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Hastings Direct: Car insurance reviews

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3.04
Based on 676 reviews, last reviewed 23rd Feb 2026
92% decrease in 5 star reviews
in the past 90 days
75% decrease in 1 star reviews
in the past 90 days
See only 5 star reviews
34%
See only 4 star reviews
20%
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7%
See only 2 star reviews
4%
See only 1 star reviews
35%

Latest highest rating:

5

I've been with Hastings Direct for a good few years... I've been with Hastings Direct for a good few years now - they've helped me with carious claims and at a difficult time when I had a car accident they... Read more Reviewed on: 23rd January 2026
Sarah Gray's avatar
Sarah Gray

Latest lowest rating:

1

Dodgy fees. I just finished a contract with this company. My car insurance was finished at 23:59 of the 19th of Feb. They have automatically renewed my car insura... Read more Reviewed on: 23rd February 2026
Tom L's avatar
Tom L
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About this product

Hastings Direct provide award-winning car insurance.

You can get a Hastings Direct car insurance quote online and manage your policy via the mobile app. There are three levels of cover, Essentials, Direct and Premier. They're available as an online product which is a lower cost, self-service policy that you manage yourself.

Hastings Direct car insurance reviews help you find out what it’s really like to be a customer. If you’ve used Hastings Direct before, you can also leave a review and share your experience.

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Hastings Direct Car insurance reviews (676)

Money making charges

1
Good initial quote and cover. However when you change a reg number and or car thats when the fun starts with the money making scams to charge you money when other companys dont. I had 2 cars insured with hastings. Took a reg plate off one car and was charged. Understand that as they blamed the underwriters. Then get new car quote and was charged over a thousand pounds more for the one car than for the cost of the policy for the two cars. £1900 for one car. Went o compare site and got a quote for £400 and went with them. Canceled with Hastings and got charged 75 pounds for all the years of loyalty with no convictions or accidents ect. Also changed reg with new company totally free of charge HASTINGS ARE A RIP OFF. Reviewed on: 20th April 2022
Steven Pooley's avatar
Steven Pooley

WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH

1
WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH. HAVE WASTED DAYS OF MY LIFE TRYING TO GET THEM TO CANCEL MY POLICY AND THEY KEEP TELLING ME THEY HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE EVIDENCE THEY REQUIRE. IT IS A WAR OF ATTRITION2 HOURS ON THE PHONE THIS MORNING ALONE. DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM. Reviewed on: 9th April 2022
Lisa FF's avatar
Lisa FF

ABSOLUTELY USELESS A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

1
My accident happened 22/3 2022 and still waiting for 2 so called mangers to ring back regarding this and still no courtesy/ hire vehicle Fully comprehensive treated like sh#t Reviewed on: 4th April 2022
Belinda Mills's avatar
Belinda Mills

ABSOLUTELY USELESS A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

1
Please read and listen "DONT" do it go else where you will thank me in the future Today 4 April 2022 ........ accident happened on the 22 /3/2022 still no courtesy car or hire car Still waiting for call backs from 2 so called managers.... no good ! No help !waste off money Hastings direct are crap Reviewed on: 4th April 2022
Belinda Mills's avatar
Belinda Mills

Great app

5
Great cheap car insurance 51 years old with a driving app/box Reviewed on: 28th March 2022
Chris's avatar
Chris

Great telematics insurance, not so great prices.

2
A review on YouDrive policy with telematics. In terms of black box insurance, it’s probably the best. The tab they give you is self-application, so you can stick it where you like e.g. corner of your windscreen. Your driving will be monitored, but from my experience it was quite lenient on speeds, cornering and acceleration. Had a bit of a problem with braking, even if sudden braking is unavoidable in busy cities and rush hour traffic. Braking smoothly also didn’t really work in keeping the score 5/5, so I thought that was a bit strange. Another thing to keep in mind if you're thinking of going with Hastings' YouDrive policy, is that their tabs are Bluetooth connected, so it tends to drain your phone battery. Prices are not very competitive. Price went down by half once I moved to a different post code, but when I tried to add on additional mileage later on due to longer commutes to work, they wanted to increase my premium by nearly 30%, from around £65 a month to £87, when other insurance providers offered cheaper premiums than what I was paying on the old annual mileage. No additional cover such as breakdown or courtesy car was offered either, when again, other providers offered most types of extra cover for a cheaper price than what I was paying, all included in the price, with no telematics. Ended up cancelling my policy with Hastings and switching to a different provider due to price. Customer service has room for improvement. Staff didn't provide much substance to my complaint, and didn't seem willing to even attempt to price-match what other insurance brokers offered me. I cannot imagine how helpful they would be in case of an accident claim. Despite this, my policy was cancelled without much issue, and the cancellation fee was surprisingly low. Let's hope it stays that way. Overall, I would hesitate to recommend Hastings to anyone else, but their telematics scheme is possibly one of the best if you absolutely must go with a black box. There are cheaper insurance providers out there, however, so keep searching around. Reviewed on: 8th March 2022
Sabine's avatar
Sabine

Smart scam

1
This insurance is an absolute nightmare. They intelligently give you a low quote and plant that device to control you.They except you to be driving only straight on a motorway no roundabouts no bend nothing because the device keep making a stupid map on every move you make. They use that as an excuse to cancel your insurance after collecting much money from you. They are pure scam because they don't even make an alternative offer. Just smooth operators but I hope their game will be over soon because I'll take it up and expose them. They are smartly milking people and placing them in a difficult situation, running to get cover somewhere else. Reviewed on: 1st March 2022
Babygirl Don's avatar
Babygirl Don

Still waiting for repairs because of Hastings uncommunication

1
Was hit from behind when stationery. Claim went through as it was other persons fault. Hastings use third party IM Solutions to sort out claim. Told me about the garage and hire car company that I will be using. After one month no news when the car will be repaired. Spoke to the garage and they have sent IM Solutions estimate of repairs twice in different formats as they requested but they have still not authorised the repairs. There are no contact details for IM Solutions. I have to keep calling Enterprises Hire to contact IM Solutions to sort the mess out but no one replies back to them either. Still in a limbo and chasing the dogs tails. I have called Hastings who than pass me back to Enterprise Hire and it goes round and round as no one can help because IM Solutions don't respond. Please can someone help with this and if you don't want to be in my position please DO NOT get car insurance with HASTING DIRECT. Reviewed on: 26th February 2022
Rita's avatar
Rita

No issues, until making a claim

1
I have previously used Hastings with no issues but never had to make a claim. Last year another driver hit my parked car. Initially the claim went smoothly. It did not continue in this manner. Be warned Hastings outsource to other companies to handle claims. It is now 3 months after the accident and finally it looks like my car will be fixed by end of month 4. In these 3 months I have had to call over 30 times to Hastings/3rd party companies. I have raised 2 complaints and spent over 4 hours on the phone chasing up due to their complete lack of communication between businesses. An event that was already unpleasant has been made incredibly stressful and time consuming to myself. To add injury to insult a number I had been advised by a 3rd party to raise a complaint to charged me £15 as it was a premium number. As the claim has taken so long to resolve my insurance renewal has also cost me an additional £150, as open claims by default are categorized as "At Fault" even though I am not. I have been advised I can claim a refund from my new insurer when this is resolved. However I am still left out of pocket until then. I would not recommend this company even if they are cheaper than competitors. Reviewed on: 25th February 2022
Emily's avatar
Emily

Legal scam company

1
hey have an auto renew policy. This was not clear as is they should be legally transparent on an auto renew contract. Also it should be clear and easy to cancel auto renew which is not the case for Hastings as this can only be done via the phone. And now I have written cancellation from them they are still asking for me to reinstall my DD and threatening to go to credit ratings agencies! If I had the money I would sue them but alas I am too poor. Do not use this insurance unless you never want to change again! Reviewed on: 18th February 2022
Lee Heckford's avatar
Lee Heckford

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