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 service is terrible, tried to up my premium after two month in due their own mistake. Nobody listens to you and they don't even put things down on the notes for the next person to deal with the case. Wouldn't recommend to anyone.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“NOT EVEN WORTH 1 STAR. Unfortunately before getting insured I didn't read the reviews but I wish I had! Within 1 month of driving, I received an email saying that I was way below the needed score of 40/100 and that they were going to cancel my insurance if I didn't 'improve' my driving even though I had been driving perfectly fine... One thing they do not make clear is that their 'no curfew' part of their policy is a load of lies as you cannot go out after 10pm without your score being significantly dropped. Just the other day they called to tell me that I had not improved my driving and they were cancelling my insurance and that I was going to have to pay them £260 "plus any other fees". When I asked to hear why and asked to hear the stats from the records, they were unable to provide any information as he "didn't have hold of them". Long story short, if you actually want to drive a car then don't insure yourself with this company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“I read the reviews of Hastings SmartMiles and thought, no that's not going to happen to me because i'm not stupid and my daughters a good driver, it must only happen to thick people, So i took out a policy on my daughters behalf and it happened to me! After 3 weeks of driving her brand new, smells lovely inside, 4 miles on the clock car so carefully, Hastings sent her 2 messages to say her driving was well below the 40 out of 100 score they require and may well cancel her insurance. I have cancelled this insurance post haste and gone elsewhere, the only advice i can give you is that if you have a car and want really cheap insurance as you're only planning to use the car as a paperweight or have it pushed everywhere then this is the policy for you. If however you actually want to drive your car then i suggest you do the same as John from Reading so beautifully put it when i read his review......................... "KEEP CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY ITS A CON". Happy motoring as the AA say (or is it the RAC)”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Please avoid its a con! We took out a smart miles black box policy for our sons second year of insurance as it came in the cheapest. The first year he was with another company and his driving score was very high, we were proud of his excellent driving. As soon as he joined hastings his driving score went so low within 4 weeks we had to cancel the policy before they did and caused us more problems. They say the proof is in the pudding, please read on. The old black box from his previous insurer was still in the car and guess what? it was still live and his driving showing perfect. When faced with the proof hastings claim their box works different, they except nothing and their sales staff are brainwashed. We are now many hundreds of pounds out of pocket, we have been ripped off. Months later and back with his old insurer we have no problems, their box was never disconnected and to us that is the only proof we need. We are so angry that a company so big need to rip people off, they cannot loose they took hundreds from us.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Not even worth one star. Absolutely dreadful. Misled by agents who then told us to lie to another insurance company over cancellation. Cancelled policy by telephone call at 3pm when phoned to confirm told recorded as cancelled at 2.10pm. Daughter did a total of 350 miles in 6 months never moved off 0 for braking. Drove for total of 20 minutes after 10 3x - dropped below 40 2x policy cancelled £210 for box £1400 in payments 6 months cover. Nice work if you can get it. Told me they have 8 weeks to respond to complaint of cancellation. Couldn't even read complaint back to me as had basically just written rubbish down. DO NOT BUY it's a scam and money laundering racket.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“give this company a wide birth BIG TIME I took this insurance out as I was told it was on performance then after going through everything I was told there was a curfew I said I wasn't sure about that as my daughter works late shifts and was told as long as she doesn't drive much on that day it would even out. I wasn't happy about that so I rang back to check and the lady was helpful and said this wasn't the insurance for my daughter and she would ring me back on the Monday to let me know if I could get my money back .I had to ring yet again and was told she'd email the woman I spoke to the woman did ring me back and again was helpful and we could cancel and I'd get my money back in 14 days .3 days later I'm still waiting no payment so I ring back again and asked to speak to the manager he told me it needed to go to the finance department so I explained I was going to have a full refund minus the £25 cancellation fee where was it and he explained he they needed to work out how much I had used after arguing with him he discovers I was right and no need to go to the finance department as he would authorise it (bull) . Next day still no money so I ring back again and now he tells me there is another 3-5 working days for them to sort it out. I told him he never said that and he told me you didn't ask!!!! I was also charged my first direct debit and have also got to wait for that even though the policy was cancelled I've ran up a £20 phone bill on top and still no money Back stay away from these cons it'll cost u more than going for a decent company”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Worst car insurance ever. Zero score for braking which never increases no matter how you drive and customer service cant give you a breakdown, just tell you to drive as if you have a bucket of water in seat beside you. Curfew of 10 pm which we we're never told about. Got overall score of 38 which seems to be a common number when reading the reviews. Was told if you are driving at 2 mph and you brake hard the G Force will cause the box to record bad breaking. there are 4 categories, 1st Time of day (most important according to Hasting) 2nd Braking (most important according to Hasting) 3rd Speed (most important according to Hasting but fortunately 1st for police) 4th Acceleration (most important according to Hasting) so. if you take this insurance racing away from stand still is a must. Paying £210. to get OUT of this scam is more than worthwhile.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“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”

Helpful Report

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.”

Helpful Report

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.”

Helpful Report

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”

Helpful Report

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.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Never insure with this company!!”

Helpful Report

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!”

Helpful Report

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”

Helpful Report

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!”

Helpful Report

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.”

Helpful Report

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 .”

Helpful Report

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!!!!”

Helpful Report

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”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

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