Name: Hastings Direct Smart Miles
Rating: 3.34

“The concept is good but the GPS cannot detect slowing down for a dozen speed bumps. Last week it told me I was taking roundabouts too quick. It was 8am in the morning all the roundabouts were stacked. Lucky if I got past 10MPH. It also assumes that yiou drive a fiat 500 or Hyundai i10 that accelerates like a sloth climbing a tree. My cat accelerates with your foot hardly down. It’s just another big brother gimic. No my fault accidents on the road on 33 years and no pointd”

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Posted 1 month ago

“When I drive I always concern about the tab. I want to make a perfect score, but this would even more dangerous. I am afraid to brake normally.”

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Posted 2 months ago

“After trying to connect the black box to my phone a dozen times with no joy they emailed me and said they would cancel my insurance finally I did connect it and it worked but it doesn't record all my journeys it say once you have connected as long as you have your phone with you it will record your journeys but that is not the case they sent me an email saying they were having technical problems I don't know what the problem is but its not recording every journey”

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Posted 5 months ago

“Want to be constantly worried about your score and being cancelled? then go here! spent more time worrying about my score than driving itself and gave me driving anxiety! these blackbox will never take into account real driving situations or scenarios i.e someone pulls out on you and you get marked down as clearly you're a boy racer. Sent them probably 7 emails well over 2 month ago and heard nothing, funny how they have time to report my trustpilot reviews but not answer support tickets regarding insurance policies.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“I am with Hastings Direct now, and have a Fiat 500. I am a new driver and am due to renew come October 2020. I check my scores religiously , and my score for speed as remained at 40 for some time now. Every other score is green so am happy with that. I have read that if my score drops below 40, my policy will be cancelled & I will struggle getting a policy elsewhere ? Is this true? Can someone let me know please.”

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Posted 3 years ago

Hello there, Sorry for any confusion regarding your driving score. If you would like to discuss this and find out how we measure this please call our call centre on 01733 308 380. ~Freddy

Posted 3 years ago

“All in all, it's just overly harsh. I have an overall score of 83, but my acceleration and braking have been rated in the 50s - 60s, which is frankly ridiculous. I don't accelerate harshly whatsoever, and if I brake any less I would probably stall. Unfortunately, it seems like Hastings has rigged their system in order to gather as much money from young drivers as possible, luring them in initially by undercutting competitors, but at a significant unknown cost to the policyholders. Definitely will be going elsewhere when my insurance comes to renewal.”

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Posted 4 years ago

Hi Jake, I apologise if you've had a negative experience. We do have a team dedicated to helping you improve your score and you can reach them by calling 0333 999 8372, they'll be happy to look into this. ~Elle

Posted 4 years ago

“Good if you want cheap insurance for first time driver. The black box however seems useless. For the first few weeks my braking score went right down even with an experienced driver who was also on the policy driving. The score soon went back up but now my acceleration is going right down. I have tried accelerating to the point where it is dangerously slow but no matter how fast or slow I accelerate the score still goes down. The worst part is that my score goes down by simply moving my car off the driveway onto the road outside my house where there is physically no possible way of accelerating fast. The black box map which shows you where you have been jumps massively along the journey. Will not be going back with Hastings Direct smart miles even if the quote is significantly lower than any other insurance company's.”

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Posted 4 years ago

Hello Thank you for taking the time to leave a review with us. I'm very sorry to read that you've not had a positive experience with the telematics box. The score tends to update roughly every 70 miles so perhaps you can look for that marker and see what the score is once you reach that point. If you don't believe that it reflects your driving, please contact the First Response Unit on 0333 999 8452 and an adviser can take a look at this with you. I hope that your experience with the telematics policy improves soon. ~Theo

Posted 4 years ago

“I’m a new driver, and I’m 6 months in to my policy. All was great, none of my scores dropped below 85, until about 6 weeks ago, when my braking score started falling rapidly. I haven’t personally noticed anything different with my driving. I feel that the score is very quick to fall, but it seems to take weeks for points to reappear. I appreciate that the point is that you work on improving, but it takes so long that I feel my driving only counts if the system thinks it’s bad, not good? It’s incredibly stressful, and I feel it’s unfair that if I’m reacting to someone pulling out on me, or someone else braking sharply themselves, I lose points. It feels impossible to get a good braking score back on this system”

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Posted 4 years ago

Hello, I'm very sorry to read that you've had such a poor experience while on your Smart miles policy and I hope that some positive progress has been made since the point of your review. If this continues to be an issue, please contact the Smart miles First Response Unit on 0333 999 8452. A member of the team would be happy to take a look at your policy and discuss the scores with you. ~Theo

Posted 4 years ago

“I haven't had a bad experience per se but I don't really understand how the acceleration scores are calculated. My acceleration score is 56 and I've never seen it go up only down even though I feel like I'm a really safe driver and very rarely accelerate harshly. My sister was very confused also as she says I drive like a granny. I also dont understand why it says I drive during the day over 99% of the time but my time of day score is 85.”

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Posted 4 years ago

Hi Alice, I'm sorry if you were unhappy with your score. We have a team dedicated to helping you improve this and you can reach them on 0333 999 8372, they'll be happy to help. ~Elle

Posted 4 years ago

“Very confused with how sensitive my Hastings smart miles telematics box is? Each time I drive my car (Vauxhall Corsa) my overall score declines. It is currently showing up as a good overall score of 61/100 but I’m very worried why my score seems to in no way shape of form improving? I’ve had my policy for nearly 3 months now and I’m just struggling to figure out how to keep at least a good score to avoid any cancellation. Being a new young driver I don’t want insurance to be anymore difficult to afford than what it already is and the stress of worrying about something that shouldn’t be so stressful! I’ve read everything about my policy and about the insurance company on how I can improve etc. Queries about my score : Acceleration : Since taking out my policy my acceleration score 90% of the time declines, normally by 1 or 2 points each journey I make. So I did my own experiment on how I could improve. I began by using 1st gear just to pull away with and crawling in traffic, 2nd gear for crawling in slow moving but not standstill traffic and building up speed. Then 3rd gear for driving in 20 zones and in built up areas and other roads for example which may have many parked cars to then build up some speed to change to 4th gear in 30/40mph zones. I only use 5th gear while on dual carriageways and on the motorway. This did manage to start building my score up again but only for a short while. I managed to build my acceleration score from 53/100 to 59/100 just for it now to fall back to 51/100 even though my driving hasn’t changed since that time of improving... it doesn’t make sense. It’s even caused me to stall many times, especially on hills as I’m too scared to rev on the accelerator thinking that my score is going to drop. I live in a city where there are many steep hills and slopes so sometimes it’s unavoidable. Braking - Now braking is my worst score! I’ve got 4/100. I’m considering getting myself a dash cam to prove that I keep more than enough good distance behind other cars and giving myself plenty of time to brake. Could it be that I may have a problem with my brake pads? I’m not sure but I am having them changed this upcoming weekend and I’m hoping new brakes might help improve my score and performance. Even on a sunny clear day I brake in plenty of time and as smoothly as I can almost like I’m in icy conditions! I think they are too harsh with the braking score. Sometimes you can’t help needing to brake sharply or suddenly, especially where I live, other drivers just have the audacity to pull out in front of you or chance dangerous manoeuvres! Has anyone else managed to improve their braking score or is there no going back? Speed - My speed score is pretty standard. It is 80/100 even though I know I never speed. I can not stand speeding, even in 20mph zones. I believe it’s that speed for a reason. Black box or not I keep to the rules of the road on that one. I believe my score may have dropped because a road may not be updated on their system yet. There is a new dual carriageway in my city that’s recently changed from a 30mph to a 40mph and I use that road at least twice a week. Could be the culprit so I’m not too worried about that as I trust Hastings will have there’s record of roads updated regularly. Time of day - I understand and I know that is has been stated on the policy that there is a ‘curfew’ between 10pm and 5am. Hastings do state that driving after 10pm could affect your score but understands that people can’t always avoid driving after this time. Especially for me I get the odd shift at work which requires me to finish at 10pm. Even though I rarely get a shift like that, I still have to drive myself safely home otherwise it’s a 2 hour bus journey and why should I catch a bus and be less safe when I have a car and license! I’ve very rarely drove between these hours and the latest I’ve ever drove is 11. I do believe they should extend the hours between 11/12 till like 5. I know they say that accidents are more likely to happen between the hours they have stated and at least they give a bit of way with that. It’s not advisable to take the policy if you have to drive after 10pm regularly. I do disagree with having a curfew, it doesn’t make driving feel as free as it should be. I know they’re trying to avoid accidents and look out for their drivers but really? If something bad is going to happen it’s going to happen and can happen any time of the day. I don’t tend to drive after 9pm anyway but when I need to drive later it can be very frustrating. Overall, it’s just an average black box and telematics system. I believe that some people can get faulty problems with them and I don’t believe they’re always true. What ever happened to us relying on technology now a days. It’s proven that all types of technology isn’t always correct so the same out look should be for the black box. Not too long back the Daily Mail flagged up an article ‘Can you really trust your vehicles black box ?‘ So far I won’t be renewing with Hastings smart miles if this problem with the black box persists until I see improvements again. It can not be blamed just fully on my driving, they also need to realise that new drivers don’t learn how to drive properly until after passing and driving on their own. Also take in to consideration that every car feels different to drive and drivers need a chance to get use to their car and how their car works. For example my corsa could give a completely different score to an Mercedes or Fiat as they all work different in some way? And how do they expect to receive more customers when all they seem to do is get bad reviews? Won’t surprise me if they go bust when everyone stops renewing with them or serious legal action is taken against them by the sounds of things. My personal experience so far is 40/100 and it’s now up to Hastings if they want to be fair to me and their other customers that seem to be having the same problems as I am. All they need to be is more considerate and have more faith in their drivers. Fingers crossed I see improvements !”

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Posted 4 years ago

Hello, I'm sorry to hear you feel this way and I hope you have since managed to speak to someone to look into this for you. We do have a team specifically designed to help you improve your score and they are our first response team. You can contact them on 0333 999 8372 to look into this for you but in the meantime we'll be sure to pass your feedback on to the relevant department. If you do have any further queries around your policy and you need to get in contact with us, you can email us at socialmedia@hastingsdirect.com. ~Ethan.

Posted 4 years ago

“The WORST. Hastings direct has caused me nothing but stress!!!! Please save yourself the trouble. Lazy, inconsiderate and sloppy! Way more hassle than it’s worth. The worst communication and correspondence team I’ve ever experienced. Various mistakes constantly made on there behalf yet no effort to rectify. If you want anything done you have to call them 10 thousand times! This company will find any opportunity to squeeze money out of you, i have even had claims put on my account that did not even exist!! They will find any opportunity to try and cancel your policy and even tried to cancel me because I changed my job ( even though I made it explicitly clear that I would not be driving to work). Impossible to communicate with, and when you do finally get of hold majority of the team are RUDE. You can just tell the don’t care about you or your problems. Please young drivers, STAY AWAY!!!”

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Posted 4 years ago

Hello, I'm sorry to read that you had such a poor experience with us and if throughout your time you did not receive the level of customer service you deserve. Please be aware that the occupation is a rating factor on the policy so whether you drive to work or not the correct information does need to be recorded on the cover or the policy would be invalid. If you have since cancelled the policy with Hastings Smart miles, I hope that you were able to find suitable, competitive cover for your vehicle. Also if you do wish to raise a complaint with the Smart miles team concerning the poor experience you've had, please contact them on contact@hastingsdirectsmartmiles.com so this can be raised for you ~Theo

Posted 4 years ago

“The concept is good drive well and pay less BUT i am a very experienced driver never brak hard (unless something like an amber gambler or someone stepping out suddenly very rare occasion) i change down the gears well before traffic lights or stop signs , and never get a score for braking. Acceleration 100 % speed 90% times of day 65 % i have tried not to break at all just slowing down withthe gears gently to a stop and STILL 0 for braking !!!!!! Explain PLEASE”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hello Arthur, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. Our SmartMiles team should be able to look into your scores and discuss this matter further with you. If you would like to contact the team then you can call them on 01733 308 380. ~ Amber

Posted 4 years ago

“I generally had good experiences with the company, however I braked sharply the other day (prior to this, my scores on everything were 100) because a car in front of me failed to brake in enough time and now much braking score is stuck on 15 and won’t go up? Like I said, there was one trip where I needed to brake sharply but since then I’ve been making sure not to and still there’s been no change, whether this be an increase or decrease in score.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi there, Thanks for your review. Sorry to see you have not received the service we strive to provide. Our team in Smart\Miles are available to offer you tips or helpful hints on how you can improve your driving score as you may be effecting it without realizing. You can reach the team on 01733 308 380 and they will be able to look into this for you. ~ Harriot

Posted 5 years ago

“My telematics box fitting was due between 9am and 1pm. I phoned smart Miles at 1:30 as no one had turned up Someone turned up at 3:30 We weren’t notified that they would be late, so I was unhappy with the service”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi there, Thank you for your feedback, I'm really sorry to read you wasted your afternoon and nobody contacted you to make you aware that the engineer would be late. Hopefully you have not had any issues since. ~ Jamie

Posted 5 years ago

“The SmartMiles 'black box' just seemed to be very inaccurate - my breaking and acceleration scores were very poor even though I drove as if I was taking my test every journey. The speed score seemed to work fine, but having a curfew at 10:00pm is ridiculous as that isn't that late at all, and often I'd find myself having to come back from work after those hours, again giving me a very poor score. Overall, it did the job in getting my insurance cheaper for the first year but it was the cause of a lot of stress as due to the inaccuracies of its recordings, I nearly wasn't eligible for the discount. - James”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi there,I'm sorry that you feel the box was inaccurate, especially surrounding your braking and acceleration scores. The box picks up G-Force and require very smooth and gently movements which can take a bit of practice to emulate. WE are very transparent about our requirements with time of day driving as statistically you are more likely to have an accident between the hours or 10pm and 5am. We have this time to protect our policy holders, suggesting they don't drive between these times. Its great though, to see you managed to save some money at renewal and thank you for letting us cover you for another year.~ Jamie

Posted 4 years ago

“The chap was very pleasant but my goodness the experience was painful. I was on the phone for approx 47 minutes just to pay and I still haven?t received an email receipt!!! Instead you?re quick to send me several email survey requests.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi there,I'm sorry that the process seems to have been a negative one when trying to make a payment. Hopefully by the time you receive this response, you will have received your receipt. ~ Jamie

Posted 4 years ago

“They should NOT have taken payment for the ensuing years' insurance BEFORE the due date: Also i should have been notified that I could protect my no claims bonus BEFORE the payment was taken, I was told on the 'phone last Saturday that had this been the case, I could have done so, but once the payment had gone, no. NOT IDEAL.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi there,Thank you for your feedback. I'm sorry to see you have had your policy renew without your prior knowledge. We do send our renewal invitations out 28 days prior to your policy expiring and have a level of responsibility as an insurer to make sure you are always covered. If we don't hear from you, and you have an automatic renewal, your policy will renew. I completely understand how frustrating this can be, especially if you wanted to add additional extras to it and hope you have managed to speak with an advisor to rectify the situation.~ Jamie

Posted 4 years ago

“I was on hold for 16mins and then transferred on hold another 8 mins for the lady to say she would transfer me again only to be cut off 5 mins later on hold This was to renew my policy, doesn't look good for the future”

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Posted 5 years ago

HI there,Thank you for this review. I'm sorry to see you have had such a negative experience dealing with our Customer Services team. I can only imagine how frustrating this must have been for you and apologise for any distress or upset caused.~ Jamie

Posted 4 years ago

“It could be improved by giving real and accurate ratings. The ratings did not reflect a true interrpretation of my driving. The only good thing was the price was lowered, the score was however wrong”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi there,Thank you for your feedback. I'm sorry to see you feel the scores were inaccurate, if you are not sure, or want to question any of the scores provided, we have a dedicated team that can talk you through them. You can contact the First Response Unit on 0800 048 2955.~ Jamie

Posted 4 years ago

“Back in May i notified Hastings of a very small incident in my car, whereby my car and another slightly clashed wing mirrors. I didn't make any claim and neither has the other party as we never took any details from each other. When it came round to receiving my email regarding my renewal this month, my premium had shot up and my no claims bonus had been taken away from me. I was given no prior warning or explanation as to why this was, just left me to find out for myself. I was told that for 6 months after the 'notification' they have to leave the channel open for a claim and therefore I now have to pay ?30 a month for my insurance because of this and I have no choice to go with another company because I don't have my no claims so it's quite clever how they do it really. I sincerely hope my premium will go back down when they find the people don't claim because they have absolutely no details and there was no damage done for a claim. Also just to add that when I was sent my renewal last year, I renewed after seeing how good the price was, only to receive an email a few months back to tell me i'd actually been paying more and they had only just noticed the mistake. I might add as well that I was told the 'notification' may still affect my premium despite a claim not being made and I find this shocking as the first person I spoke to on the phone said I had one of the best driving ratings he has seen in a very long time.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Hi there, Thank you for your feedback. I'm sorry to see that you have been given conflicting information regarding notifying of the 'incident' that you had back in may. Unfortunately it is your duty to inform your insurer of any misdemeanours that may occur. If the other driver had gone home and decided to make a claim against you, we would potentially only have his version of events. This does get wiped from your policy after 6 months but I completely understand how frustrating this must be for you. Its great to see you have a high driving behaviour score though.~ Jamie

Posted 4 years ago


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

Hastings Direct Smart Miles Reviews