Insurance cancelled with 7 days notice (Hastings Direct)

Member Name: nks62

Product:	Hastings Direct
Date:	05/08/08 (124 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheapest quote

Disadvantages: Insurance cancelled at short notice with no reasoning

As a student, my choice of Hastings for car insurance back in April 2007 was based purely on them giving me the cheapest quote after a number of searches on comparison and individual sites. At age 19, with one years no claims, they offered the cheapest quote by a margin of around £60 or so.

The transfer from my previous insurer was smooth, and Hastings even managed to sort out my NCB rather than me having to pester my old insurer for it. I have not had to make a claim under Hastings, but can now only rate the service as poor.

Towards the end of August, four months after taking out the policy, I received a letter informing me that my insurance would be cancelled in seven days from the date on the letter (around five by the time it arrived), and that I had to return my insurance certificate. No reasoning was given.

After searching around online, it turned out that their underwriting software had given out thousands of quotations at prices significantly lower than they should have been. This problem also affected the groups of people most likely to be paying high premiums as it was. From what I can remember, it affected many customers aged 19 or under on third party, fire and theft insurance, and also a number of other people in certain postcode areas.

In addition to the hassle of taking out a new insurance policy within a few days, I also lost 4 months no claims, which is more valuable than it sounds when you have only been driving a couple of years and premiums are already sky-high. Although Hastings refunded the remainder of my premium pro rata fairly quickly, I still had to find more money to pay for insurance that shouldn't have been due for renewal for another eight months. Unfortunately, it was stated in their terms and conditions that they were fully able to do this.

However, a week ago I received another letter informing me they had been subject to an investigation by the financial services authority, who concluded that despite the contract, customers were unfairly treated. Hastings seem to be much more cooperative now than they were this time last year, and I have been given compensation for my loss of no claims, plus a small inconvenience payment.

Overall, I have found their service this time round more acceptable, they seem to be attempting to rectify their errors, and I doubt the same mistakes will be made again. However, I would still have to think twice before taking out another policy with Hastings, regardless of how cheap the quote was.

Summary: I think improvements have now been made to the service, but can't really ignore my bad experience.