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Hastings Direct: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 3.14 (647 reviews)

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3.08

Based on 647 reviews, last reviewed 1st Jul 2025

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

33% decrease in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

34%

20%

35%

Latest highest rating:

5

Great experience recently when renewing Great experience recently when renewing Reviewed on: 21st June 2025

Latest lowest rating:

1

Hastings agreed to make a cash in lieu payment and c... Hastings agreed to make a cash in lieu payment and confirmed date for repairs to be done. Said payment would be 3-5 working days. Nearly 3 weeks on an... Read more Reviewed on: 1st July 2025

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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 (647)

Cheap

Cheaper then most other insurers. Reviewed on: 9th May 2017

Try hard but online service a shambles

Although Hastings offered a competitive quote there service is lacking in organisation. The phone staff are helpful and polite but don't really seem capable to sort out issues . The website failed from day one to open up my account and this problem was passed to the IT department who after 11 months of a 12 month policy still haven't sorted the problem . Account number issued was irrelevant 3 months later despite being printed on the form . Could not print out documents , had to keep ringing them to send me it by e mail due to an error with their site . Changing cars mid term was also a hassle and despite downgrading to a more economical car received no discount in my policy and staff could not explain why . Disappointing in general . Reviewed on: 6th May 2017

Unable to contact

Have been trying to contact Hastings Direct since sunday. Call duration in cue was 12 mins. And finally spoke to an advisor today after 15 minutes in the cue. Total call duration was 26mins 18 sec.so I have a nice phone bill to look forward to. Was told it was because of the bank holiday. Well done hastings. Costumer service isn't much to be desired either. Tried to leave a review on the site. But unable to as they use an independent company to do that. And they contact you. Amateurs Reviewed on: 2nd May 2017

Do not use this company!

DO NOT use this company! Disgraceful customer service. I have 2 weeks left on my policy, I don't want to transfer my insurance across because they've quoted me an extra £250 for next year's insurance. I've never had an accident, no convictions and have held it for 8 years, and my circumstances haven't changed. I've bought a new car so I want to cancel my insurance, to be told I'll lose all my no claims bonus (8 years worth) and I have to pay £45. They said it's auto renew, so I told them to cancel that. I phoned up again, someone said I only lose one years no claims, so I went to cancel it, now I can't because auto renew is off? Can you just explain the purpose of this, what difference does it make, apart from the fact that you keep my money! And tell your staff to tell customers consistent advice!? I'm never going to use Hastings again, I've never had this problem before!! Reviewed on: 23rd April 2017

They only contact me when they are my review

Hastings only contact me when they see my review they appologise and ask if they can help me to sort the situation out then don't contact me again they have cost me money and ruined my insurance record I have never made a claim have been driving for over 30 years but because of them I have trouble getting insured and have to pay a premium when I do. DO NOT USE THEM.... Reviewed on: 13th April 2017

HASTINGS CAR INSURANCE STAY AWAY

COST ME A LOT MORE THAN MONEY THEY RUINED MY INSURANCE HISTORY I was quoted for my car insurance which I paid a year up front a few weeks later I had a demand for a further £125 saying I had made a mistake when filling in my online form about the date I had purchased the car, I asked them to show me the error and demonstrate how they value the increase if an error had been made also that I had spoken on the phone and had a laugh about when I had purchased the car so they should be able to replay the recording of the conversation, they ignored my requests, they also said they had lost the recording and demanded I pay the increase or have my policy cancelled, a couple of weeks later I received an email telling me that they had cancelled my policy 2 days prior to emailing me about the cancellation, I called them and complained about the issue, stating the cancellation had left me driving 2 days illegally they told me they could not discuss the matter as the policy was cancelled. Absolutely disgusting behaviour they ruined my insurance history as I now have a cancelled policy on my records which I have to declare, most companies will not insure me and the ones that do charge me more money. A company should have to demonstrate why you have to pay more than you were quoted also why do they have the power to destroy your insurance history, it seems like very bad customer service at least, when their customer service reads this review they will contact me and ask if they can do anything to resolve the issue but never do anything. Other people have also contacted me saying they had the same experience, I wander how many people they have done this to. TERRIBLE COMPANY NEVER DEAL WITH THEM. Reviewed on: 8th April 2017

Don't use this company if you might change cars mid policy. Rip off!

Don't use this company if you might change your car mid policy. I have insured my car with Hastings Direct for 7 months. Unfortunately I sold my car and have ordered another one. The new car cannot be delivered until mid May. When I contacted Hastings They insisted that the policy had to be cancelled and it would cost £45. The refund for the unused part of the policy should have come to close to 5/12 of the premium minus £45. I calculated just over £80; they gave me just over £66. Every time I have changed my car the insurance company simply stopped the policy, accounted for the unused part and, when I got the new car gave me a quote for the remaining months. This is the first time I have been charged £45 for a company employee to press a few buttons. Don't use this company if you intend to change your car in the middle of a policy. Other people have been charged less! My costs: approx £65 Never had this poor service before and I have changed cars many times over the years. Reviewed on: 6th April 2017

AVOID HASTINGS CAR INSURANCE!!!!

I was quoted for my car insurance which I paid a year up front a few weeks later I had a demand for a further £125 saying I had made a mistake when filling in my online form about the date I had purchased the car, I asked them to show me the error and demonstrate how they value the increase if an error had been made, I also stated that I had spoken to them on the phone and had a laugh about when I had purchased the car so they should be able to replay the recording of the conversation, they ignored my requests, they said they had lost the recording and demanded I pay the increase or have my policy cancelled. A couple of weeks later I received an email telling me that they had cancelled my policy 2 days prior to emailing me about the cancellation, I called them and complained about the issue, the cancellation leaving driving 2 days illegally and was told they could not discuss the matter as the policy was cancelled. Absolutely disgusting behaviour they ruined my insurance history as I now have a cancelled policy on my records which I have to declare, most companies will not insure me and the ones that do charge me a premium to do so. A company should have to demonstrate why you have to pay more than you were quoted also why do they have the power to destroy your insurance history, it seems like a very dodgy practice at the very lest or just very bad customer service at least, other people have contacted me stating they have had exactly the same experience is this a common practice with Hastings how many more of you have had the same issue. TERRIBLE COMPANY NEVER DEAL WITH THEM. Reviewed on: 24th March 2017

great service

Easy and comfortable managing on line, friendly and maximum helping staff. Reviewed on: 17th March 2017

Okay

Hastings Direct good price - not sure about the service yet thankfully. I'll go with OK Reviewed on: 1st March 2017

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