According to a study by NimbleFins car insurance experts, Hastings Direct wrote more than £1.6 billion of motor insurance premiums last year, making them one of the best car insurance companies UK, but how do they compare? Read our review to learn how their features stack up; to see how prices compare for you, it's important to compare Hastings car insurance quotes against other cheap car insurance options. Click the blue "Get Quotes" button below to see how much you can save—the panel includes Hastings, Admiral, AXA, RAC, and over 100 other brands.

• Hastings Direct Insurance: Our Thoughts
  • Customer Reviews of Hastings Direct Insurance
  • Admin and cancellation fees
• Car Insurance Review
  • Multi Car Insurance
  • YouDrive Telematics
• Bike Insurance Review
• Home Insurance Review

Hastings Direct: Decent Reviews and Competitive Rates

Hastings is a very popular insurance company that specializes in home, car and motorcycle policies in the UK. Hastings works with a panel of underwriters including their sister company Advance Insurance, AXA, Covea and Lloyds to provide attractive features and competitive insurance rates.

Hastings may not be the cheapest quote you get, but they offer decent customer service, competitive prices and coverage options to appeal to most people—and if the very good customer reviews are anything to go by, Hastings is definitely an insurance company worth considering.

Which Hastings Plan is Best?

Hastings offers three levels of coverage, plus some additional offerings and brands. In terms of standard car insurance, if you can afford a Hastings Direct or Premier plan, these have much better features than the Hastings Essential plan.

Those who are very budget conscious can opt for a one of Hastings' lower-tier plans with fewer features rather than a Hastings Premier plan—just be conscious of the features you'll miss out on—or benefit from other favorable pricing options. For instance, young drivers can opt for Hastings' black box YouDrive programme which tracks driving style using a black box tracker.

Where to Buy Hastings Direct Insurance?

You can buy a Hastings insurance policy directly from them or compare their prices against dozens of alternatives via a comparison site like our car insurance partner, QuoteZone:

Prices from comparison sites tend to be lower, but policies might have a higher excess or lower upper cover limits so check the details carefully before buying.

Who Underwrites Hastings Direct?

The majority of Hastings insurance policies are underwritten by Advantage Insurance Company, which is also part of the Hastings Group, but around 1 in 10 policies are underwritten by a panel of partner insurance companies:

Hastings Direct Customer Reviews and Complaints

Over 140,000 customers have rated Hastings Direct with 4.2 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot and another 46,000 customers have awarded a rating of 4.2 on reviews.co.uk. We read through hundreds of reviews to get a feel for the typical customer experience. Here are some positive customer reviews. We think the first comment about the black box is particularly interesting for anyone considering this type of policy to save money:

"Worried about having a 'blackbox'? I became worried about having a 'black box' snooping on me just after moving to Hastings Direct. I needn't have worried. I enjoy the experience and I only have had my driving quality confirmed. Declaring you know you are a decent driver doesn't mean anything until you have hard data to back that claim up. I do now and its good fun using the app."

"Excellent service and price as always. Very helpful staff."

"Quality product at a reasonable price."

"Very easy, great price, and nice app."

"Hastings came up trumps once again, like for like insurance at a lot lower price than my last insurer."

"I did it online, and it was easier than I thought!!"

"Easy to use online service. No hassle and no fuss. Knocked over £60 off my old companies renewal notice"

And some negative Hastings Direct customer reviews:

"The one thing you can't do is cancel auto renewal on the 'my account' which means you're required to ring them."

"Cancelled policy and had to pay high charges"

Generally, we found that customer reviews reflect an easy buying process, easy and competitive prices, but some customers are unhappy with the cancellation fees or with having to call in to cancel a renewal. We should point out that Hastings Direct cancellation fees are lower than the UK average insurance cancellation fees—except that arrangement fees incurred before cancellation are not refundable, essentially reducing any refund by £12.50 - £20.

Hastings Direct App

Over 2.3 million customers have downloaded the Hastings Direct app, and awarded it with 4.6 stars on the App Store (4.5 stars on Google Play). The app allows you to easily access your policies, payments and documents; change or update a car insurance policy in a few simple steps; and start or track a car claim (without the need to call).

Hastings Direct Webchat and Portal

Hastings Direct aims to provide good customer service, with online chat open until 6pm Monday to Friday (and 1 pm on the weekend) and claims lines open 24/7. We tested their webchat on a few occasions and found the customer service staff to be friendly and very knowledgeable, resolving our questions in minutes with no wait time. Plus, you can register with MyAccount to initiate a claim (if your policy number starts with 'XA'), view your payments and make many changes to your policy online 24/7.

Hastings Cancellation Fees

Hastings cancellation fees are lower than average in the UK, and are particularly good for cars because there's no cancellation fee during the cooling off period (the average cancellation fees in the UK are £24 during the cooling off period and £55 afterwards).

Hastings Direct Car Insurance Review

For the most part, Hastings Direct coverage for auto insurance is similar to what you'd get from the competitors. They offer three tiers of cover: Hastings Essential (which you'll find on comparison sites) as well as Hastings Direct and Hastings Premier, which range from least to most coverage.

In addition, for young drivers, Hastings Direct has a black box programme called YouDrive that offers discounts for a safe and responsible driving style. The Hastings app can be used by policyholders to track their driving style, make claims and view policy documents.

Nice-to-have features for their mid-range and most popular Hastings Direct policies include a guaranteed courtesy car while your car is being repaired after an accident—which you are eligible for if you use one of the Hastings Direct approved repairers. Here is a summary of add-on features available:

Hastings Direct Car Insurance Coverages

Here are some ways the youdrive, Hastings Essential, Hastings Direct and Hastings Premier plans differ:

Hastings Comprehensive Coverages	HastingsDirect youdrive	Hastings Essential	Hastings Direct	Hastings Premier
Courtesy car
EU cover
Driving other cars (subj to approval)
Windscreen cover
Vandalism promise
Uninsured driver promise
Personal belongings cover
Motor legal expenses	£29.99	£29.99	£29.99
RAC breakdown	from £34.99	from £34.99	from £34.99
24/7 claims helpline
Manage your policy 24/7

Does Hastings do delivery driver insurance?

No, Hastings does not cover delivery driving, but Hastings policyholders can potentially engage in paid delivery work if they buy a suitable top-up hire & reward policy and get approval from Hastings. Read more about that in our article Does Hastings do delivery insurance?

Hastings Direct Car Insurance Quotes

In tests run by NimbleFins car insurance experts, Hastings Direct car insurance rates were good to average versus the competition. In particular, our analysis showed that Hastings offered good prices for motorists in bigger urban areas, such as car insurance for London and Birmingham car insurance.

Hastings Direct Promo Code

The discounts that Hastings Direct offers are quite standard across the market, with most discounts tied to how you pay or, for car and bike policies, vehicle storage and safe driving habits. Hastings Direct will also grant discounts to policyholders who are members of certain organizations and for bundling multiple vehicles under the same policy.

Probably the easiest way to save money on a Hastings Direct home insurance policy is to pay for the year in advance rather than by monthly direct debits. By opting to pay in monthly installments you are charged a finance charge around 29.9%, which adds significantly to your insurance costs.

In fact, this is even higher than most credit card interest rates. If you're able to pay the full year upfront then you pay the premium only—no interest charges.

For example, by paying monthly on a buildings & contents policy costing £225, you'd actually make total payments throughout the year totaling £259. The extra £34 you end up paying is due to finance charges alone. If you're not sure you'll need the full year's worth of insurance, you can cancel your policy at any time—subject to a £45 cancellation fee if you cancel after 14 days and possibly a £12.50 call centre charge/an underwriter charge.

Hastings Direct Multi Car Insurance

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Consider this if you want great-quality, affordable car insurance with 10% multi car discounts from a company people recognise and trust.

More than one vehicle at home?

With a Hastings Direct Multi Car policy you can have one policy for all the cars registered at your home address—you’ll get a discount for every car you add! And it's not just family members that can benefit—even friends who live together can take advantage of multi car discounts with Hastings.

How does it work? You'll save 10% on the premium for every car added to Multi Car cover, and you're allowed to add up to 4 cars. As with single car car insurance, you can pay monthly or annually, but either way there's just one payment to cover all of the cars. This doesn't just make payments easier; it also make renewal and admin like a change of address simpler as well because you only have to contact Hastings once, not separately for each vehicle.

Each car will have its own policy, so no claims discounts can be built up for the primary driver of each vehicle. But there's one main account holder who manages payments, changes and renewal.

Note: When you add a car to a Hastings Multi Car policy, the 10% discount is applied immediately to the new car you're adding, but the 10% discount won't be applied right away to cars that were already on the policy (the discount for those will be applied at the next renewal).

Multi Car benefits

^Hastings Essential policies don't include windscreen cover and come with £1,000 personal accident cover as standard. ^^Not included on Hastings Essential policies.

Introducing Hastings Direct YouDrive

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Consider this if you want an easy-to-install and easy-to-use telematics policy to reward your safe driving.

Hastings Direct YouDrive looks at your actual driving style, so you could get a great price on day one and, if you drive well, you should get keep getting great prices every year. It's easy to set up and you'll be able to track how you're driving via their easy-to-use app.

We like that there are no restrictions on when you can drive (some competing products penalise late-at-night driving, for instance), that set up is simple (and DIY—no waiting for a technician to intall a black box!—more on this below) and that the tracking app is highly rated by users.

What are the benefits of YouDrive (telematics insurance)?

How does it work? Hastings YouDrive uses an app on your phone and a wireless tab to track things like your phone usage, turning, braking and acceleration. After each trip, your driving score is updated (it's a score out of 100) and you can see how you did across all metrics.

Getting started is quite straightforward and involves three simple steps:

The wireless tab comes in the post within a few days of buying your policy and set up involves linking the tab and the app your phone (by allowing permissions on your phone and pushing a button on the tab) and then sticking the tab to the bottom corner of your windscreen using the pre-attached adhesive. It's really quick and easy.

We should also point out that the app is rated 4.6 stars in the App Store, which is impressive. When customers do have issues (e.g. trouble with the app reading data from trips) and reach out via comments on the app, the developers seem very responsive and eager to help.

Hastings Direct Breakdown Cover

If you're looking to add breakdown cover, you have three options with Hastings Direct as shown in the following table.

Hastings Direct Motorcycle Insurance Review

Hastings Direct motorcycle insurance can be a solid choice, with top-rated features (for both Hastings Direct and Hastings Premier policies), an uninsured driver promise and good EU cover. To get cover for your helmet & leathers and legal cover, you can buy add ons—but if you want both it's probably cheaper to buy the Hastings Premier policy rather than add on these coverages to a Hastings Direct policy.

According to our pricing research, while policies can be great for many different types of motorcycle riders, two groups are particularly well served by Hastings compared to other companies. First, Hastings premiums are among the lowest for those without a no claims discount. Whether your license is new, you've just started riding a motorcycle or have had a recent claim, you may find particularly attractive pricing from Hastings Direct relative to the rest of the market.

Hastings bike policies also stand out for people planning a trip in the EU. Hastings Direct plans not only provide the minimum mandatory 3rd party cover in the EU, but policyholders actually get full policy cover in the EU, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra and Serbia for up to 90 days for any one trip.

Hastings Direct Bike Insurance Coverages

For the most part, Hastings Direct coverage for bike insurance customers is similar to what you'd get from other major motorbike insurance companies. You have a choice of Third Party Only, Third Party, Fire & Theft and Comprehensive cover, which you can buy in a lower-tier Hastings Direct plan or a higher-tier Hastings Premier plan with higher coverages.

In addition to standard coverages, you can customize your bike policy by adding the following optional extra features. Some of these, such as Helmets & Leathers and Legal Expenses cover, are included on Hastings Direct Premier plans already.

Hastings Direct Scooter and Hastings Direct Moped Insurance

Hastings Direct scooter and moped insurance falls under their motorcycle policies. By choosing a Hastings Direct scooter or moped plan, you'll have access to the same features and discounts mentioned above.

Hastings Direct Bike Insurance Quotes

How do prices compare? In our tests, Hastings Direct bike premiums were good to average versus the competition. In particular, those without a no claims bonus or with only a year or two of no claims under their belts may find attractive prices from Hastings. This is true across age groups, as you can tell in the following chart.

Our research showed that Hastings may offer less of a discount for a history of no claims than some of its competitors. That said, rates are still very competitive.

Hastings Bike Insurance Policy Documents

Please refer to the Hastings Direct motorbike insurance policy documents for full coverage details.

Hastings Direct Home Insurance Review

Hastings offers pretty typical coverage for buildings and contents insurance, including new-for-old cover, frozen food, student belongings, plants and contents in the garden, etc. While the details may vary depending on the underwriting company, they mostly offer a standard set of coverages shown below.

What's Covered by Most Policies?

Some specific coverage limits are listed below, as well as the costs to add optional features like family legal and home emergency cover.

Hastings Home Insurance: What's Covered?	Hastings Direct	Hastings Premier
Alternative accommodation cover	£100,000 (buildings)/£10,000 (contents)	£200,000 (buildings)/£15,000 (contents)
Buildings insurance	£1,000,000	£1,000,000
Up to £150,000 of contents insurance
24 hour claims helpline
Family legal expenses cover	optional add on (£24.99)
Home emergency cover	optional add on (£44.99)

In addition, Hastings Direct includes cover for accidental damage to glass, TV and computers, as standard.

Note, if you're interested in both family legal expenses cover and home emergency cover, our tests have shown it's cheaper to upgrade to Hastings Premier (where these features are included) from Hastings Direct (where you have to pay extra for these features).

Hastings Direct Home Insurance Extra Coverages

Additional coverages are also available from Hastings Direct. For instance you can add personal possessions to protect items like laptops or iPods anywhere in the world. If you have Hastings' personal possessions cover, you may not need to buy extra gadget cover on your travel insurance.

Hastings Home Insurance Policy Documents

For the most recent as well as historical policy booklets, check out the Hastings Direct home insurance policy documents page.

FAQs