Hi again, Thanks for the interest. Seems it's down to a non-disclosure of TS10 that needs looking at. Don't know why this wasn't noted on the policy, I've never hidden it (and if I was had hidden it then I wouldn't have volunteered the information now). Hopefully it's just a case of a slightly increased premium, which is fair enough I suppose. A bit annoying as the Swinton quote I had were aware of it so I reckon it would have been sorted by now had I gone back to them. Anyway, expecting a definite answer on Tuesday which is 10 days after I put the claim in. Is that good? Cheers, DSr

Thanks to Jamie for coming back to me so quickly. Hopefully I will be getting contacted by the claims bods soon.

Hi, I really wish I'd read this forum before going with Hastings. Yes they're cheap but I'm not having a good experience now that I'm having to claim. Story so far - Day 1 - Friday 28/06/13 Had a crash, wet roads, skidded into the path of oncoming traffic but managed to swing it back before hitting anyone else but skidded 180 degrees and the car went over onto it's side. The kerb has buckled one of the back wheels and that apparently means total loss for a 55 plate Vauxhall Agila. No injuries thankfully. The police arranged for it to be recovered. Day 2. Rang Hastings Direct to start a claim - I've got fully comp with them. Went through some info and was told it would need to be looked at by an underwriter which, I was told, would be "Monday or Tuesday at the latest". Day 4. Rang to see if there was any news as I really could have done with a courtesy car for work. Told that it would take a lot longer for the underwriters to look at it and that I'd probably got "one of the weekend staff who doesn't know anything" - which fills you with confidence. They said they'd get a supervisor to see if they could get my case prioritised. Day 5. Rang again to see if it had been prioritised. It hadn't been. No-one can tell me anything, and no-one can give me any idea when this will be looked at. Day 6. Received a letter from the recovery people saying they would be charging £250 for the recovery and £20 a day for storage. Rang Hastings to make sure they would be covering this but they can't confirm this until the underwriters had looked at the case. Day 7 (today) Rang Hasting again - actually got someone who seemed willing to have a look at things in a little more detail at least. They arranged for the car to be moved from the recovery company to stop that bill clocking up. They looked and told me it was a total loss (RIP old friend) but it would be sometime next week that it would be looked into. In summary, this is sooo frustrating. I was hit by a neighbour a while back and the claiming process was incredibly slick. I never had to chase anyone and was given a courtesy car immediately and all parties involved knew exactly what was going on, when things would be happening next and, get this, all the information was accurate. A complete contrast to the "erm sometime in the next so many days, possibly" attitude I'm getting at the minute. Swinton Insurance tried to get my business back last renewal by price matching and I wish I'd gone back. When I told Hastings they updated some details (they still had my old occupation - even though I'd told them previously - and put on protected no claims as Swinton were offering me that) and it came out significantly cheaper so I decided to renew. Lesson learned, I suppose. Has anyone had any similar experiences? I'd like to know how long the total loss cheque is likely to be? Anyone had to end up paying for the recovery costs? Cheers, DSr