Write a review

1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.67 (896 reviews)

View other 1st Central products

1.50

Based on 896 reviews, last reviewed 18th May 2025

300% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

44% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

12%

79%

Latest highest rating:

5

Very pleased with quote I received and they were ver... Very pleased with quote I received and they were very helpful Reviewed on: 5th May 2025

Verified source

Latest lowest rating:

1

Avoid.weekend direct debits Avoid. They will take direct debit even on Saturday night. Mine failed on Saturday night and I got message I’m going to be charged £15 extra for misse... Read more Reviewed on: 18th May 2025

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 (896)

Avoid.weekend direct debits

Avoid. They will take direct debit even on Saturday night. Mine failed on Saturday night and I got message I’m going to be charged £15 extra for missed payment. I try to pay same day literally 5 min later and it’s already has £15 charge on. Money grabbing. My monthly payment is only £24 and to get £15 penalty is too much!!!! Reviewed on: 18th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Hristo, 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 advise of our late payment fee when a policy is being set up, as well as on our website here - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/motor/payments-and-fees/what-are-your-car-insurance-fees-and-charges We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 19th May 2025

Very bad and costly experience with 1st Central

I am currently having an extremely disappointing and frustrating experience with 1st Central Car Insurance. After renewing my policy, I forgot to update the employment status of an additional driver on my policy (from employed to unemployed). This simple change has resulted in an exorbitant charge of £160, including a £50 administration fee. What’s worse, this adjustment took my total policy cost to over £400—far more than I anticipated. Before renewing, I had thought their pricing was reasonable, but I now regret my decision. A quick comparison on MoneySupermarket showed that adding an unemployed driver typically doesn’t make a significant difference to the overall cost of insurance, with similar policies starting around £220 in total. I raised a complaint about the excessive charges, but their response was simply that they had followed proper procedures—no acknowledgment of how unreasonable this situation felt. Adding insult to injury, I can save around £50 by canceling the policy altogether and switching to another provider. However, even this would leave me out of pocket, as I would only receive a refund of £88 after all their deductions. It’s an entirely Kafkaesque experience and one I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I would strongly caution others to carefully consider alternatives before choosing 1st Central. Their pricing structure and customer service left me frustrated and out of pocket. Reviewed on: 14th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Nicholas, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. All details on the policy impact the price of the policy we offer, if details are found to be incorrect we need to update them and this can impact the price of the policy. If you’d like to speak to the team about this process, please give us a call on 0333 043 2095. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 9am to 5pm. Ashley Response date: 16th May 2025

£400 to change address!!

Following a change in circumstances I’m trying to change address on my car insurance policy for which 1st Central are trying to charge me £400!! I compared this amount with a new quote for the same details as on the policy with the same details but the new address which came out at cheaper! Daylight robbery!! Reviewed on: 13th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Marc, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. Any change can increase the price of a policy, due to a change in rating factors. As I can't see the different quote or your policy, I'm not able to compare a new quote with any amendment. To discuss this further, you can speak to us on 0333 043 2066 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. Ashley Response date: 14th May 2025

Awful company- avoid at all costs

Awful company as the reviews have been saying. Don't believe trust pilot reviews. There is clearly some sort of distinct issue with recognising no claims bonuses. In the fact that apparently my own spouse and I both had an accident on her insurance on the same day whilst we were both driving at the same time which is physically impossible. Despite the fact that all of the information was clearly displayed on the form from her insurance company Reviewed on: 12th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi M H, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion 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 2095. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 9am to 5pm. Ashley Response date: 13th May 2025

Financially exploited by this company.

Financially exploited by this company. Will never use them again. Paid them in full approximately 800 to be subsequently told by them I needed to pay a further approximate 500 for car insurance. They waited for the legal cooling off period to end before requesting additional documentation which I found quite suspicious for example my logbook!!!! First time ever in all the years of taking insurance I've been asked for this. I've requested a refund but was told they will look at my claim and will take 8 weeks for them to respond. I'm definitely not letting this go and will be seeking legal advice Reviewed on: 9th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hello, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. All details on the policy impact the price of the policy we offer, if details are found to be incorrect we need to update them and this can impact the price of the policy. If you’d like to speak to the team about this process, please give us a call on 0333 043 2095. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 9am to 5pm. Ashley Response date: 12th May 2025

Terrible company. AVOID!!!!!

Terrible company, charged additional fees saying additional driver had fault claim. Asked for evidence which was provided and won’t accept. customer service based in South Africa is the worst I have experienced in years. From the other reviews I can see that I am not the only one this has happened to. I have complained and will go to ombudsman but beware in over 25 years driving and with insurance from multiple companies. This is the worst and they will look for other ways to charge extra as you can see from the other reviews. Reviewed on: 8th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Declan, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. All details on the policy impact the price of the policy we offer, if details are found to be incorrect we need to update them and this can impact the price of the policy. If you’d like to speak to the team about this process, please give us a call on 0333 043 2095. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 9am to 5pm. Ashley Response date: 9th May 2025

Disgusting company .

Disgusting company . Don't except ncd on a van to a car even though they it says they except it from a commercial vehicle took my deposit then they tried to say the ncd are void and they need another 800 quid on tip Reviewed on: 7th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi James, 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 advise when the policy is being set up online, as well as in our FAQs, that we don't accept no claims discount from a commercial vehicle. You can find the FAQ here - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/motor/no-claims-discount/what-no-claims-discount-do-you-accept. All details on the policy impact the price of the policy we offer, if details are found to be incorrect we need to update them and this can impact the price of the policy. If you’d like to speak to the team about this process, please give us a call on 0333 043 2095. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 9am to 5pm. Ashley Response date: 9th May 2025

Avoid avoid avoid

I cancelled my policy last year with them, I now have their solicitors threatening court action as they say I owe £356 as they didn't cancel the policy at all. I also didn't sign a credit agreement with them and lo and behold they have an electronically signed copy (I didn't sign this either) Reviewed on: 7th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi James, 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. As the direct debit was cancelled, we sent an email to advise the next steps and how to either set the policy back up. Or, how to pay the cancellation fee, as per the cancellation breakdown. This also advised any future steps if the payment wasn't made. To discuss any payment plan, please contact our team on 01274 933 469. Ashley Response date: 9th May 2025

AVOID THIS INSURANCE COMPANY!

AVOID THIS INSURANCE COMPANY. They cancelled my policy without telling me - I was still paying them for my insurance and I only found out they had cancelled it when I was pulled over by police. I ended up with 6 points on my licence and a £550 fine. Now they’re trying to charge me £57.43 for a cancellation fee, and have threatened that bailiffs will come to my home and my credit score will be affected if I don’t pay. They have called me multiple times chasing the cancellation fee, but never once phoned me about the actual cancellation. Absolutely disgraceful service. Reviewed on: 6th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Kate, 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'd like to look into this further for you to help resolve this, please send an email to [email protected] with your policy number a summary of your experience similar to your review and we will look into it. Ashley Response date: 9th May 2025

Very pleased with quote I received and they were ver...

Very pleased with quote I received and they were very helpful Reviewed on: 5th May 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hello, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st Central this year for your car insurance. Ashley Response date: 6th May 2025

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

Motorbike Insurance
from Hagerty Insurance 0.00 from 0 reviews
Car insurance
from Diamond Insurance 3.98 from 106 reviews
Car insurance
from Marshmallow 1.66 from 309 reviews

There's still more to see!

1st Central has a range of products available. Check the ratings of each product to find the right one for you. 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