Hastings Direct Smart Miles Reviews

Name: Hastings Direct Smart Miles
Rating: 3.30

3.3 Rating 1,998 Reviews

56 %

of reviewers recommend Hastings Direct Smart Miles

3.3

Based on 1,998 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

“Worst insurance company I've ever used literally disgusting service”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

I am very sorry to hear this. We always strive to deliver excellent customer service, so if you would like the matter investigated, you can log a complaint using the online form below. https://www.hastingsdirectsmartmiles.com/contact ~Connor

Posted 5 years ago

“you only know how good a insurance company is when you make a claim." Not in this case. I rang to confirm the quote and insurance. Twice they couldn't do it. When I rang a third time the quote had gone up by 96 pounds. I was suppose to have a box fitted they failed too turn up twice. When they came and fitted the box it damaged my battery and wasn't working. It took them three attempts to get it correct costing me time. I made a complaint. Heard no more from it. I told them I would never use them again. I looked in my account last week and they had taken the money for this years insurance without consent and no mail from them as requested. I advised them at the start the only way to contact me was by post and text. This never happened. Their staff are rude. I had request my no claims bonus three times. They are a joke living on a different planet. waste of space. They now wont 90 pound to remove the box. lol”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hi, I am very sorry to see this. I would advise that if you have logged an official complaint this should be followed up by our SmartMiles team, so please send another follow-up e-mail so they can investigate. ~Connor

Posted 5 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

“The policy is sold on the premise that if you drive safely you'll be rewarded with a cheaper policy at renewal, but despite meeting that criteria my policy cost went up significantly instead of down. When I complained I was told I couldn't speak to the firm direct to query that and get a fairer quote.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hello, I'm sorry to hear this is the case. I appreciate the frustration it would have caused and I hope that you've since been able to find a price that's more suitable for you. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review with us -Theo

Posted 5 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

“Wish there was a 0 star rating. Appalling to the point I'm considering legal action.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Should be an option for zero stars.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Very poor, takes over 10 minutes to talk to someone, then cuts off & then when you do finally speak to someone they are rude & don?t want to make any effort to help you.. or actually listen to what your saying & talk over you half the time.. Not all staff but most. If it wasn?t for Megan (manager) for being so helpful & understanding then I wouldn?t of stayed. Thankyou Megan”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

I am sorry to hear this. Customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance and we will do our best to improve for the future, but I am also pleased to hear our manager restored your faith in our service. I will ensure your kind words are passed on. ~Connor

Posted 5 years ago

“Automatic renewal is sneaky and wrong. I am very disappointed with this company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hello,? I'm sorry that this process has caused some frustration. The automatic renewal is in place to reduce the risk of policyholders possibly forgetting about the renewal and driving uninsured once the policy ends. This is the alternative to cancelling the policy once the policy reaches it's end and run the risk of an accident occuring with the parties involved not being covered. You can always contact the team to remove the automatic renewal anytime during the policy year -Theo

Posted 5 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

“In 27 years of driving I have not had as much hassle when taking out the policy wanting all sorts of info no other insurance company ever wanted. I HAVE NOT RENEWED MY POLICY WITH YOU AND YOU HAVE SENT AN EMAIL SAYING I HAVE. I THINK THIS MAKES MY POINT HOW POOR THIS COMPANY IS!! Would I used Hastings again No.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hi Sandra,?? I'm really sorry you weren't pleased with the service we offer. If your policy has auto-renewal on and you have gone elsewhere, just let the team know and we will cancel it for you?? ~Joe

Posted 5 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

“You...yes you reading this. If you want to: -Be terrified of ever starting your car up -Have a driver rating score that never increases and only ever falls so Hastings can cancel the policy and charge you further -Never look out of the car window at potential danger as you're fixated on your speed indicator -Be reluctant to brake -Be generally stressed through fear of cancellation Then look no further, Hastings Smart Miles is the policy for you!”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Hastings Direct Smart Miles is rated 3.3 based on 1,998 reviews