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Hastings Direct: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 3.04 (676 reviews)

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3.04

Based on 676 reviews, last reviewed 23rd Feb 2026

91% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

75% decrease in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

34%

20%

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

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

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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.

Hastings Direct Car insurance reviews (676)

Review of the Hastings Direct, Car insurance:

No quibbles!

Fantastic insurer, no issues and would recommend. Reviewed on: 12th August 2022

Good

All the staffs are well trained and experienced with good sense of humour Reviewed on: 27th June 2020

Good policy & easy to use app

Really useful to have the mobile app to view documents and amend many aspects of the policy quickly and easily. The claim process was made simple and it was handled professionally. Reviewed on: 22nd June 2020

Hastings Direct: The Tragedies

Incompetent when it comes to making a claim. If you are involved in a car accident (even if the accident was not your fault) DO NOT MAKE A CLAIM. They will write your car off for the slightest of damage. When you challenge them on the write-off they will neglect all other responsibilities, like sending your photo evidence and statement over to the third party. They will hire a garage to forge evaluations for the cost of repair, which are always exceedingly high, so they can hide behind their infamous motto ‘uneconomical to repair’ so they don’t have to repair your vehicle. Hence justifying what they call a write-off. If you are unfortunate enough to have a policy with this incompetent bunch, there is 1 thing you need to understand: the less you tell them the better. If you’re involved in an accident and your car is indeed repairable, my advice would be to find a garage that works on vehicle repairs. Go about getting this done yourself. It does mean that you will have to dip into your own pocket (those of you who were not at fault). But it is far less painful and stressful than if you were to try and achieve this goal through hastings direct. Do not make a claim through hastings direct. Better still, do not give them your money to start with. Those of you who have an existing policy I strongly urge you to start looking elsewhere. What I went through with this inadequate sort I would not wish on my worst enemy. Reviewed on: 15th June 2020

Dishonest and incompetent

Tried to book car insurance through compare the market, got to the end and it said they couldn't complete so I assumed it hadn't gone through, checked my bank they had taken payment anyway so I called them and they claimed they couldn't find payment. This is a lie it went through whole I was on the phone to them and has been confirmed by my bank. Several calls later over 2 hours on the phone o still do not have my refund not only that they have opened 2 policies I have not asked for now and taken 2 payments and left a single mother with a disabled child with no money!!! I will be taking this to the fca and my solicitor. Reviewed on: 30th May 2020

Horrible experience

Don’t insure with Hastings I am pleading to anyone. Will mug you off completely and charge you for their time. Refunds are all send by a cheque if not cleared in 5 days they will become invalid. Insurance cancelled because I used a comparison website on the same window as Hastings. Price increased coz I refreshed the page. Please avoid there are plenty other insurance companies cheaper Reviewed on: 26th May 2020

Great Insurance

Great Insurance offering the cheapest price and also the right amount of cover. Also easy to contact of if you need to phone without being put on hold for ages unlike other Insurance Companies. Hastings Direct make me feel like a valued customer and because of all these reasons I’ve decided to continue my insurance with them Reviewed on: 27th April 2020

Crooks you should definitely "AVOID"

Dont buy "ANY" insurance from these crooks, I called them to stop my renewal as I was looking at buying another vehicle and the call centre person charged me £45 for cancelling the policy, but let me tell you this, it will be their last ever charge on me, there was one month left on the policy, who in their right mind would cancel a policy one month before it expires ? , just had a email from them quoting their company line, covering themselves ,colleagues and procedures, will not EVER use them again and would advise everyone to look elsewhere, they tell lies and use devious tactics to make sure you pay a "FEE" for everything, How come you cant cancel your renewal online.?, Answer / because they want to charge you a fee for cancelling, dont trust them !!!! A company run and serviced by incompetents Reviewed on: 15th April 2020

Slow and frustrating claims process...

You only find out how good an insurance company is when you have to make a claim, needless to say I will not ever use Hastings Direct again and I would actively advise against anyone using them. Following numerous mistakes or 'misunderstandings' as they put it, on their part, I have been without a car for 3 weeks and counting. 10 days ago it was confirmed it would be written off and I was given a figure, at which point I asked if we could negotiate the figure due to mistakes and delays they had made up to that point. The total loss department is only open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm, so when you work those hours and can't have your phone on you at work you invariably struggle to talk to anyone about it. I was told on Tuesday this week I could have a measly £35 compensation, I said that wasn't good enough and they said they would call me back on Wednesday. It is now Friday and after another two emails to them and a phone call, they finally called me back and offered £50. I might as well have saved my breath and my time, I would have been better off. So they have processed my payment today and now its the waiting game as it might take 5 working days to clear in my account... Reviewed on: 21st February 2020

Terrible Company

Tried to add my partner to my car policy with Hastings Direct, but was unable to, but they told me I could take out a new policy with them for over £500 plus a cancellation fee despite the fact I had paid 12 month premium in advance. Worst customer retention policy ever. Would not recommend. Reviewed on: 19th February 2020

astonishingly bad insurance company

I had only 2 payments of £31 left on my car insurance before the next renewal but i have just got a disability car so i rang them and told them i no longer had my car and wished to cancel my insurance,,,THEY WANTED £59 FOR ME TO CANCEL MY INSURANCE,,,So they still wanted me to pay almost the full insurance,(except for £3) even though i have no longer got the car,,,needless to say,i told them there was absolutely no way i am paying them that amount to cancel my insurance but they insisted so i told them to get LOST and went on my online banking and cancelled the direct debit to them,,,they can whistle for it... Reviewed on: 3rd February 2020

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