Review: Hastings Car Insurance
By Ronny Lavie 
Summary
Hastings Direct aim to keep their prices low by being an online and phone only company. Independent financial researcher Defaqto has rated Hastings Direct's Car Insurance, Premier Car Insurance, and SmartMiles policies as 5 Star.
Click here to get a personalised quote from Hastings Direct Car Insurance.
Overview of the cover provided by Hastings Car Insurance
Founded in 1997, Hastings offer a number of financial products in addition to car insurance, including bike, van and home insurance.
Like most car insurers, Hastings have 3 main types of policies – third party only, third party, fire and theft and a comprehensive policy.
For comprehensive car insurance, Hastings Direct have 3 levels of car insurance cover to choose from – Essential, Standard and Premier.
Essential is the most basic cover, designed for those who want to keep costs down, but still comes with a guaranteed courtesy car, adjustable policy excess and all repairs guaranteed for 3 years. Your car is covered for damaged caused by an accident, vandalism, fire or theft.
Standard cover comes with all the benefits of Essential cover, plus lock replacements, child’s car or booster seat, cover for theft of keys, and cover for in-car audio and Sat Nav equipment.
Premium is yet another step up from Standard, with personal accident up to £5,000, windscreen cover, medical expenses up to £500 per person, personal belongings up to £300, roadside assistance breakdown and legal protection included. There is also £50 per person or £250 maximum for travel expenses and hotel accommodation in case you are not able to continue your journey due to the loss or damage of your car.
Hastings also offer a telematics car insurance policy called SmartMiles, for those who would like to keep costs down further and don’t mind their driving being monitored. Read our guide to the Best Black Box Car Insurance Providers to see how Hastings Direct SmartMiles compares.
All policies come with up to £25,000 legal liability cover for damage to other people’s property (for third party liability only cover this applies when driving a car not hired, owned or lent to you).
Customers also benefit from a half price MOT voucher for Halfords Autocentre with all quotes, access to a 24/7 UK claims helpline, 90 days EU cover and the option to pay monthly.
Optional extras such as protected no claims discount, legal protection up to £100,000, personal accident cover and breakdown cover are available at an added cost (when not included in policy).
Get a quote tailored to your needs online.
How much does Hastings Car Insurance cost?
The cost of car insurance varies according to many factors – including the age, make and model of the car, the mileage, what the car is predominantly used for, the postcode it is kept in and some of the driver’s personal details.
As Hastings Direct compare prices from a range of different providers, they strive to find the best quote for any individual’s needs.
A 10% multi-car discount is available (for each car) for households with more than 1 car, even if the drivers are not related.
See how much your car insurance will cost on Hastings' website.
What do Hastings Direct Car Insurance reviews from customers say?
Money.co.uk gave Hastings Car Insurance 3.4 out of 5 stars, with 57% of the 276 customers who left reviews saying they would recommend the service. On topcashback.co.uk, 99.38% of customers were satisfied with Hasting’s car insurance cover, based on over 25,000 completed transactions.
On other websites, the reviews are for Hastings Direct as a company, rather than their car insurance service specifically. TrustPilot rated Hastings Direct 8.3 out of 10, with 62.5% of the 4644 customers who left reviews awarding the company 5 out of 5 stars, and a further 20.1% awarding it 4 stars. It’s a similar story on reviews.co.uk – Hastings received 4.16 out of 5 stars, with 57% giving a 5 star review, and a further 23% giving 4 star reviews. On reviewcentre.com, Hastings Direct received 4 out of 5 stars, with 85% of the 5933 reviewers saying they would recommend the company.
What do Hastings Direct Car Insurance reviews from the experts say?
Independent financial researcher Defaqto has rated Hastings Direct's Car Insurance, Premier Car Insurance, and Smartmiles policies as 5 Star. A Star Rating indicates where a product or proposition sits in the market based on the quality and comprehensiveness of the features it offers. A 5 Star rated product "is an excellent product with a comprehensive range of features and benefits". Hastings Direct’s Essential Car Insurance policy is rated 2 star, making it "a product typically offering a below average range of features and benefits".
This article was independently written by Bought By Many. We were not paid to write it, but we may receive commission for sales that result from you clicking on a link to one of our partners.
