Hastings Direct Smart Miles Reviews

Name: Hastings Direct Smart Miles
Rating: 3.28

3.3 Rating 2,011 Reviews

56 %

of reviewers recommend Hastings Direct Smart Miles

3.3

Based on 2,011 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

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“I had a box in my car and I started working till after 10 so I was driving between 10-5, I called the insurance and explained my situation, they did nothing for me and I was basically being punished and lossing my score because I was working late to afford to pay the bill.”

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Posted 8 years ago

Hi, We're very sorry, driving after 10pm ?is a core influencer of scores so we're unable to modify the insurer's terms in this regard to accommodate?customers habits. Our product is specifically designed to keep our customers from driving in the most risk-laden times in return for a discounted price at renewal ~Joe?

Posted 6 years ago

“Very efficient service. Would definitely recommend.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Excellent service”

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Posted 8 years ago

“This company is the worst company EVER for car insurance and they are scamming the young, inexperienced drivers. My daughter took out their insurance 2 months ago and is having to cancel it as she cannot increase her score to the required target. The telemetry is WRONG- my husband has 35 years driving experience and has driven the car for the last week and the score still hasn't changed. The staff you have to deal with are shocking and by the time we are finished with it, we will be several hundred pounds lighter! The kids have it hard enough as it is with the cost of insurance and this just adds insult to injury. I cannot believe they are still trading and will be writing to Watchdog as soon as I have finished writing this review. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Cheap insurance for my second year but not worth it. Wish I'd read the reviews and just paid more money! My acceleration score has never been more than 25 since the day I had the box fitted despite driving ridiculously slowly up hills and pulling away in order to make the score go up and yet nothing changed. I contacted the company for advice and was sent a generic email stating that they cannot share that information. Time of day is also down because I drove after 10pm about a month ago, my score has barely increased despite having not driven it AT ALL outside of curfew. The feedback doesn't actually tell you how to improve and the staff are not helpful at all, wish I'd never taken out a policy with them. Might have to see if I can afford to move to another insurer. RUBBISH.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Don't bother using if you have to accelerate slightly faster to get up very steep hills and pull out on to National Speed limit roads, all whilst going to and from work before 5am and after 10pm.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Very inaccurate scoring. Money making scam.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“My 19 year olds daughter has just had her policy cancelled for having 39 points (below their 40) Her speed and acceleration are above both above 90 but she has 0 for the time of day and 15 for braking. She was then really careful with her braking but apparently didn't drive enough to improve her score! How they expect the car not to be driven after 10 is beyond me. At no time was this made clear when taking out the policy. Given 7 days to improve her score she was frightened to drive the car. Only when I rang was I told that if she didn't drive after 10.00pm that would improve her score and she would be fine. Wish I had read the reviews before taking out this policy.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“The mechanism for calculating the driver rating is completely floored. My Son has been an excellent driver and this is 2nd Year of insurance. No issues at all with Coop insurance and the telematics box yet with Hastings absolutely ridiculous. Tried to talker the the rationale with customer services and only answer I got was a patronising 'This is how telematics works madam' I would not recommend this service for any you driver. Cancelling the policy and returning to Coop”

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Posted 8 years ago

“We took out this policy because of the price... BIG MISTAKE. I am a Grade A instructor of 30 years experience and even my driving would not add points to the pitiful 30 that they put my Daughter down to for her braking ! We were told to install the box 9 days before the start date of her insurance, which we did, but did not expect them to penalise her before the policy came into effect! The result of this is that she was afraid to brake, and this is supposed to promote good, safe driving ?? We have cancelled the policy ( be aware your 14 days notice of cancellation begins when you install the box NOT when the policy starts). We were charged £25 to cancel and told the telematics ( black box ) was non refundable, total cost for just 3 days insurance was just over £225. Total Ripoff !! Reading the reviews on here I am convinced these boxes are faulty and intend to follow this up. In the meantime tell everyone you know about these scammers, I am telling all my pupils. One had a narrow escape, as his parents were just about to book with this company.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Highway robbery !!”

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Posted 8 years ago

“My son had his insurance cancelled due to poor breaking.. what a joke of a company PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read the other comments before buying from these guys.. do not use Hastings there is nothing smart about our children being ripped off by an insurance company... you may as well flush your money down the toilet.. I will never use this company ever again..”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Well personally for me this insurance company have been really good. My first year I paid just under 1200 including breakdown cover and when I came to renew my insurance I was quoted under 500 ! Including breakdown ! It was fantastic !”

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Posted 8 years ago

“What went wrong? It would be easier for me to explain what went right!. Absolutley terrible service! Sent me 4/5 letters threatening to cancel my insurance for absolutley no reason! They have me 2 warnings for 'excessively speeding' when I phoned them to find out the speed I was supposedly doing they refused to answer. The staff are terribly rude and not helpfull at all. Don't be fooled by the cheap quotes because you will pay for it in the long run! Thank cod I have switched insurers! Do NOT go with Hastings direct smart miles!!!!!!!”

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Posted 8 years ago

“DO NOT TAKE OUT A POLICY WITH THEM- My speed is FINE and scored HIGH AND SO IS MY ACCELERATION! TIME OF DAY: 86% DAYTIME DRIVING BUT STILL SCORES ZERO. BRAKING: 0 They have cancelled my policy and told me to drive more carefully next time I drive. Cancelled my insurance and still took a my money for that month. STAFF ARE SO RUDE. I am now in my overdraft because I have to fork out another deposit. 26 days in. Really upset and broke. :-(”

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Posted 8 years ago

“I took this smart miles box out a couple of days ago. I've done one journey of 86miles mostly motorways. I drive at a steady 50-60mph to get fuel economy - guess what... on this one journey I scored 100% for speed, 100% for braking, but 0% for acceleration. I guess Hastings Insurance don't know how to join a motorway correctly... For the record, i'm 45 years old and rather awkard so intend to be a fly in the ointment with Hastings and beat their target of 50% despite their scams. I voted this 5 stars to draw attention, as it looks like most people wouldn't even rate 1 star. Watch this space in 2017 for further feedback.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“I'm 19 and i took this insurance out as it was the cheapest, sadly I didn't read the reviews! I've had it for a few weeks and already my score is dropping dramatically! My boyfriend is normally in the car with me when I use it and he even says my driving is perfectly fine! Even when I drive slow to avoid braking as much it still seems to go down! If it continues to go down then i will be cancelling my insurance! They've already added £70 on each month for reasons I still don't no! Customer service was a pile of Sh*t as well! Very Arrogant! Wouldn't give my parter any infomation as to why is has gone up even though his name is on the system as a second driver! I'm only a couple of weeks in so I dread to think what it will be like in a few months! 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻”

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Posted 8 years ago

“It feels overly generous giving 1 star since I was sold insurance that wasn't fit for purpose. Despite knowing I'm a nurse (adding a young driver) they never mentioned I'd be penalised greatly on the black box due to my shifts. Only mentioning the expected rush hours. The advice to improve my score is to car share/use other transport when travelling late at night to reduce the use age of my car! Looking for an alternative company. Of very little use to young drivers who often top up studies/income with bar/waitressing work. Avoid!!!”

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Posted 8 years ago

“If I could give 1 star I would. This company is the most ridiculous insurance company ever. My sons speed score was 95 and his acceleration was 60. In two separate incidents someone pulled out in front of him causing him 2 brake and his score dipped to 38. I was in the car on both occasions with him so was witness to it. Policy cancelled because of OTHER people even though his speed was excellent. SAVE YOUR MONEY take insurance elsewhere. Very unhelpful”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Took out the policy as soon as i passed, the price was great and so no questions was asked, two warnings later and a threat of cancellation i have had to cancel the insurance myself. Unclear terms and conditions such as the curfew, claims that there isn't one yet driving between 10pm-5pm affects your score. Don't insure with this company, it is a terrible organisation especially for young drivers. I have insured myself with a better company with clear conditions.”

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Posted 8 years ago

Hastings Direct Smart Miles is rated 3.3 based on 2,011 reviews