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Hastings Direct Smart Miles Reviews

3.3 Rating 2,006 Reviews
56 %
of reviewers recommend Hastings Direct Smart Miles
3.3
Based on 2,006 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Courier
On-time Delivery
Greater than 72%
Customer Service
Communication Channels
Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In
Under An Hour

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I would not touch these with anyone else's barge pole let alone my own. They are disgraceful, pay a bit more and ask exactly what you are signing up to with regards to a black box, if you live in a hilly area and your teenager is out after 10:00 do not touch this policy
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Posted 8 years ago
They cancelled my insurance a few days before my last payment was due and could not give me a reason. Went on to further charge me cancellation fee which I questioned as to why I would pay if I am not wanting to cancel my insurance. Overall I was never given an exact reason as to why this was. Would not recommend using them at all and I will never use any of their services ever again. Terrible customer service aswell the individuals and management I spoke to always looked to shut me down before I said anything.
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Posted 8 years ago
Terrible company would never recommend any one to use these people. Received a letter today saying that my daughter had no insurance from the 28th September 2016 had been been cancelled due to driving after 10.00pm at night ( The date today 4th October 2016) letter was dated 30th September 2016. No letter had been been received to warn us of this. She has driven for four days with no insurance!!!!. Absolutely a disgrace.
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Posted 8 years ago
no issues so far
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Posted 8 years ago
DO NOT INSURE WITH THIS COMPANY, YOU WILL 100% REGRET YOUR DECISION!!!!! Insured with Hastings smart miles in June and was told by the customer service operative that, providing you drive more during the day than the night your overall score will not be affected too much. It is now September and my overall score is 38/100 as I am a university student who has to work late evenings in order to support myself. I then receive an email from the company telling me they are going to cancel my policy if the score does not improve within 200 miles. I rang up customer services and they told me all I could do was not drive at night, meaning I would not be able to get to and from work... and therefore would not be able to even afford the already overpriced insurance. Customer services couldn't even explain to me how the scores are calculated and were clearly reading their responses from a sheet, not what I expect from £1600 a year. Absolute joke company, have now insured with Admiral without a black box for a lower premium. Will never consider a telematics policy again
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Posted 8 years ago
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.
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Posted 8 years ago
Never insure with this company!!
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Posted 8 years ago
DO NOT INSURE WITH THIS COMPANY! I was insured with them for 11 months, I had 6 days left to renew my insurance and they cancelled my policy due to me changing my address!!! They didnt inform me of this cancellation at all, if I hadn't of rung them I wouldn't of been non the wiser to the fact I was driving around with no insurance!! After having my insurance policy cancelled by them over a month ago, they was still billing me and taking money out of my bank account even though I was NOT insured with them for over a month. It took me a further 2 weeks to get this money back from them! I lost my deposit as well, even though it states that it would be refunded after paying 11 monthly installments which I did!! Because they cancelled the policy I struggled to find insurance anywhere, I'm 19 years old and work full time in a career dependant on having a car. I lost my no claims and when communicating back and forth with them, I had 3 people hang up on me& 1 person have the audacity to have a go at me! Please do not insure with them for your own peace of mind! This company is nothing but a scam and money grabbers!
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Posted 8 years ago
similar experience to other posts the scoring system makes it impossible to do any driving after 10.00pm if its 10% your policy will get cancelled my son stats showed he only drove 10.5 miles per day the car was parked in our drive for 97% of the the time he never exceeded the speed limit at all but hastings cancelled the policy after 46 days robbing us of £210 box fitting fee absolute scam ( he works at a sport centre which closes at 10.30 3 miles from our house and they cancelled the policy because of the after 10pm driving rule disgraceful: not pointed out clearly in their 74 page policy) hope this helps anyone considering taking out a policy with this company
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Posted 8 years ago
SCAM. Similar experience to many reviews on here. My daughters insurance cancelled after 2 months as black box indicated bad driving. This after she had already had a years insurance with same black box (different insurance company) and driving record was exceptional. Even had our friend who is a driving instructor take my daughter out and confirmed her driving was fine. £210 charge/fine for cancellation. Lodged formal complaint with the company but don't expect any satisfying result. Don't want to let them keep getting away with this as clearly taking advantage of young drivers. SCAM!
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Posted 8 years ago
Shocking company with unscrupulous (should be illegal) policies. Telematics box showed crazy readings which contradicted itself, easy earner for Hastings Smartmiles judging by how many poor reviews have been registered. These teenage drivers are an easy target for these motor insurance companies, avoid it at all costs as you'll end up paying over the odds anyway once they cancel your policy. you may as well pay a higher price without a Smartmiles box in the first place, and not have a cancelled policy on your insurance history.
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Posted 8 years ago
Scam - perfect driving for my son but no braking score ! - taking it up with consumer rights . My son is his own car - new which he brought himself made him a nervous wreck - Hastings you should be ashamed .
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Posted 8 years ago
THIS IS A SCAM......starts with an engineer turning up to fit the box but my daughter is policy holder was not there so he would not fit it, after an argument and literally "thrusting" the confirmation email in front of him he realised he was wrong and it could be fitted, otherwise he was in for £50 to revisit. This is all about getting a marging from the Smart box and then them cancelling you at £45 nothing to do with insurance. I have had numerous threatening emails on driver rating with Acceleration and Speed near perfect but Braking at 0!!!!! How does that work as most journeys in rush hour??? We don't know its an algorithym the reply....WHAT???Night score at 6 as "each" journey counts as two i.e. there AND back, not time or distance just journey is in the algorythym apparently. So I will have to cancel before they do and they will trouser the margin on the box which I reckon at £150 plus £45 cancellation and no further risk...WHAT A SCAM!!!!.....I HOPE THE OMBUDSMAN TAKES THIS UP AND LEAST HITS THEM WITH A £350 CASE FEE....doesn't help me but I hate BEING RIPPED OFF!!!!
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Posted 9 years ago
The 'not so' Smartbox. We purchased this policy for my son as we brought him a car for his 18th. It was one of the only Black Box policies that would insure a Mini Cooper and also have no curfew. How wrong were we on the curfew - 2 weeks later we get an email advising that his score is 35 and needs to get above 40. The main reason was because he drives after 10pm - which is most nights of the week due to work. We also have been struggling to get access to the App and their wait times on the phone are horrendous - but friendly and helpful once got through. I decided to cancel it and take out a policy with no black box through Admiral - OK - it's more expensive but there are no restrictions. My son now enjoys his driving - just need to disconnect the black box.
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Posted 9 years ago
avoid avoid avoid Horrific experience ,Only wish I had read the reviews before I paid my money.WORST AVAILABLE BLACK BOX POLICY EVER . CHOOSE A DIFFERENT COMPANY This policy made my nerves bad , Made my daughter feel like she was on tag. Ruined the whole pleasure of being 18 enjoying the summer holidays with a new car. policy says no curfew however be out a minute past 10pm and you are penalised . constantly terrified that they will cancel your policy therefore making it impossible to ever get insured again Had to cancel the policy within 2 weeks and lose over £250 as box was fitted and go elsewhere . Choose direct line or churchill they only review the box data at end of policy no emails or cancellation threats . Smartmiles is not worth the stress of feeling like a criminal. This is the WORST AVAILABLE BLACK BOX POLICY EVER . CHOOSE A DIFFERENT COMPANY ALSO WORST COMPANY FOR KEEPING YOU ON HOLD 40MINUTES I am sure they make money from these calls they are not free 10p a minute 3 calls £12 I hope this review helps someone not lose and waste their money like I have
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Posted 9 years ago
Took out out 18 year old daughters insurance in June Yesterday they wanted to cancel her Insurance due to black box saying her braking was below 40 Conflicting advise from customer services. I cancelled the insurance myself a day before they was going to cancel so it wouldn't effect getting her insurance with another company. Seems like they draw you in with cheap insurance only to sting you a month or so later. DO NOT GET INSURANCE WITH THIS COMPANY YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. PAY THAT EXTRA WITH A BETTER COMPANY
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Posted 9 years ago
Wish I'd read the reviews before taking out this insurance. After 3 months my insurance was cancelled. I phoned up to enquire why and was told they'd sent an e-mail giving 5 days notice. I was abroad at the time, and obviously was unaware of the e-mail and unable to act upon it! They penalise drivers for driving at night which is when I use the car most, as I walk to work and don't get back until after 6p.m., also I was penalised for braking too much! Living in the countryside on very minor roads, breaking is obviously a necessity. The box does not differentiate between roads used or the driver behind the wheel if more than one person is named on the policy. I explained the situation, including the fact that I was away but was simply told that the policy had been cancelled! The company charge £210 for fitting the box, and if you want it removed close to another £100! I took this insurance out as being well priced, but CHECK THE SMARTBOX CONDITIONS, if you live out of a bus route in the countryside then ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT SUIT YOU! You would virtually be on a curfew to adhere to their conditions. AVOID!
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Posted 9 years ago
Absolutely awful insurance. Cancelled my policy without any notice. Terrible customer service, not one employee I spoke to seemed to care at all.
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Posted 9 years ago
Absolutely fantastic, only had 1 issue when I changed my Reg plate to a private one, but there was a misunderstanding and was quickly resolved. Great customer service and would recommend to absolutely anyone!!
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Posted 9 years ago
WOW! cancelled my car insurance with NO WARNING woke up to an e-mail saying I no longer had insurance! Imagine I hadn't checked my e-mails? When I asked for feedback all I got was that the underwriter had decided to cancel it due to my driving score... WHY NOT WARN ME OF THIS BEFORE HAND? seems like a lose lose situation really...
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Posted 9 years ago
Hastings Direct Smart Miles is rated 3.3 based on 2,006 reviews