Write a review

Newsletter

Go to business site

1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.86 (975 reviews)

View other 1st Central products

1.86

Based on 975 reviews, last reviewed 23rd Aug 2026

300% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

83% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

12%

80%

Latest highest rating:

5

I have rac joint to my policy, had a breakdown at ho... I have rac joint to my policy, had a breakdown at home and the rac arrived very quickly. Reviewed on: 23rd August 2026

Latest lowest rating:

1

Absolutely terrible It is hard to describe my experience with this company than anything other than an absolute clown show. Since starting my policy on July 29th, I have... Read more Reviewed on: 17th August 2026

Read all reviews Write a review

About this product

With 1st Central, you can insure a single car or opt for a multicar policy. There’s also a telematics policy.

As standard, you get up to 90 days free cover when driving in Europe. There are five policies to choose from giving different levels of cover: ValueOnline, Online, LegalOnline, PlusOnline and PremierOnline.

1st Central car insurance reviews help you find out what it’s really like to be a customer. If you’ve used 1st Central before, you can also leave a review and share your experience.

Review 1st Central: Car insurance now

Help others make smarter decisions by sharing your own experience.

Write a review

1st Central Car insurance reviews (975)

I have rac joint to my policy, had a breakdown at ho...

I have rac joint to my policy, had a breakdown at home and the rac arrived very quickly. Reviewed on: 23rd August 2026

Reply from 1st Central Hi Thanks for your great feedback! We always aim to make things easy and straightforward for our customers Emily Response date: 24th August 2026

1st Central and the car repairers were excellent

Had a crash, 1st Central and the car repairers were excellent. All fixed now. Reviewed on: 20th August 2026

Reply from 1st Central Hi Thanks for your great feedback! We always aim to make things easy and straightforward for our customers Response date: 24th August 2026

1st Central have been amazing -they are clear and co...

1st Central have been amazing -they are clear and consise with their information sharing, they have made everything really simple and easy and its the first car insurance ive ever had that reduced on auto renewal meaning I have not had to shop about for cheaper prices. Also suffering from ADHD combined with Autism i struggle to retain information, break down large overloaded information and remember things but 1st Central made everything easy with a simple easy to use app where everything is contained and accessible to make managing my insurance so much simpler. Reviewed on: 20th August 2026

Reply from 1st Central Hi Thanks for your great feedback! We always aim to make things easy and straightforward for our customers Emily Response date: 24th August 2026

They have been good overall and were great sorting i...

They have been good overall and were great sorting issues after I had been in a collision Reviewed on: 20th August 2026

Reply from 1st Central Hi Thanks for your great feedback! We always aim to make things easy and straightforward for our customers Emily Response date: 24th August 2026

A great choice for your car insurance needs.

A great choice for your car insurance needs. Easy to deal with and great value for money products. Easy to use app , I would definitely recommend this company if your looking to renew your car insurance. Reviewed on: 20th August 2026

Reply from 1st Central Hi Thanks for your great feedback! We always aim to make things easy and straightforward for our customers Emily Response date: 24th August 2026

Absolutely terrible

It is hard to describe my experience with this company than anything other than an absolute clown show. Since starting my policy on July 29th, I have been receiving the welcome every once every 6 hours, without fail, up until now (August 14th). I have tried 4 times to contact support and explain this to them. The first 3 times I was fobbed off saying the IT team will be contacted to resolve it (they haven't). The 4th time the agent didn't seem to have a clue what my policy was, was very rude and unhelpful and started quoting document dates that were factually incorrect. Next year, no matter how cheap these lot are, I will make sure I use a different company. Absolute disgrace and still my issue isnt resolved. Reviewed on: 17th August 2026

Reply from 1st Central Hi, Thank you for your feedback and for choosing 1st Central. We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. We'll use your review to help improve our services. Emily Response date: 18th August 2026

AVOID this company

I had to make some changes to my policy, so I contacted the company to request the amendments. The revised premium they quoted was almost three times higher than comparable quotes I received from other insurers for the same level of cover after making the exact same changes at the same time. I explained that the new premium was significantly higher than their competitors and asked whether they could offer any discount or review the price. They refused. As a result, I decided I wanted to cancel the policy. I was prepared to pay the cancellation fee, but I was then told I would also have to pay an additional "rearrangement fee", which, according to the agent, is part of their terms and conditions. I was even informed that part of this fee would still apply if I cancelled during the 14-day cooling-off period. I have never come across anything like this before. My experience left me feeling that the company attracts customers with a competitive initial premium, but once you're a customer, making even simple changes can become extremely expensive. If you then decide to leave, you may face multiple fees that make it costly to cancel. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this company. Read the terms and conditions very carefully before taking out a policy, especially the sections relating to policy amendments, cancellation charges, and rearrangement fees. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. Reviewed on: 30th July 2026

Horrendous! Cheaper for a reason.... what a scam!!!

Horrendous! After 3 weeks into my insurance with them, they contacted me to say they had increased my mileage a year as they have access to all previous the data from price comparison sites and on one previous quote I had put in a higher mileage. Then they rejected my no claims certificate and said I owed them almost another £900 - upon calling, I was then interrogated on the telephone for a whole hour as to my daily habits, I cancelled and went with a reputable insurer. After 30 years of driving, never known anything like it! Reviewed on: 17th July 2026

Absolute scam. Avoid this awful company.

This company has been absolutely awful to use and has caused my family so much unnecessary stress. It almost feels like a scam at this point with how they manipulate information just to clear files off their desks. The accident happened in mid-November. My car was written off the exact same day and picked up less than a week later, but dealing with this company since then has been a total nightmare.Their handlers completely mismanaged the file from the start. They explicitly told us it was our fault, entirely ignoring our independent witnesses and evidence that was heavily stacked against the third party. Even the person handling our case openly admitted to me that the other driver was reckless, yet they were still going to put us fully at fault. I had to fight them, kick up a huge fuss, and launch a formal complaint before they finally investigated, admitted their initial outcome was completely wrong, apologised, and corrected the case to non-fault over a month later. After that failure, their engineering team rushed through a lazy total loss write-off based on automated algorithms. I was completely kept in the dark; I was never given the option of salvaging the vehicle, and nothing was properly explained to me at all. It was just dictated to me that the car was being written off with zero transparency.I have now received a Dartford Crossing charge for the vehicle and discovered it was auctioned off in January and passed a full UK MOT check in February. This explicitly proves the vehicle was completely, safely, and economically repairable. We had a bit over a year left of payments on that car, after which our long-term plan was to buy a second car for our family. Because of their errors, we are now trapped paying for a replacement vehicle, unable to afford a second car in the near future, and completely blocked from looking for one now as we should have been. I am warning other people to stay far away from this awful company. Absolutely do not use them, this has been months of stress, they have consisitently misinformed me and they are scammers! I am so sick of the constant stress and manipulation of this company Reviewed on: 13th July 2026

Reply from 1st Central Hello, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. Let’s see if we can help put this right for you. Just give our team a call on 0333 043 2055 or speak to us on web chat which can be found on our website. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Emily Response date: 14th July 2026

Absolute DISGRACE!

Absolute DISGRACE! DONT WASTE YOUR TIME, MONEY OR ENERGY ON THIS THIEVES AND CROOKS. Reviewed on: 18th June 2026

Do you have a different 1st Central product?

Share your experiences with products to help others make smarter financial decisions and learn more about different products available. Write a review

Alternative products

Van Insurance
from RightSure 4.08 from 6 reviews
Car insurance
from Ageas 3.88 from 134 reviews
Breakdown Cover
from Breakdown Assist 4.06 from 1 reviews

Want to see more from 1st Central?

Breakdown cover
from 1st Central 4.40 from 16 reviews
Home insurance
from 1st Central 4.06 from 1 reviews
Personal accident
from 1st Central 3.47 from 5 reviews

View all products

Join Smart Money People

Keep up to date on ratings of your favourite businesses. Find out about our awards and write new reviews with ease

Create an account

News, guides and insight from our team

View resource hub

1st Central: Car insurance reviews

300% increase in 5 star reviews

83% increase in 1 star reviews

Latest highest rating:

5

Latest lowest rating:

1

About this product

Review 1st Central: Car insurance now

1st Central Car insurance reviews (975)

I have rac joint to my policy, had a breakdown at ho...

1st Central and the car repairers were excellent

1st Central have been amazing -they are clear and co...

They have been good overall and were great sorting i...

A great choice for your car insurance needs.

Absolutely terrible

AVOID this company

Horrendous! Cheaper for a reason.... what a scam!!!

Absolute scam. Avoid this awful company.

Absolute DISGRACE!

Do you have a different 1st Central product?

Want to see more from 1st Central?

Breakdown cover

Home insurance

Personal accident

Join Smart Money People

News, guides and insight from our team

UK money news stories - 24 July 2024

Your Money, Your Voice: Have your say

Our latest research - customers see little impact of FCA's Consumer Duty one year on

Consumer credit awards winners 2024