Motor insurer Hastings Direct is increasingly making a name for itself as an innovative company offering a classic car insurance package that has the interests of classic car enthusiasts at its heart. Claire Day investigates . ..

When Hastings Direct launched its new classic car insurance product in April 1998, its objective was to offer quality insurance with a range of benefits. The company has quickly demonstrated that its approach involves more than just copying the existing products on the market. It is one of the few insurers to have a dedicated classic car team and to have drawn on the knowledge of this team in order to identify gaps in the market, and then to have taken steps to improve its product offering.