Advantage Reviews 6

I’ve never experienced anything as shocking as the way Admiral / Advantage Insurance handled our claim. My partner had an accident that damaged our oven, and instead of receiving support or even basic human decency, we were accused of lying. The claim was dismissed without proper investigation, and not once did anyone ask about my partner’s wellbeing after the incident. The lack of empathy was unbelievable.
We had no choice but to take the case to the Ombudsman, who fully upheld our complaint and confirmed that our claim should have been accepted. Even after this ruling, Admiral / Advantage Insurance have continued to ignore the Ombudsman’s instructions and have still not resolved the matter.
This company has shown itself to be unresponsive, heartless, and completely unwilling to take responsibility. The stress and frustration they have caused during an already difficult time is unacceptable.
Please be extremely careful when choosing insurance products in our experience, Admiral / Advantage Insurance have behaved more like obstructive gatekeepers than a company that’s supposed to help you in times of need.
Avoid at all costs.

Hastings/Advantage I would definitely avoid!! I was insured with them last year but renewal this year was over £100 more for the same cover. Done a bit of online comparison and got it a lot cheaper with more cover. Paid the premium upfront with new company thought that was it! Hastings went into my husbands bank and withdrew £515 no email to say automatic renewal ..I phoned them straight away they then advised me that to cancel the policy was a £20 charge when on the website clearly said “NO cancellation charges” I was then informed it wasn’t a cancellation charge it was a FEE!! (another word for cancellation) Being a pensioner is hard enough without taking money from your bank and charging a fee! Don’t go near this company or the Hastings broker if you don’t want to be scammed!!!!

I had a car stolen, the police caught the thief, yet Hastings focused on a technicality about keys rather than the clear evidence of theft. I felt accused, ignored, and disrespected. Insurance should give peace of mind, not add stress after a crime.

AVOID!
AVOID!! CON ! 1year and 6 months to repair 2 bumpers! no courtesy car as contracted. car returned with same warning light on dash, extra scratches & a dent. Quality of refit questionable, panels ill fitting, bonnet closing higher on one side. Also closed my case in their "Repair Hub" 1 month before the car was returned. Extremely bad comms. i had to chase them. Despite being polite & professional about the issue. I'm now being "ghosted"/ignored by customer services, not even a chat or visit to check. To get them to repair the repair & scratches is going to cost me. I have a disability and car cannot be used. had to buy a cheaper car to get around. PLEASE AVOID THIS "CON"PANY... they may reply to this so use your own judgement whether the reply is good enough if this was you. No idea where all the good reviews have come from ???? 27/11/22 Still no action, no calls, just an email to say sorry. Formal and legal escalation a real possibility. 3/12/22 Still nothing. Finally got an email response :) but.... Disingenuous info, false statements and "legalese" tefflon answers based on opinions. oh and £50 compensation (v £1,000 plus repairs?) 20/12/22 still no calls or response 12/1/23 no reponses and Trustpilot deleted last review onthe QT. (900views)
09/06/23 update, car still not repaired, HI comissioned a report but refuse me to see it, agreed to pay for all damage but not replying to the question how? Been ghosted again. can't reply to emails, HI refuse to escalate or say who the case worker is and when asked for further info regurgitate different versions everytime i call. 17/7/23 still being given the run around,.. constant broken promises. 09/1/2024 Ombudman involved, Hastings Lying, MP replied and sent a direct letter to CEO. this is what happens when you have a legitimate claim and complain about the repairs,.... turns out the insurance is questionable/legally sold? I will NEVER be a customer again!! I will NEVER be a customer again!!!!!

Absolute shambles. I have home insurance with advantage bought via Hastings and after a fire we need help. The “24/7 uk claims line” took 3 days to get through. Staff are rude and hang up when challenged. More than 3 weeks on we have next to no progress, i’m constantly chasing the 6 companies that have various bits outsourced to. All of them say different things and their stories don’t match, regardless no progress is being made and it is god awful to experience the fire and even more distressing trying to get help from this embarrassingly poor insurance company and their subcontractors

Advantage are the underwriters of Hastings policies, so I felt it appropriate to copy my reviews on Hastings here.

Hastings and corruption...
Back in 2016 I set up a policy for my motorcycle. Paying around £84 for a fully comprehensive policy. I set it up to begin around 15th July 2016. I set it up around 2 or 3 weeks before it was set to begin. Around a week before it was due to start, I contacted Hastings to get a quote for "business insurance" as I was considering getting a job with Deliveroo. After I got a quote, it was around 5 times higher than with just fully comprehensive and decided against going ahead with Deliveroo or business insurance.

2 days before my policy with Hastings was due to begin, I got an email from them stating that my insurance policy had been cancelled. I of course called in seeking an explanation. They claimed that I "declared" that I would be using my bike for fast food delivery when in fact I only asked for a quote, I never declared anything of the sort.

I insisted that they listened to the call and at first they refused claiming that they believed thier representatives statement and not my statement. I still insisted that the call was listened to, and after some back and forth, they eventually agreed to listen to my call. After about an hour, I got a return call from them admitting that I never declared my bike would be used for fast food delivery, as the call recording proves that beyond all doubt, and ultimately that I was telling the truth when I disputed the claims they made. Vindicated.

They offered to set up the policy again, and a discount was applied of £10, as a "goodwill gesture". Then, I heard someone in the background asking to talk to the chap on the phone to me. Line went silent and he came back saying that they are not allowed to insure me. Aparrently Advantage, the underwriters of the policies issued by Hastings, are refusing to insure me, even though through all of my frustration, I proved that I was not lying, with Hastings own call recordings through their own admission...

The reason they claim that they don't want to insure me is because I was allegedly "abusive" to Hastings staff. Admittedly, I was a little frustrated with them blatantly calling me a liar repeatedly, but I would stop short of being allegedly "abusive".

I made a complaint and all because of thier incompetence, and corruption by Advantage, I ended up in panic mode trying to find a policy in 2 days, and most insurers were refusing a policy because of Hastings malicious cancellation. I searched, and the following day, I came across MCE, who have been brilliant and understanding. I explained the situation with Hastings in extreme detail, and they concluded that it was irrelevant. I have been with MCE since recently starting a new policy with them. I am now on my 3rd policy with MCE.

I involved the FOS and they did not uphold my complaint, the only reason I can think of is because they held back the calls that show how Hastings treat people like myself and how they invent reasons to cancel someone's policy as they did in my case which ultimately failed as I was able to prove it to be utter nonsense.

I believe that Hastings and Advantage have discriminated against me, and further more, I believe that they are also corrupt, incompetent liars.

This post and it's content is covered under Article 12 of the Human Rights Act 1998. This allows for freedom of expression and free speech. I am expressing both in this post.