About Hastings Direct
Hastings Direct is a data-driven car insurance provider, offering “straightforward” policies for your home, car, van, and bike. Founded in 1997, Hastings Direct now has 2.8 million live policies and 3,400 employees, based in Bexhill-on-Sea and Leicester.
Hastings Direct is a brand of Hastings, a publicly listed company which operates several other car insurance brands, including Hastings Essentials (specialising in “no-frills” car insurance), insurePink (supporting the Pink Ribbon Foundation for breast cancer) and People’s Choice. With all those brands combined, Hastings is the fifth most popular car insurer in the UK, with a 7.5% market share and £920 million in gross written premiums.
What types of cover does Hastings Direct offer?
Hastings Direct sells three tiers of cover:
- Third party only: policies which provide the legal minimum of third party liability cover, paying out to cover the repair of other people’s vehicles and property if you damage them while driving your car.
- Third party, fire and theft: policies which offer the same cover as third party only policies but also pay out if your vehicle is damaged or destroyed in a fire or stolen.
- Comprehensive: offers you a higher level of cover, paying out for both your vehicle and any third party’s and covering fire and theft.
Additionally, you can insure between two to five vehicles on the same policy with Hastings Direct with a multi-car policy. Meanwhile, SmartMiles is a telematics policy for young and new drivers, which installs a black box in vehicles to record driving behaviour and rewards safe drivers with discounts.
Comprehensive policies with Hastings Direct also come with a range of additional coverage as standard:
- Courtesy car cover: gives you a vehicle to drive while yours is being repaired following an accident
- European cover: gives you the same insurance coverage you have in the UK while you’re driving in Europe for up to 90 days
- Child car seat cover: covers the replacement of child car seats if your vehicle is involved in an accident
- Windscreen cover: covers the repair or replacement of your windscreen
- Personal accident cover: pays out up to £5,000 if you or your partner are injured in an automobile accident
Why choose Hastings Direct?
- Uninsured driver benefit: If your vehicle is struck by an uninsured driver, Hastings Direct guarantees you won’t lose your no claims discount or have to pay an excess
- No claims discounts: Drive safely for years and never make an insurance claim and you can rack up discounts of up to 65% on your premiums.
- Vandalism promise: Hastings Direct guarantees you won’t lose your no claims bonus if your car is vandalised, provided you pay the excess and report the incident to the police.
- Personal accident cover as standard with comprehensive policies
- 10% discount for students on SmartMiles telematics policies