Hastings Direct SmartMiles

Whoop330

I bought this cover for my son in June 2017. The premium was OK and my understanding was that the SmartMiles box measured four key areas to generate the score; acceleration, braking, speed and time of day. What I now know is that the score is actually heavily weighted to the last of these four - time of day. This was confirmed in writing by Hastings as follows: '...This email is to confirm the time of day score which is calculated via your black box is the highest weighted category and creates the highest influence on your overall score compared to the other three scorings of Acceleration, Breaking and Speed.' This was never disclosed prior to purchase, nor was the fact, told to me on the phone by their agent just prior to me cancelling, that the only way to avoid a low score if you do drive in the evening is to have near perfect scores in all three other areas. The reason I was given that this is not disclosed prior to purchase is so that their insurance competitors can't get a commercial advantage by knowledge of their score system.
My son's speeding score (or lack of) was near perfect however his acceleration and braking were middle of the road (excuse the pun), not surprising as we live in the country in a fairly hilly area. My son works part time in an evening and also regularly visits his friends in the next village so his score deteriorated from 56 prior to getting his job to just below 40 shortly after. We were then told that the score needed to improve above 40 or SmartMiles would cancel his policy. I requested a review of his box as having driven with my son for two solid days and seen his score go down, despite exemplary driving, I was worried the box could be faulty. I was told I would be called approximately three working days later with news of the review. Suffice to say I heard nothing until they wrote to my son telling me they were cancelling the policy. If you live in a flat part of the country and have a child that never goes out in the evening then, assuming you accept poor customer service and high fees, this box may work for you. I found the service incredibly poor, the experience stressful and the service charges upon cancellation a complete rip off. Never again with this company. Avoid like the plague.

Fat_Walt

Whoop330 wrote: »

I bought this cover for my son in June 2017. The premium was OK and my understanding was that the SmartMiles box measured four key areas to generate the score; acceleration, braking, speed and time of day. What I now know is that the score is actually heavily weighted to the last of these four - time of day. This was confirmed in writing by Hastings as follows: '...This email is to confirm the time of day score which is calculated via your black box is the highest weighted category and creates the highest influence on your overall score compared to the other three scorings of Acceleration, Breaking and Speed.' This was never disclosed prior to purchase, nor was the fact, told to me on the phone by their agent just prior to me cancelling, that the only way to avoid a low score if you do drive in the evening is to have near perfect scores in all three other areas. The reason I was given that this is not disclosed prior to purchase is so that their insurance competitors can't get a commercial advantage by knowledge of their score system.
My son's speeding score (or lack of) was near perfect however his acceleration and braking were middle of the road (excuse the pun), not surprising as we live in the country in a fairly hilly area. My son works part time in an evening and also regularly visits his friends in the next village so his score deteriorated from 56 prior to getting his job to just below 40 shortly after. We were then told that the score needed to improve above 40 or SmartMiles would cancel his policy. I requested a review of his box as having driven with my son for two solid days and seen his score go down, despite exemplary driving, I was worried the box could be faulty. I was told I would be called approximately three working days later with news of the review. Suffice to say I heard nothing until they wrote to my son telling me they were cancelling the policy. If you live in a flat part of the country and have a child that never goes out in the evening then, assuming you accept poor customer service and high fees, this box may work for you. I found the service incredibly poor, the experience stressful and the service charges upon cancellation a complete rip off. Never again with this company. Avoid like the plague.

Lesson learned, when you get to next June you'll know not to take out the policy.