Help with Hastings direct (worst company ever!!)

super_dad

Hi.
I was wondering if someone can offer advice with regard to a problem with Hastings Direct and a motorbike insurance policy.

Earlier this year I closed my bank account and opened a new one... I called Hastings with the updated account details for the Direct debit (along with several other companies) and thought nothing more of it...

A few weeks later I received a letter from hastings saying that they were unable to take money from my account (closed account) and they were therefore charging me £20. I called to complain.

I gave them the approximate date of the call and explained that I had called from a withheld number (my Wife's office number...) - they tried to trace my call, but to no avail. therefore "the charge still stood"

I found this to be annoying and I refused to pay the charge - they escalated the complaint... resulting in them again saying they can't find the change of details - so I should pay the charge.

Again, I refused - they then cancelled the policy (incurring another £55 charge). sooooo... I asked them for some information relating to the complaint, such as "what software do you use to record calls" - "how many complaints of this nature do you receive" - "how accurate is your call recording software ... etc"

They refused to send this information, instead offering details related to my recorded calls and screen shots.

Right - at this point the debt (only around £100 or so) is on the verge of going to a debt collection company (incurring more costs).

so, what would you suggest is my next step? Part of me wants to go down the legal route and force them to give me the requested information... part of me wants to swallow pride and just pay the fees and give them as many negative write ups as I humanly can...

anyone any ideas?

I actually want them to forward the debt to a third party as it'll save me having to deal with Hastings... but also conscious that it'd be silly to incur so many "fees" for such a small amount...

Any help appreciated.

Hastings_Direct_company_representative

Hi super_dad,

Thank you for taking the time to post about this issue. We are very sorry to hear that you are having trouble and that you are unhappy with your experience so far. Can you please contact us directly and supply the policy details? We will then follow this up for you with the team who is handling your complaint to see if we can arrange a resolution. help@hastingsdirect.com

Many Thanks,
Jamie

InsideInsurance

You have no legal right to know what software they are using or their complaints frequency.

The problem is that you called from a withheld number and cannot say either exactly when you called or who you spoke to making it somewhat of a needle in a haystack for them to try and find your call.

Ultimately stick to what the complaint is, you called and they didnt follow instructions. Advise them that you intend to escalate the matter to the FOS if you arent happy with their response.

In the meantime remember to declare to your new insurers that you've had a policy cancelled for non-payment.

super_dad

Hastings_Direct_company_representative wrote: »

Hi super_dad,

Thank you for taking the time to post about this issue. We are very sorry to hear that you are having trouble and that you are unhappy with your experience so far. Can you please contact us directly and supply the policy details? We will then follow this up for you with the team who is handling your complaint to see if we can arrange a resolution. [EMAIL="help@hastingsdirect.com"]help@hastingsdirect.com[/EMAIL]

Many Thanks,
Jamie

sorry Jamie, as good as your offer sounds.... your company are not interested in an agreeable resolution. your response is a simple copy and paste from other complaints and its your job to monitor online complaints, leaving the same response time and time again.

There is an incredible lack of sincerity and genuine ability/desire to help resolve the matter.

super_dad

InsideInsurance wrote: »

You have no legal right to know what software they are using or their complaints frequency.

The problem is that you called from a withheld number and cannot say either exactly when you called or who you spoke to making it somewhat of a needle in a haystack for them to try and find your call.

Ultimately stick to what the complaint is, you called and they didnt follow instructions. Advise them that you intend to escalate the matter to the FOS if you arent happy with their response.

In the meantime remember to declare to your new insurers that you've had a policy cancelled for non-payment.

Thanks for that.

I think the sensible thing is to escalate to the FOS. Hastings did tell me that they "act as though they are independent" when dealing with complaints, but it's difficult to believe.

I am not sure why they are unwilling to say which software they use for tracing and recording calls... surely it's an incredibly important part of the case? all software has glitches... but anyhoo...

I gave them a pretty accurate time of call... one guy from there said that hastings "cant trace blocked calls" and then another department said "yes we can" - the whole place sounds like a shambles!

FOS looks like the best option

SammenForLivet2

I agree that if you still can't work it out and come to a resolution with Hastings, that the Ombudsman looks the best route. Hastings should provide you with a little book/guide/leaflet, in their final response letter or a link to it, in their final response e-mail, when addressing your complaint.

However, I would still advise you that you should pay any charges due, and then try to recover them from Hastings at a later stage, rather than them ruining your credit record (particularly for such a small amount), by sending it to a 'Debt Collector'.

Hope this helps

Oli.s

macfamilyent wrote: »

I agree that if you still can't work it out and come to a resolution with Hastings, that the Ombudsman looks the best route. Hastings should provide you with a little book/guide/leaflet, in their final response letter or a link to it, in their final response e-mail, when addressing your complaint.

However, I would still advise you that you should pay any charges due, and then try to recover them from Hastings at a later stage, rather than them ruining your credit record (particularly for such a small amount), by sending it to a 'Debt Collector'.

Hope this helps

You should cooperate with the company rep on here, he/she may have made a standard post but is offering to pick up on your email and progress the matter.

My priority would be to try and get the policy reinstated and the cancelled policy marker removed from the shared insurance database because now your recorded as having a policy cancelled you'll have to declare this forever and you may find mainstream insurers won't touch you with a barge pole.

I suspect the £100 your out of pocket is going to seem small fry in terms of your future insurance cost with a history of a cancelled policy on file.

Hastings_Direct_company_representative

super_dad wrote: »

sorry Jamie, as good as your offer sounds.... your company are not interested in an agreeable resolution. your response is a simple copy and paste from other complaints and its your job to monitor online complaints, leaving the same response time and time again.

There is an incredible lack of sincerity and genuine ability/desire to help resolve the matter.

Hi super_dad,

Thank you for your reply to my post. I am very sorry to hear that you feel that way. Although we do have a standard format which we use to reply to posts I assure you that they are all genuine and not copy and pasted, these responses are designed so that we can gain more information on the subject in order to assist, we also have to ensure that we are not breaching any regulations by discussing potentially sensitive information in a public forum.

If there is anything that you would like our assistance with please feel free to get in contact on the email address provided.

Many Thanks,
Jamie

22johnny22

Hastings_Direct_company_representative wrote: »

Hi super_dad,

Thank you for your reply to my post. I am very sorry to hear that you feel that way. Although we do have a standard format which we use to reply to posts I assure you that they are all genuine and not copy and pasted, these responses are designed so that we can gain more information on the subject in order to assist, we also have to ensure that we are not breaching any regulations by discussing potentially sensitive information in a public forum.

If there is anything that you would like our assistance with please feel free to get in contact on the email address provided.

Many Thanks,
Jamie

To the OP

It appears that they are trying to help, why not give this option a go before the FOS (which can be a lengthy option).

InsideInsurance

super_dad wrote: »

I am not sure why they are unwilling to say which software they use for tracing and recording calls... surely it's an incredibly important part of the case? all software has glitches... but anyhoo...

I gave them a pretty accurate time of call... one guy from there said that hastings "cant trace blocked calls" and then another department said "yes we can" - the whole place sounds like a shambles!

Your original post said you gave them an approximate date of the call and now you say you have a very accurate time/date of it. Which is the truth?

All software has gliches and all software can be integrated in different ways. What software companies use can be confidential information and it may not even be available to the operators if its an integrated part of their CRM and again different areas of the business may have different systems and/ or different levels of access.

One of my former clients had one of the better systems in that there was a single system covering all sites and the 12,000 call centre agents they had however it wasnt integrated into their CRM at all. Managers could search the db by number called from, date/time of call, number called to, agent handling the call. Time/date could be a range but all other factors had to be accurate.

With 12,000 members of staff, most areas having an SLA of around 10 calls an hour do you have any idea how many calls are in their db and to try and find one when you give a date range and no numbers (or just their main inbound number) . It simply wouldnt be practical to listen to the thousands of them to happen to try and find yours.

Hastings is certainly smaller than my previous client and they may have a better system, but it could also be worse. Certainly up to a few years ago some were still using tapes to record calls and so there is no way of "searching" beyond date/time of call.

MothballsWallet

The calling number is not actually withheld because there are 3 numbers used in a phone call:

1. The calling number (in this case, the OP's wife's office number)
2. The callee number (in this case, Hastings Direct's office/call centre)
3. The presentation number (what appears on caller ID displays)

Without the first and second ones, the phone companies couldn't bill their customers correctly in relation to their call plans.