may also be busy. As for non existent Live Chat button, I was finally told supervisor, whom I spoke to later that it may be because I'm using Google Chrome browser and not Explorer! No mention of this in website page at all!
No other reassurances were forthcoming except I was advised to call later on the day and "hopefully" queue will be shorter!
I'm really surprised how your company got so many Customer Service Awards. I now dread having to contact them again if I decide to proceed with adding my additional driver as I would need to repeat this entire charade again.
I will certainly be moving onto another company come renewal time next year.