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1st Central: Car Insurance reviews

Name: Car Insurance
Rating: 1.67 (870 reviews)

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1.49

Based on 870 reviews, last reviewed 11th Mar 2025

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

14% decrease in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

12%

79%

Latest highest rating:

5

Very good quote on car insurance, and recommended on... Very good quote on car insurance, and recommended on go compare site Reviewed on: 25th September 2024

Latest lowest rating:

1

Con company for I went ahead with my renewal policy and I got an email asking for my car logbooks . so I called them up to ask why . and they said that I needed t... Read more Reviewed on: 11th March 2025

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About this product

Here at Smart Money People, we collect 1st Central car insurance reviews from genuine customers, to help you make an informed decision about your next provider.

1st Central was founded in 2008 and has been growing fast ever since. Specialising in car insurance, the brand offers a variety of products with different levels of cover, including a telematics policy for newer drivers.

When choosing a new policy, take the time to ensure it is suitably robust and meets all of your needs. Do you want breakdown cover included in the policy? Do you need legal cover? What about cover for any medical expenses that may occur after an accident? Working out your priorities before searching for a policy can make the selection process much easier. Check out our 1st Central car insurance reviews to find out what others think.

Have you had a car insurance policy with 1st Central? Whether good or bad, share your experience with the Smart Money People community to help us increase trust and transparency in financial services. Were you satisfied with the price of the premium? Did you have any interactions with the customer service team? Leave a 1st Central car insurance review today to help other drivers just like you.

1st Central Car Insurance reviews (870)

Review of the 1st Central, Car Insurance:

STAY AWAY THEY CAN NOT BE TRUSTED!!!

I recently had an incredibly frustrating experience with 1st Central Car Insurance that I feel compelled to share. From start to finish, the service was appalling, with a series of lies, unprofessional behaviour, and unnecessary charges. First and foremost, I was left speechless when they ended the phone call on me not once, but twice. Despite being promised a call back, no one ever reached out to follow up. It’s clear they have no regard for their customers’ time or concerns. The lies told by the representatives were downright infuriating. Every time I spoke with someone, the information I received seemed to contradict what was said previously. I was given conflicting details about policy changes and cancellation fees, which left me completely confused and frustrated. Speaking of the cancellation fees, I was charged an outrageous £50 to cancel the policy. However, when I checked their website, it clearly stated the cancellation fee should be £35. This inconsistency only added to my frustration, especially since I was given no explanation for the higher charge. The situation became even more ridiculous when my son switched jobs from an Admin Assistant to a Sales Executive. For this small change, 1st Central increased his policy by a shocking £848. It’s hard to understand how a job title change could result in such a massive price hike, especially when no substantial risk factor was added. The lack of professionalism continued when I spoke with a manager who was not helpful in resolving the issue. Not only did they insist on seeing my son’s contract as proof of his job, but they also requested a payslip. Who asks for a payslip to make a policy adjustment? It’s not something any reasonable insurer would demand. This level of scrutiny was completely unnecessary. To top it all off, 1st Central made numerous mistakes on their end throughout this process. From incorrect information to errors in how they handled the policy details, it became clear that this company is disorganised and untrustworthy. I would never recommend 1st Central to anyone looking for reliable and professional car insurance. Their customer service is abysmal, their pricing is unreasonable, and they don’t care about resolving issues or treating customers fairly. Avoid them at all costs. Reviewed on: 17th December 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Malik, 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: 27th December 2024

Con company

for I went ahead with my renewal policy and I got an email asking for my car logbooks . so I called them up to ask why . and they said that I needed to prove how long I’ve owned my vehicle for so I asked why and they told me there was a discrepancy on how long I had all my vehicle as last year policy it said 6 years and now this year policy it says I’ve own the vehicle for five years . which then they informed me that my insurance premiums are going to go up so I asked why would it make a difference on how long I’ve had my vehicle for as long as I’ve owned it and I am the registered person for when I am insured with you and they basically said I am a higher risk to loan money to for the shorter time. I have own a vehicle and I am a lesser risk to loan money to for the longer I have owned the vehicle . so basically I am a higher risk to loan insurance money too if I own the car for five years and I will be a lower risk if I’ve owned it for six years, which I find mind-boggling it shouldn’t come to how long somebody’s own a vehicle for to affect your insurance quote so one star review . The person I spoke to basically had an attitude constantly telling me to cancel. so I have cancelled my policy and now you have lost a £500 a year policy for something stupid as to telling me that because there was an error made by one year on how long I’ve owned the vehicle for you were gonna put my insurance premiums up . whatever error this was on one year it should’ve just been corrected and not affected my premiums so thanks for 1st central but you’ve lost my customer. This was the second year I had been with you as well I’ve also had other vehicles insured with you as well. I definitely won’t be using you…. When you go online there is a box to say you don’t own a vehicle yet if you check that box and get your quotes then go back and then instead of ticking that box but put in your owned the vehicle for 10 years the insurance quote is still the same there is no risk factor on lending someone money for the insurance quote . It’s About how long you’ve owned a vehicle for that is a credit check which goes on your credit record, they don’t do a credit check on you based on how long you’ve ordered a car for. Reviewed on: 11th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Mike, 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 March 2025

Do not use

Clearly states no fees to change policy. I unf had to cancel and got charge half the yearly premium. Emailed and get nothing back. Do not use Reviewed on: 9th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Craig, 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 that there is no admin fee to change a policy, but there might be a difference in premium. We also advise of our cancellation fee when a policy is set up. We have this FAQ that goes in to some details on our this - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/motor/cancellations/if-my-car-insurance-is-cancelled-why-do-i-still-owe-money-to-1st-central. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 10th March 2025

Hidden costs

Hidden costs so ended up paying £100+ more, not to mention even more for cancelling. Really disappointing and also confusing telematics. Reviewed on: 6th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Rach, 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: 7th March 2025

Brilliant price. But very poor Customer Service

Brilliant price on comparison site. Went with them and put partner on policy. Kept getting emails and messages, tried hardest to upload driving licences and DVLC check. Came back with extra charge for partners SP30 of nearly £90 and £50 just to change the policy details. Yes the manager tried to help but to know avail. Yes it was my fault for my error but to cancel policy was £107 so I just had to pay as I'd lose more money than the extra. Pure greed as a company and I see many complaints and wish I hadn't gone with 1st Central. I won't use them again, they've lost my custom next year. They say they pride themselves on customer service. Many others would disagree.!!! Reviewed on: 25th February 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Karl, 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: 26th February 2025

I changed the address to another one 200 yards away...

I changed the address to another one 200 yards away from the first one. They wrote that they would pay me 17 pence extra. But my renewal went up from £580 to £1,030, I called them and they said there was nothing they could do, that it was not their fault, while other insurance companies offer from £500 to £800 for the new address - full package with breakdown! Avoid 1st Central!!! SCAM Reviewed on: 16th February 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Damian, 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 comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 17th February 2025

Absolute scam of an insurance company - AVOID

Absolute scam of a company. I paid on a monthly basis, and when I went to sell my car, the cancellation fee was £75 - nearly double the monthly insurance. I will never use 1st Central again, and will be advising everyone I know to do the same. Pure greed Reviewed on: 15th February 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Will, 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 cancellation fee when a policy is set up. We have this FAQ that goes in to what any additional fees might be for - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/motor/cancellations/if-my-car-insurance-is-cancelled-why-do-i-still-owe-money-to-1st-central. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 17th February 2025

Genuinely the worst insurance company ive ever deal...

Genuinely the worst insurance company ive ever deal with. i was only with them 26 days and they charged me £75 to leave them. i had to leave as they upped my monthly payment from £56 to £100.20, despite beig quoted £51.00 on their website! Reviewed on: 14th February 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Brooke, 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: 17th February 2025

Horrendous SCAM.

Horrendous SCAM. Decided they would add another £347 to the policy for a change of job, which was from working at a till in a Post office to Shop assistant working on a till. Have been advised to inform First Central of my intention to contact the FCA. Which I have done. Reviewed on: 13th February 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Bev, 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: 14th February 2025

Seems that's it's not just me experiencing the same...

Seems that's it's not just me experiencing the same thing. I just read this review. The same think happened to me. Sadly, it's quite common with this insurance company. "Be very careful when buying insurance of this company. They were the cheapest online at the time on confused.com but they needed additional info AFTER the policy was set up. I called them , they asked me about my occupation and they said it wasn’t the right discription and proceeded to ask question after question. After finally slightly altering my employment details(very slightly altered that would never change the price on the website)they slapped me with another 130£ including an admin fee. Absolutely furious as now my policy is way more Expensive than the next best one on confused.com . They have you snookered because to cancel the policy they slap you with another fee so I stayed with them reluctantly because of this.they’ve lost a lot of my custom on my other vehicles as I’ll never use them again for anything so ultimately they’ve lost out.Never experienced anything like it in all my years of driving. Not a happy customer" Be very careful!!!! Reviewed on: 11th February 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi AM A, 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 February 2025

Worst insurance company!

Worst insurance company! Have never had such a bad experience like with 1st cetral they wanted to charge me £640 for makinga change Reviewed on: 11th February 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Klaudia, 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 February 2025

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