Avoid Hastings Direct at all costs.

LiamC8888

I've been a customer of Hastings for a few years and I've been driving for 5+ years without any claims against my name.

Recently I've had a taxi driver crash into the back of my vehicle when I was stopped at a roundabout waiting my turn to go. The taxi driver basically fled without giving me any details but I managed to get his registration number and contacted the police.

I contacted my insurance(Hastings Direct) and advised them of the details and what happened, including registration and they advised they would contact the other the driver through his insurance, I gave them the police incident number.

To my horror a few days later I received a letter from Hastings Direct advising I had to pay £695 excess to go ahead with my claim, I phoned them to dispute this and explained I was not at fault at all as the taxi crashed into the back of me while I was stationary and in the right lane, they advised they could not prove who was at fault until I paid the excess money, which they could not guarantee I receive paid back to me in full! I advised the agent to close the claim as I believe they should be going to the Taxi drivers insurance to claim the money from them plus repair costs, they point blank refused and again stated they could not continue with the claim until I paid the excess.

I have never experienced or heard of an insurances company demanding upfront excess payments from someone who is not at fault for the accident, absolutely ludicrous.

Avoid at all costs.

InsideInsurance

LiamC8888 wrote: »

I have never experienced or heard of an insurances company demanding upfront excess payments from someone who is not at fault for the accident, absolutely ludicrous.

Avoid at all costs.

This is standard practice, your excess isnt covered by your insurance and so you must pay it on all claims. If you are not at fault for the incident then this is recoverable from the at fault party and if you have legal expenses cover the insurer will instruct someone to do this for you.

Some insurers will waive the excess in clear cut cases where they have all the TP and their insurers details as a guesture of goodwill but are under no obligation to do so. The fact that this is a hit and run would mean it isnt a clear cut case and so even those that do sometimes waive them they are unlikely to do so in this case.

Excess are not however normally payable "up front". They will be payable at the end to the garage that does the repair work or will be deducted from the total loss settlement if the car isnt going to be repaired.

[Deleted User]

Do you have proof it was the taxi that hit you? If so you can go direct to his insurance company and claim without paying anything.

Hastings are awful, there are endless complaints about them on these forums. You must have agreed the excess at some point though...

Keith_hulbert

This is the first and last time I will use Hastings insurance. I have been driving for nearly forty years, I have only claimed a couple of time in that period. So I'm not frequent claimant by any standard. On this occasion I took out motorbike insurance fully comprehensive thinking I would be covered in the event of an accident or loss. Well apparently this is subject to clauses they put in and which are not explained to you when taking out your policy. My bike is garaged at home and at work. On this occasion I used my bike at around 14.30 returned home, parked my bike on the drive because my wife was out using our car taking her mother to the hospital for her cancer treatment. Seeing I was going to use the bike again at 18.30 to go to the gym, I left the bike on my drive, waiting for my wife to return so she could put the car away without having to move the bike again. Meantime some scumbags who I nearly caught stole my bike outside my house. Police were called and arrived within minutes, thanks for the quick response. A few days later I got a call from a Mr Drake a claims validated he said that because the bike was not more than 500yards away from my house when it was parked I will have to pay double the excess which is £1400 pounds. Because it wasn't in the garage. I said when I took out the policy I was asked if the bike was garaged overnight I said yes and was asked is it garaged at work once again the answer was yes, there was no mention that I am not allowed to use my drive at anytime to park my bike. I feel that not only have I had my bike stolen by scumbags, my insurance company are also trying to wriggle out of paying. times are not good at the moment what with the medical condition of a relative and the theft of my transport to work, now I'm disgusted with Hastings insurance who are refusing to pay in full a claim honestly. I would strongly advise everyone not to go any where near this company. Very dissatisfied and offended with their attitude in dealing with this matter.

Hastings_Direct_company_representative

Keith_hulbert wrote: »

This is the first and last time I will use Hastings insurance. I have been driving for nearly forty years, I have only claimed a couple of time in that period. So I'm not frequent claimant by any standard. On this occasion I took out motorbike insurance fully comprehensive thinking I would be covered in the event of an accident or loss. Well apparently this is subject to clauses they put in and which are not explained to you when taking out your policy. My bike is garaged at home and at work. On this occasion I used my bike at around 14.30 returned home, parked my bike on the drive because my wife was out using our car taking her mother to the hospital for her cancer treatment. Seeing I was going to use the bike again at 18.30 to go to the gym, I left the bike on my drive, waiting for my wife to return so she could put the car away without having to move the bike again. Meantime some scumbags who I nearly caught stole my bike outside my house. Police were called and arrived within minutes, thanks for the quick response. A few days later I got a call from a Mr Drake a claims validated he said that because the bike was not more than 500yards away from my house when it was parked I will have to pay double the excess which is £1400 pounds. Because it wasn't in the garage. I said when I took out the policy I was asked if the bike was garaged overnight I said yes and was asked is it garaged at work once again the answer was yes, there was no mention that I am not allowed to use my drive at anytime to park my bike. I feel that not only have I had my bike stolen by scumbags, my insurance company are also trying to wriggle out of paying. times are not good at the moment what with the medical condition of a relative and the theft of my transport to work, now I'm disgusted with Hastings insurance who are refusing to pay in full a claim honestly. I would strongly advise everyone not to go any where near this company. Very dissatisfied and offended with their attitude in dealing with this matter.

Hi Keith,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I would like the opportunity to take a more detailed look into this for you. If you would be kind enough to email your policy/claim details to help@hastingsdirect.com I will be able to better understand the situation.

Many Thanks,
Jamie