I regret taking out a policy with Hastings Direct that uses their black box system. The way it monitors driving, particularly acceleration and braking, is completely unreasonable. The box seems to penalize even normal, safe driving. If you accelerate smoothly onto a motorway or dual carriageway, it marks you down as “harsh acceleration,” even though it’s necessary to keep up with traffic. The same goes for braking – you can be driving sensibly, but if someone cuts in front of you and you have to brake a bit more firmly to maintain a safe distance, the system flags it as “harsh braking.” It feels like it punishes drivers for reacting to real-world situations where safety comes first. Instead of encouraging good habits, the black box just creates stress and anxiety behind the wheel. You end up driving unnaturally slowly, worrying that every small press of the accelerator or brake will hurt your score. That’s not realistic or safe, and it doesn’t reflect what good driving actually looks like. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend Hastings Direct Black Box insurance. The monitoring feels unfair and flawed, and it leaves you more focused on appeasing the box than actually driving safely.