Hastings Direct Smart Miles Reviews

Name: Hastings Direct Smart Miles
Rating: 3.29

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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Hastings Direct Smart Miles 1 star review on 12th July 2024

James

Hastings Direct Smart Miles 5 star review on 29th September 2023

Jason Major

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“The app is dreadful. Keeps going back to the sign in page.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hi Paul, I'm sorry to see that you have had issues with the app, hopefully this has all been rectified! If you do have any further issues with it you can contact 01733 308 380. Hope this helps. -Jamie

Posted 7 years ago

“Following on from what everyone else has already said, i do not recommend smartmiles! I have been with smartmiles from the day I passed, which was only 4 months ago, and already my score is at 37 and been told my policy is going to be cancelled if my behavior does not improve? I do not speed, I do not drive fast enough to have to break hard, I don't accelerate much simply because I don't have to as my car basically drives itself and maybe 3/4 days out of 7 my car is home at 11 O'clock instead of 10 and my time of day is at zero? okay! so how can I fix this? not drive too much for a few days? oh wait, you have to A LOT drive for your score to increase apparently! well, so I've been told! My score has never increased, even though i'm nearly 100% sure that I am the most careful driver out there! Honestly wish, i had read the reviews before i took this policy!”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hi, I am sorry to hear you are having a poor experience. It is important to increase the amount you drive to improve your score as the more miles safely driven achieved, the more the instances where we have recorded events that will negatively impact your score will be balanced out. In terms of time of day, consistently going outside of the 10pm-5am parameters will have a negative affect on your score. This is because data has shown us that you are much more likely to be involved in an accident at night compared to the day. As your score has dropped below 40 you should have been contacted by our team to provide some coaching on how to improve your score, but if this has not occurred please contact us on help@hastingsdirect.com with your policy number. ~Connor

Posted 7 years ago

“Absolutely disgusted with my service at Hastings Smartmiles. My policy was originally £471, then to change address it went up £230! Then I noticed from the previous year they had not updated my car purchase date correctly, which I remember changing back in Nov. They insisted it was my fault. So now they wanted another £180 (including admin fee) so I rang to dispute and a lady said she'd look into it and see whether they could sort it out. I never got an email from her, just an urgent email requiring me to pay the £180. So I cancelled. They then had the nerve to try and only refund me only £464 out of £700 for just under a month's insurance. They added a £88 commission fee undisclosed to me. They worked out my refund wrong and added an administration fee on wrong. Anyone see anything wrong here? This company have managed to squeeze as much money out of me as possible over these last 2 years. The funny thing is, if I put my new details (new address and purchase date of car) in for a new quote, Smartmiles were quoting £185 less anyway. All I did was ask them to match it and this is the trouble I get.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hi Megan, I am sorry to see you have had a poor experience. When a change is made to a policy, we do need to recalculate your premiums as you may fall into a different risk criteria. In terms of the charges you have incurred, we do try to communicate clearly at the start of the policy that the telematics fee is non-refundable, so I apologise if you feel this was not presented clearly. ~Connor

Posted 7 years ago

“Misadvised for insurance and decided a claim was fault when my stationary car was hit by a guy driving a stolen vehicle! Would not recommend them for new drivers.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

I am sorry to hear you are dissatisfied with the claims process. You can have the matter investigated by the team by using the e-mail form on the link below. https://www.hastingsdirectsmartmiles.com/contact ~Connor

Posted 7 years ago

“Cancelled my son's policy after a few weeks because he was using his car at night which was discouraged. This condition was not highlighted in the policy when he applied but buried in small print. Then charged for the black box, usage and cancellation fee even though he was forced to cancel because he was told that if he did not no other company would insure him. For people who use their car at night this is a con. Avoid this company and its policies.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

I am sorry to hear that this was not communicated clearly at the point of sale. Time of day is an important factor we rate on as statistics show you are twice as likely to be in an accident at night rather than the day. I will ensure your feedback is passed onto the team. ~Connor

Posted 7 years ago

“The telematics device records acceleration at every roundabout as excessive. Given that the only way to safely get onto the A27 is quickly this seems ridiculously punitive. Sleeping policemen also appear to record as excess acceleration and deceleration. As our acceleration score never left zero for the whole year in a Hyundai i10 998cc, I wonder what a car that can reach 70 miles an hour in less than 2 minutes would score? Minus 100? We got the almost standard threatening phone call after a couple of weeks and at the end of the year have now not been offered another years insurance, though I had no intention of staying anyway. Smartmiles telematics box clearly does not include any intelligent technology, nor is there any use of AI to properly interpret the results or application of a real meat brain when contacting their technical department to find out why the acceleration score has always been zero. Finally just to mention. All of this hassle for a car worth less than £5k and which only traveled 5361 miles over the year.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

I am sorry to hear you were dissatisfied in your year with SmartMiles and I will ensure your comments are fed back to the team for improvement. We also do have a wide range of other products on sale on our website and comparisons sites you may want to explore. ~Connor

Posted 7 years ago

“Having taken out insurance with Hastings direct Smart Miles, they told me to cancel my policy and gave me 5 days notice. I am an 18 year old, and this was my first experience dealing with an insurance company. They sent me a smart miles box to fit which I did and I got my mechanic to fit it otherwise they would have charged me to fit it. The box recorded my scores and some of the scores remained the same throughout, and told me that I was not improving. I then phoned and queried my scores and how I could improve, I contacted them. Very nice lady gave me feedback, however when I got feed back the next time the scores were the same, I know I have improved, but the scores always remain the same, with very little movement. Then they sent me an email telling me that they were going to cancel my policy if I did not improve, I never received an email. Finally, I got another email saying that my policy would be cancelled within 7 days. I phoned up and told them their telematics box was not accurate, how could my scores always be virtually the same???? They told me my policy was going to be cancelled and they would not reinstate it, and that I would have to cancel it myself otherwise I would not get insurance from another company. Also I had to pay for the phone call and spent 1 hour and a half arguing with them on the phone and my Mum also complained and said it seemed the telematics box was not accurate and asked them to guarantee the accuracy of their box, which of course they cannot do. No one can!!! My Mum asked for the statistics from the box to be sent to her, and they wanted £10 for the data, having said it was all available, but at a price of course!!! They now want me to cancel my insurance, telling me that if they cancel it, I will not get insurance anywhere else. Obviously they want me to spent another hour on the phone waiting to cancel it. They also will deduct £210 from my balance for the use of the telematics box which has been used for only 3 months and £45 cancellation fee!. This company is a rip off company, all they want is to cripple young people with debt by taking their money off them and providing an awful, awful service. It is pure exploitation of the young, quite intimidating as well an would never instill confidence in young drivers. They are so discouraging and they only want your money and to rip you off. Do not under any circumstances use them. They will cancel your insurance in 3 months and charge for their inaccurate telematics box and administration and expect you to do all the running. Very, very bad experience as a first time driver in using an insurance company. DO NOT USE, DO NOT USE, BE CAREFUL”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

I am very sorry to hear you had a poor experience with our SmartMiles product. If you would like the team to investigate, you can log a complaint using the e-mail form on the link below. https://www.hastingsdirectsmartmiles.com/contact ~Connor

Posted 7 years ago

“Hope you visit here before you take a policy out! Just spent 40min to “customer service”. First journey and app claims 57mph in a 20 zone. 2 long calls (they don’t call back) and told apparently “you should ignore the app ..... unless they send you an e-mail!” confirmation. Then app gives 100% scores for all measures but speed which is zero! This is apparently not linked to the false speeding result. Their system is clearly fundamentally flawed and will cancel. Need to have the argument about cancellation fees next .... but the system is clearly not fit for purpose. The contact suggest you need to pay 210GBP if you’ve installed the unit - but until then everything seems fine ... a fine scam! Need to get some legal advice as to whether I need to pay cancellation .... might be worth it to get away from these cowboys! Can you imagine what it’d be like if you needed to claim!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hello Simon, I'm truely sorry to hear about the experience you had with us. I can tell that it has been a frustrating one and from your review I would state that the service you've had has not been a representation of the level we pride ourselves on providing. If you so wish to raise a complaint concerning the experience or lack of service you've received please contact the customer relations team on contact@hastingsdirectsmartmiles.com. The team will look to investigate this in depth for you -Theo

Posted 7 years ago

“WORST COMPANY EVER, RUINED MY LIFE THE BUNCH OF *****!!! Cancelled me because I did 30 in a 20, oh nooo When I asked if I can cancel my insurance they said no, we will cancel it so your next insurers will charge more!!! Now I have to pay £4,000 at the age of 19. I know these are cheaper, and I looked at the reviews and was like nevermind it will be fine but it isn't! Do not go with these, the black box means you have to drive about 4mph and turn round the corner at 2mph otherwise you get a bad score and they threaten to cancel!!! STAY AWAY”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hi Sean, I'm sorry that your time with Hastings Smart miles has caused so much frustration and inconvenience. This policy isn't suitable for all customers and it's disheartening to see that you didn't have the best experience. I hope you have a better time with your new insurer. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review with us -Theo

Posted 7 years ago

“Never had a single point for breaking in 8 months. 92% for acceleration and 80% for speeding so doesn't make sense that i'd be breaking hard all the time. Hastings say there can't be anything wrong with the box as the breaking and acceleration are controlled by the same part inside the box and therefore if the acceleration works then the breaking must too. Yes I just accelerate up to the speed limit then break hard to make journeys more interesting 😕”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hello, I'm sorry to hear that you didn't have the best experience with our telematics box. I hope that any issues that may be present and would have caused this have been resolved since your review and your scores can improve soon. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review with us -Theo

Posted 7 years ago

“Took a smartmiles policy out for my daughter, after having no problems with a telematics box. Renew was supposed to be 25% bonus as a reward for her driving. Quote no satisfactory. With two weeks of box being fitted, received a threatening email, stating that her policy would be cancelled, with costs if her driving did ot improve. After contacting Hastings, it was agreed that the scores would be loked out after another 200 miles. Less than fifty miles later, had more calls and email, beside braking and accelerating, her night time reading was low. Although after yet another phone call,being told that 71% of he driving was outside the night time hours, BUT HER SCORE was only 15%. When asked Hasting, stated that they cannot inform me how this is calculated as it is done by underwriters, who load heavily against night driving. Also informed that the scores are like a ripple affect, more miles driven the scores should improve. So why bully drivers from the OFF, So I am now going to contact trading standards and governing body for insurers, as something is seriously wrong!!! Will not be using Hastings again, after this policy.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hello, I'm sorry to hear to about your daughter's recent poor experience with us. I can tell from your review that it was very frustrating and I hope that positive progress has been made since your review. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review with us -Theo

Posted 7 years ago

“I can't prove it, but I can absolutely confirm that the SmartBox and associated app was falsely or inaccurately reporting my driving style. The app presented a very low score across the board including speed, acceleration even though I know for a fact that I was within the national speed limit and never accelerate fast. I have dash cam of all my drives to prove this. When I reported it to customer services, within a few days the data seemed to be reset as all of a sudden all metrics were green. I don't trust this Smartbox at all. Be aware as your insurance with them could be adjusted or indeed cancelled if your driving style reported by the box does not improve leaving you hundreds of pounds out of pocket (because when they cancel your policy you still need to pay for the Smartbox). Either the boxes being used by Hastings Smartmiles are rubbish or something else is going on here that I cannot explain. Furthermore, a simple google search online confirms that this is a wide spread issue not isolated to a handful of people.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“The telematics box does not work... I have experience of working with telematics devices fitted to emergency services vehicles so know how the technology (should) works. The device was fitted to my daughters car and a number of times there were spurious readings such as the braking score falling by over 50% overnight 7000miles into the policy, I had cause to query with the company on four occasions, each time the call taker was unable to explain the readings but maintained that they had checked the box remotely and it was working correctly- not one of them could explain to me how the technology of the box worked, on two occasions they point blank refused to accept any appeal against the score because the overall score was still over 60, not once despite promising data by e-mail regarding time and place for the alleged extreme braking events was this forth coming, of interest - each time a particular score (time of day) improved there was a subsequent drop in one of the other scores which resulted in keeping the overall score static, This policy is an absolute scam avoid at all costs. UNLESS YOU LIKE BEING RIPPED OF LIED TO AND BEING TREATED LIKE AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT THAT IS. Shame there is no zero star option, and at that it would be still too good for these jokers”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Only gave it one star because there was no zero star option. Pay a little more and go elsewhere. Believe the poor reviews for this product. An absolute con, picking on new vulnerable drivers. They interpret the 'smart box' data unrealistically to try and push you to cancel your policy with a charge to them of hundreds of pounds. AVOID! AVOID! AVOID! AVOID !”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“The box on the vehicle drains battery because it is active 24/7, even when the engine is not running, meaning the battery can flatten if the car isn't used for more than a couple of days. This is extremely unreliable and inconvenient. Other insurers fit the box to the engine so that it is only active when the engine is running - meaning it doesn't risk flattening the battery. Go with other insurers and save yourself a lot of hassle with bad, counter-intuitive technology.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Should be an option for zero stars.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Worst company ever the customer advisers are extremely rude. Each customer assistant says a different thing. My policy got cancelled after TWO warnings (which was my time of day driving) however my policy states three warnings. They cancelled my policy and charged me a £210 cancellation fee. Once again the customer assistants are VERY RUDE.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Would give it zero - but no option for that. Fitted to my daughter’s 12 month old car on the basis that she’d only do 3000 a year as she parks at station to get to uni. After 6 weeks - flat battery. Kia tested battery with and without black box - black box draining battery as it’s a permanent live and she’s not doing enough mikes to recharge battery. Hastings disagree - must be a faulty box, send a new one. 4 weeks later - same problem! Now the advice is “drive it more!” It was a policy limited to 3k! Now it’s flat whenever she wants to drive it and the other option they’ve offered is to cancel the policy and pay for one that has a box fitted by a technician which is linked to the ignition. Unbelievable customer service- and NOT in a good way!”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Only gave it a star because there was no zero star option. What an absolute con! Sold on the basis you can save money by 'safe' driving. Reality is 11 months in and I've never scored a point on braking. It's been permanently on zero. Explanation... I need to do less stop start driving. I live in a city, what am I supposed to do ignore the lights and rush hour traffic? My onboard computer tells me my average speed is 16 miles/hour. How on earth can my braking score be zero at that speed? Never dealt with a company who are so obnoxious about their product being perfect and the false results being my fault. Tempted to report them for fraud. How can I save money if it refuses to score my braking. Loads of reports of similar issues online. Avoid this product or use it for one year then go elsewhere!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Would rate 0 if I could, Bigger scamming company than Ryanair.....enough said in that statement alone”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hastings Direct Smart Miles is rated 3.3 based on 2,006 reviews