Hastings Premier vs Hastings Direct: Car Insurance Comparison

According to the 2024 data study by the NimbleFins car insurance experts, Hastings are the 4th largest car insurance companies in the UK and they also rank in the top 10 best cheap car insurance brands, sitting at #10. They offer YouDrive, Essential, Direct and Premier policies. In this comparison, the team at NimbleFins has compared Hastings Premier and Direct to get to the bottom of what Hastings Premier has to offer over Hastings Direct, and why it might be worth the extra money. Here's what we found about the top two tiers of cover from Hastings, which is rated 4.0 by our editors.

Quick Overview: Hastings Premier vs. Hastings Direct Car insurance

While the coverage for Hastings Premier and Hastings Direct are the exact same for many features, the NimbleFins car insurance experts have identified a few key areas where they differ. Primarily, the coverage differs for motor legal, breakdown cover and, of course, price. To get the full information of how they are different read below.

What we like about Hastings Premier

Hastings Premier is superior to Hastings Direct for the following notable reasons:

What we like about Hastings Direct

Hastings Direct does nothing better than Hastings Premier. However, this tier of cover will cost less (for less robust cover, of course).

Here's a quick, high level comparison of how Hastings Premier and Hastings Direct compare on cost, features, customer service access and customer ratings.

Hastings Premier vs Hastings Direct Overall Review

As you would expect, Hastings Premier is better than Hastings Direct in terms of what features it has to offer. Hastings Premier is literally the premium version of Hastings Direct. This means that they are exactly the same in nearly every way... other than with two features as far as we can tell.

Essentially, Hastings Premier offers motor legal and breakdown cover as standard—and Hastings Direct does not (you can buy these as add ons, however).

When we checked in May 2024, motor legal cost £29.99 as an add on.

Breakdown cost from £34.99 as an add on to car insurance.

So if you want breakdown and motor legal and the price difference between Direct and Premier is less than £65, then Premier is the better deal. Otherwise, the Hastings Direct policy plus the add ons would be cheaper. (But TOP TIP remember that if you cancel you don't get any refund on add ons.)

Other than that, they're identical as far as we can tell. It is important to note, however, neither policy offers a courtesy car in the case of total loss or theft.

What we don't like about Hastings Premier

Hasting Premier's coverage for the following features:

What we don't like about Hastings Direct

Hastings Direct's coverage for the following features:

Hastings Premier vs Hastings Direct Cost Comparison

You don't get any points for guessing this one. Yes, the Premier policy is more expensive than the Direct policy... shock! In fact, for our sample driver, it was 27% more expensive than Hastings Direct.

We've also included the price for the motor legal and breakdown add on for Hastings Direct. It's important to remember that Hastings Premier already includes this as standard. If you were to buy both add ons you would then bring yourself within £56.25 (11%) of the Premier policy. But since these plans only differ by motor legal and breakdown, it seems pretty clear that it's cheaper to buy the Direct plan and buy the add ons for our sample driver. Your quotes will certainly vary, however, so be sure to do the math before you buy.

Given Premier costs £18 less than the Direct policy + add ons, if you want all of the add ons it'd be better to opt for the Premier plan (assuming you have similar pricing differentials).

These quotes are based on a 45-year-old male driving a 2017 Ford Fiesta, 5,000 miles a year. He parks at home. He has been driving for 20 years and has 5 years of no claims. Car insurance quotes are extremely sensitive and very case specific. For example, car insurance costs vary by age quite significantly. However, as we always say, quotes are very case sensitive and you must get your own quotes before making any decisions

Hastings Premier vs Hastings Direct Reviews and Ratings Compared

Hastings Premier and Direct share customer ratings. In all cases, their score is fairly impressive, with over four stars on Trustpilot. And their Direct and Premier plans both fare well in terms of features, as we've discussed above.

This means that customers should have the same customer experience and quality of cover regardless of what policy you choose.

Hastings Premier vs Hastings Direct Cancellation Fees Compared

The cancellation fees for Hastings' Premier policy and Direct policy are exactly the same.

During the cool off period, they will not apply any extra fees. After the 14 day cooling off period, they will charge £45.

They will charge £0 to £30 for any mid-term changes. The free changes you can make are:

Anything else you will have to pay some sort of fee.

Important Phone Numbers

Of course, Hastings Premier and Direct are different policies from the same provider. So it makes sense that they use the same customer service and webchat lines.

There are various ways to contact Hastings, such as by webchat or phone, which you can find more about here.

And they now have a provision to make admin changes and even cancel your policy in the app or your online account (MyAccount). If you prefer to talk on the phone, here are some useful numbers:

Hastings Contact Numbers

Policy Documents

More information about Hastings Direct or Hastings Premier car insurance policies can be found by reading their policy documents.