Hastings Insurance Services Limited

Reference number: 311492

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Authorised by the FCA

This firm is on the FCA register and authorised to carry out regulated activities.

Website, phone number and address

Compare these against whatever you were given. Scammers clone real firm names and reference numbers but use their own phone number and website, so a detail that does not match the register is the clearest warning sign there is.

In the full report: 3 background checks

  • When hastingsdirect.com first appeared online, and whether it can receive email
  • What kind of line 0333 321 9801 is
  • Who else gives the postcode TN39 3LW
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Other names (54)

If you were contacted under any of these names, it is this firm.

  • Hastings Direct Trading name
  • insurepink Trading name
  • People's Choice Trading name
  • Hastings Insurance Services Ltd Former name
  • 1066 Direct Ltd Former trading name
  • 1-2-1 Auto Ltd Former trading name
  • 1st Advantage Ltd Former trading name
  • 2501500 Insurance Service Ltd Former trading name
  • 250/500 Insurance Services Former trading name
  • Aardvark Insurance Management Ltd Former trading name
  • Affinity Compare Former trading name
  • Agenda Former trading name
  • Agenda Direct Ltd Former trading name
  • Angel Insurance Services Ltd Former trading name
  • Argos Car Insurance Former trading name
  • Argos Insurance Former trading name
  • Benefit Causes Former trading name
  • Benefit Forces Former trading name
  • Benefit Sports Former trading name
  • Halo Insurance Management Former trading name
  • Hastings Bike Team Former trading name
  • Hastings Bike Team Premier Former trading name
  • Hastings Direct Premier Former trading name
  • Hastings Direct SmartMiles Former trading name
  • Hastings essential Former trading name
  • Hastings Insurance Former trading name
  • Hastings Local Former trading name
  • Hastings Partnerships Former trading name
  • Hastings Pet Insurance Former trading name
  • Hastings Premier Former trading name
  • Hastingsvan Former trading name
  • Hastingsvan Insurance Former trading name
  • Help Insurance Services Ltd Former trading name
  • Insurance Services Former trading name
  • insure Former trading name
  • insurebasics Former trading name
  • insureblue Former trading name
  • insure commercial Former trading name
  • insure.co.uk Former trading name
  • insure-now Former trading name
  • insure-shop Former trading name
  • Likewise Former trading name
  • Likewise Insurance Former trading name
  • Nationwide Autocentres Car Insurance Former trading name
  • Nationwide Autocentres Insurance Former trading name
  • Owl Insurance Former trading name
  • Peoples Choice Insurance Services Former trading name
  • Powerline Insurance Services Former trading name
  • Renew Insurance Former trading name
  • Ridesure Insurance Service Ltd Former trading name
  • SoHowMuch.Com Former trading name
  • The Automobile Insurance Service Centre Ltd Former trading name
  • Trade UK Insurance Services Former trading name
  • Wheeler Dealer Former trading name

FCA permissions and consumer protection

  • Manage or trade investments FSCS may apply
    Eligible investment and pension claims are typically FSCS-protected up to £85,000 per person, depending on the product and your circumstances.
  • Sell or arrange insurance FSCS may apply
    Eligible insurance claims may be FSCS-protected, often 90%, or 100% for compulsory or long-term cover.
  • Lend or arrange credit No FSCS cover
    Consumer credit is not covered by the FSCS, so there is no compensation scheme if the firm fails.
  • Complaints Ombudsman, free
    You can refer a complaint about this firm to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free, whichever activity it relates to.
Show FCA detail (7 permissions)
  • Arranging (bringing about) deals in investments
  • Assisting in the administration and performance of a contract of insurance
  • Credit Broking
  • Dealing in investments as agent
  • Entering into regulated credit agreement as Lender (Excluding high-cost short-term credit, bill of sale agreement, and home collected credit agreement)
  • Exercising/having right to exercise lender's rights and duties under a regulated credit agreement (excluding high-cost short-term credit, bill of sale agreement, and home collected credit agreement)
  • Making arrangements with a view to transactions in investments

Limits on what they may do

  • 1 Compliance general insurance rules ICOBS 6.1.12A
    Requirement 1 (1) Hastings must, by 11 May 2018: (a) Identify all of the occasions, on or after 21 February 2017, where Hastings may have sent a customer a renewal invite (which has the meaning in ICOBS 6.1.12A(1) and (2)) that did not include the correct previous year's premium paid in the form specified in ICOBS 6.1.12A(3). (b) Provide the FCA in writing with: (i) a record of the number of occasions (counting separately each occasion for the same customer) identified pursuant to (a) above; (ii) confirmation that it has identified all of those occasions in (a) where the customer renewed their policy with Hastings, and the number of those occasions; and (iii) a detailed plan of the actions it will take to identify and contact potentially affected cohorts of customers within (a), including deadlines for achieving those actions, and proposals in relation to customers that could not be contacted. (2) Hastings must use best endeavours to complete the following actions by the dates specified below: (a) commence initial communications with affected customers by 1 May 2018; (b) complete initial communications with affected customers by 31 August 2018; and (c) complete the actions included in the detailed plan by 31 October 2018. (3) Communications with potentially affected cohorts of customers must be made in a way that satisfies Requirement 2 and: (a) explains how Hastings has failed to comply with its regulatory responsibilities in ICOBS 6; (b) explains how Hastings intends to provide appropriate remediation to those customers who have suffered detriment as a result of those failures in accordance with the principles outlined in Requirement 2; and (c) include the information the customer should have been given on each occasion, in a way that complies with the requirements in ICOBS 6 and ICOBS 6.1.12A. The requirement has effect from 27 April 2018
  • 3 Compliance general insurance rules ICOBS 6.1.12A
    Requirement 3 (1) Hastings must ensure that it is fully compliant with its regulatory responsibilities in the following areas by the corresponding dates: Area Date (a) Renewal process 30 April 2018 (b) Email renewal invitations 30 April 2018 (c) Postal renewal invitations 30 April 2018 (2) Hastings must send confirmation to the FCA that it complies fully with its regulatory responsibilities in Requirement 3 (1)(a) to (c), and provide details of the steps it took to satisfy itself of this by 30 April 2018. The requirement has effect from 27 April 2018
  • 2 Compliance general insurance rules ICOBS 6.1.12A
    Requirement 2 (1) For all cohorts of potentially affected customers identified in the detailed plan pursuant to Requirement 1 above Hastings must: (a) provide appropriate remediation to those customers who have suffered detriment as a result of the compliance failures; (b) include the options and assistance available to customers to be able to achieve remediation where appropriate; and (c) ensure that each customer has been given appropriate opportunity and sufficient support or assistance to be remediated where appropriate. (2) Remediation requires the firm to work under the principle that each customer must be placed back in the position they would have been in had they been provided with renewal invitation documents that complied with the regulatory requirements. (3) Hastings must ensure that at all times it complies with the relevant FCA rules and guidance when dealing with affected customers, including FCA Principles. The requirement has effect from 27 April 2018

FCA disciplinary action and Ombudsman complaints

FCA action

fine
1
in fines
£735k
most recent
July 2008
  • Fined £735,000 on 28 July 2008
    On 24 July 2008, the FSA imposed a financial penalty of £735,000 on Hastings Insurance Services Limited (Hastings) in respect of breaches of Principle 6 of the FSA's Principles for Businesses. The breaches of Principle 6 relate to Hastings' cancellation of approximately 4,550 incorrectly priced customer motor insurance policies between June and September 2007 (the Relevant Period). Hastings agreed to settle this matter at an early stage of the FSA's investigation. It therefore qualified for a 30% (stage 1) reduction in penalty, pursuant to the FSA's executive settlement procedures. Were it not for this discount, the FSA would have sought to impose a financial penalty of £1.05 million on Hastings. The FSA considered that Hastings failed to pay due regard to the interests of its customers and treat them fairly (in breach of Principle 6) in relation to its cancellation of approximately 4,550 motor insurance policies in the Relevant Period and in relation to certain later events arising out of those cancellations. Hastings' decisions to cancel the affected policies came about as a result of quotation system errors which resulted in Hastings providing certain customers with inaccurate insurance quotations. The quotation errors meant that Hastings' customers paid significantly lower premiums for their insurance than they should have. Hastings invoked a legal right to cancel the affected policies rather than properly considering the interests of its customers, as required by Principle 6, by giving insufficient consideration to paying the shortfalls in premium to the insurance provider and/or investigating other possible remedies. The FSA considered that the cancellation clause in the policies relied upon by Hastings was not generally intended to be used to deal with such a situation and, by cancelling the policies as it did, Hastings failed properly to consider its customers' interests. There were also serious failings in the way in which Hastings dealt with customers after the cancellations, including in its complaints handling. More details about the action taken against Hastings can be found in the Final Notice published on the FSA website.

Ombudsman complaints

new complaints, January–June 2025
108
upheld, against a 31% median
33%
about insurance
107

A bigger firm gets more complaints simply because it has more customers.

Companies House record

The company behind the firm: its status, age, registered office and directors.

Company number
03116518
Company status
Active
Company type
Private limited company
Incorporated
20 October 1995 (31 years old)
Registered office
Conquest House, Collington Avenue, Bexhill On Sea, East Sussex, TN39 3LW
Nature of business
  • Activities of insurance agents and brokers (SIC 66220)

Directors and company secretaries

Name Role Born Appointed Other companies
Tobias Van Der Meer Director Mar 1977 6 Sep 2011 None
Susan Anne Amies-King Director Jul 1963 28 Jul 2016 None
Mark Cliff Director Sep 1961 17 Jan 2022 5 other companies
David Michael Baker Director Sep 1966 15 Feb 2026 11 other companies
Julie Hopes Director Jan 1968 15 Jul 2026 10 other companies
Pamela Anne Middleton Secretary Not published 31 Aug 2024 –

Other companies run by these 5 directors

A firm is run by people, and their other companies are their track record: what they built, what closed, and anything that failed. It is the check most people never think to make.

other companies
26
closed down
2
are FCA-registered
12

In the full report: all 26 companies, named

  • What each company does, and whether it is still trading
  • Which of these 5 directors sit on each board, and since when
  • Any that went into liquidation or administration
  • The 12 on the FCA register
  • All 52 people who have ever been directors, with their dates
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Key dates in its history

Hastings Insurance Services’s history from the FCA register and Companies House, newest first.

Key events (12) All events (233)

2024

4 December 2024

  • Hastings (UK) Limited gave up control
  • Hastings Group Holdings Limited took control (75–100% of shares)

Companies House

2018

30 April 2018

  • FCA imposed a requirement (1 Compliance general insurance rules ICOBS 6.1.12A)
  • FCA imposed a requirement (2 Compliance general insurance rules ICOBS 6.1.12A)
  • FCA imposed a requirement (3 Compliance general insurance rules ICOBS 6.1.12A)

FCA register

2016

26 August 2016

  • Changed its registered name from "Hastings Insurance Services Ltd"

FCA register

6 April 2016

  • Hastings (UK) Limited took control (75–100% of shares)

Companies House

2013

1 April 2013

  • Regulated by the FCA from this date

FCA register

2008

28 July 2008

  • Fined £735,000 by the FCA

FCA register

2005

14 January 2005

  • Regulated by the Financial Services Authority from this date
  • Became authorised by the FCA

FCA register

1995

20 October 1995

  • Incorporated at Companies House

Companies House

In the full report: all 233 events

  • All 233 events in its history (12 shown here)
  • Every director appointment and resignation: 103
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Firms connected to Hastings Insurance Services

Other FCA-listed firms that share a director, phone number or address with Hastings Insurance Services. A link shows who the firm is tied to, not whether either can be trusted.

connected firms
10
share a director
9
share its postcode
1

In the full report: all 10 connected firms, named

  • How each is linked: shared directors (9), the same postcode (1)
  • Who links each one: the named directors, with dates
  • 3 past links through former directors
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Firms like Hastings Insurance Services

Other firms of the same type (lender), nearest first.

In Bexhill-On-Sea

Hastings Financial Services LimitedBexhill-on-SeaAuthorisedHL Financial Services LimitedBexhill-on-SeaAuthorisedButler Michael LimitedBexhill-on-SeaAuthorised

Firms are listed by type and location, best known first. Being listed is not a recommendation: check any firm before you deal with it.

Get the full report on Hastings Insurance Services

Everything on this page, plus everything locked above, in one dated PDF you can keep, file or send on.

  • 26 other companies its directors have run, named
  • 3 background checks on its contact details
  • All 233 events in its history
  • 10 connected firms, named, and who links them

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Frequently asked questions about this firm

Is Hastings Insurance Services Limited FCA authorised?
Yes, Hastings Insurance Services Limited (FRN 311492) is authorised by the FCA to carry out regulated activities. It has held its current authorisation since January 2005 and works as a lender. The FCA has placed 3 limits on what it may do.
What is Hastings Insurance Services’ phone number and website?
The FCA register lists the phone number 0333 321 9801 and the website hastingsdirect.com for Hastings Insurance Services. If you were given different contact details, use these to check with the firm before going any further.
Is Hastings Insurance Services a scam or clone?
Hastings Insurance Services is a genuine FCA-listed firm, and the FCA has published no warnings about fake versions of it. Scammers do copy real firms, though, so check that any contact details you were given match the ones on the register.
Is my money safe with Hastings Insurance Services?
Its FCA permissions do not allow it to hold or control client money. It depends on the product, but eligible claims may be protected by the FSCS. You can also refer complaints about Hastings Insurance Services to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.
Who owns Hastings Insurance Services?
Hastings Insurance Services is owned by Hastings Group Holdings Limited, which holds 75–100% of shares, 75–100% of votes and can appoint and remove the board, since 4 December 2024. Before that, it was controlled by Hastings (UK) Limited.
Who runs Hastings Insurance Services?
Companies House lists 5 directors of Hastings Insurance Services: Tobias Van Der Meer, Susan Anne Amies-King, Mark Cliff, David Michael Baker and Julie Hopes.
How long has Hastings Insurance Services been in business?
The company was formed on 20 October 1995, and has held its current FCA authorisation since January 2005.
Has the FCA taken action against Hastings Insurance Services?
Yes. The FCA register records 1 fine in 2008, £735,000 in total. The details are in the disciplinary section above, with links to the FCA's notices.
How many complaints does Hastings Insurance Services get?
In January–June 2025, the Financial Ombudsman Service received 108 new complaints about Hastings Insurance Services, and upheld 33% of those it decided.
Does Hastings Insurance Services use any other names?
It trades as Hastings Direct, insurepink and People's Choice. It has previously used 51 other names, including Hastings Insurance Services Ltd, 1066 Direct Ltd and 1-2-1 Auto Ltd.

Sources and links

The full report on Hastings Insurance Services Limited

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