Hastings direct car insurance - NEED HELP!

EmsiWemsi

Hey all,

So i bought my car insurance beggining of May and was active on 23 May. I got a letter from them on 7th June (which dated on 29th May) saying they changed my occupation from student to unemployed and charged me an extra £340.80 which would be taken out from my account within 7-10 days, of course it being the long bank holiday it would have been taken from my account the next day!!

I phoned them up saying i was successful with my job interview and got my job as a support worker for the council, so wanted to change my occupation to employed. The advisor told me in this case there would not be any deductions or charges added to the £548 i previously paid and no £35 administrative fee. Great news! No charge of £340.80.. or so i thought!

On 12th June i checked my bank balance and saw i was overdrawn - Hastings took the money from my account on Friday 8th June, AFTER i spoke to the advisor on the phone and told me there would not be any charges. I was mega f***ed off now, so i phoned them up again. The representative on the phone told me that this was not the case and they still took money from my account as a support worker is one of the most highest quoted car insurance and it's basically similair to being unemployed - kick in the teeth or what!!!

She told me I was not eligible to get my £340.80 back and forwarded my call to get a re-quote to see if i could get my current policy cheaper. By now I have paid an overall of £888.80, which is ridicilous!!! The advisor of the re-quote told me the quote was no cheaper and the £888.80 would stand. After 50 minutes on the phone, I decided to terminate my contract and was being re-paid a total of £716.78, a total loss of £172.02. The advisor on the phone told me it would be in my bank by tonight. Today is the 15th of June, I was transferred £400 yesterday, yet they still owe me another £316.78 - i'm still on hold for over 20 mintues here trying to figure out where the rest of my money is!!!

I have been having nothing but trouble with this company and I don't know what to do anymore! I find myself phoning up daily with the hassles im getting!! Can anyone reccommend something that i am able to do or is it just a loss-loss situation for me?!

Thanks x

Hastings_Direct_company_representative

Hi EmsiWemsi,

I am sorry to hear you are having issues with our service, I would like to offer my assistance. If you could send me some details about your policy I will get a member of our specialist Customer Relations team to investigate this for you. [EMAIL="socialmedia@hastingsdirect.com"]socialmedia@hastingsdirect.com[/EMAIL].

Many Thanks,
Jamie

mikey72

I take it you shopped around for a new quote? What sort of quotes did your occupation give with other insurers, as opposed to quotes as uninsured? The refund should be roughly pro rata, and as half the period was at a lower rate, the premium refund seems a bit low. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/54/insurance.htm Post back with any updates.