Hasting Direct/Essentials

There's cheap and there's cheap and nasty!

I'd be cautious... I've had an absolute nightmare of a time with them, largely due to this SmartMiles box thing that you have to buy, that they send by DHL. I bought car insurance from them mid-May, and they gave DHL the wrong address. And you can't change the address with DHL, only the date for delivery. Something Hastings failed to understand for a long, long time.

In the end it took 3 weeks for the box to arrive at the correct address (bear in mind you've got 14 days to install the damn thing). DHL texted me 2 hours beforehand to say it was on it's way - that's the only notice I got. But I already plans so that I was out of town - away from my car - for 24 hours. And then Hastings cancelled my policy. Because I hadn't installed the box in time. When I complained that I had no notice and so was unable to physically be there to install the box, they couldn't have given two sh*ts and refused to reactivate the policy. Their only concession was to offer to give my me refund that day - usually it takes 2 weeks to process. Five days later I still hadn't received so called up to complain. They got it to me the next day.

I then had to look for a new car insurance and, surprise surprise, they were the cheapest by nearly £200. I bought a new policy. Two weeks on I'm still waiting for my box to arrive. I've spent about 2 hours on the phone this time round with them chasing them. Today they've given me a one week's extension to install the box. But who knows when it'll arrive?!

It has been an absolute nightmare, and if they mess it up this time I'm just going to go elsewhere and pay the extra £200. It's caused me a lot of stress and anxiety and so I would advise you go elsewhere if you can afford it. Their customer service team have always been nice on the phone, but they're useless. Over the past 5 weeks I've had countless reassurances that they'll get things sorted, that I don't need to worry etc. They just don't seem to have any control over the policy they sell.

Good luck!

faddy wrote: »

Hastings Direct and Hastings Essentials are coming up with cheapest motor quotes for me. There are plenty of bad experiences with them reported on here, but are they any worse than other companies at the cheap end of the market?

We have been with them for a few years now and certainly no complaints. We had one claim and was settled very quickly Also when we changed our car the new quote was excellent. Also they were a good £100 cheaper at renewal over their competitors.