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1st Central: Car Insurance reviews

Name: Car Insurance
Rating: 1.69 (849 reviews)

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1.50

Based on 849 reviews, last reviewed 29th Nov 2024

50% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

16% increase 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

BEWARE!! Ludicrous charges! THEY DO NOT CARE!! Took out insurance and over a week later they asked for proof of NCB and proof of claims. Asked my last insurance provider for this. When I didn’t get... Read more Reviewed on: 29th November 2024

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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 (849)

Review of the 1st Central, Car Insurance:

High £30 admin fee

High £30 admin fee when you have to call them even when it's something you can't change online. They don't warn you at beginning of call Reviewed on: 28th October 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi K p, 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 admin fees when a policy is set up. If a change is made over the phone the admin fee is £30, if it's made online it's £25. If you attempt to make a change online and have an issue, please advise our colleagues and they will amend this to £25 for you. We also advise of our fees 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: 29th October 2024

Awful company.

Awful company. AVOID! 1st CENTRAL Insurance are to be never used again from my family and friends. Come with strong advice not to use them. Further to an annual car insurance policy I took with them in November 2023. They followed up asking for proof of NCD on Xmas Eve 2023. Unfortunately xmas holiday season wasn't an ideal time to organise this for them and when I finally sent the NCD after the holidays they said it was eight hours too late and charged me £150.00. Never use them, They are blacklisted as an insurance company for me and I'd help anyone with the advice not to go with them. Use other companies and pay a little extra. They are money grabbers. Reviewed on: 15th February 2024

Awful experience

Charged me £125 because I’d put my partner’s occupation as manufacturing engineer instead of mechanical engineer…even though he does both at his job. Customer services representatives are rude and aggressive. I was told I’d still need to pay the £125 even if I cancelled my policy within the free cancellation period of 14 days. I have now found out that 1st Central offer low prices to lure you in and then fine comb the policy to check for ‘mistakes’ or make aggressive phone calls to pressure you into making a mistake and then make their money through the extra charges they apply. Disgusting. I would never use or recommend this company again. Reviewed on: 14th February 2024

Scummy company .

Scummy company ... They wait 14 days before contacting you so the legal cooling off period expires. Reviewed on: 10th February 2024

£100 admin fee to cancel my policy,

Charged me a £100 admin fee to cancel my policy, as I sold my car, so didn't have a lot of choice. All done online, so all automated and nobody had to do a single thing. Reviewed on: 6th February 2024

Fraudsters

Terrible company so many hidden costs. Wants information/documents from 8+ years ago. I paid in full thinking I was doing the right thing. It ended up being cheaper for me to leave than to stay with these crooks Reviewed on: 5th February 2024

Renewed my policy without me asking then want to cha...

Renewed my policy without me asking then want to charge me £200 to get out of it. Reviewed on: 4th February 2024

Avoid at all cost.

Allegedly information from the comparison site to 1st central about my SP30 did not reach them so I was unexpectedly given over 250 extra to pay. When I disputed this there was no apology, nothing. I had to cancel my insurance and now I have a default notice on my file due to the 250 not being paid despite my not being with 1st central anymore and I paid what was due during the time I was with them. Reviewed on: 30th January 2024

Massively undervalued my car!

Massively undervalued my car! Warning if you are with this company and get hit by another driver, you will lose thousands of pounds and sleep due to stress! Taken 2 months, hours of calls with no hire car and no money to buy another car! Treated appallingly! You have been warned, please don’t trust them with you car insurance! Reviewed on: 26th January 2024

Huge costs for any changes,Terrible customer service

Seems good to start with but any change even moments after you have taken out the policy Wil land you with huge fees!!!! Do not go with this company the most unhelpful customer service ever. It's worth paying more to get a better insurer. Will never go with them again. Reviewed on: 26th January 2024

Fees and more fees, they take unauthorised payments

I switched my unsuitable over to my new car in which they charged me a £100 admin fee, my old car which my partner was driving was then switched from her old car also with 1st central but the advisor charged us both £100 admin fee for 5 minutes on her keyboard. I also stated whilst on the phone that I wanted to opt out of the auto renewal which now 9 months later, I noticed they’ve taken two payments of £83.90 out of my account in Nov and Dec’23 which are duplicates direct debits which they’ve denied taking double what is due although my banks confirmed they have, my policy has just renewed although as mentioned earlier I opted out in which they’ve taken £401.02 from my account as the deposit for my new policy (which wasn’t authorised) and another £202.20 for the first payment (also not authorised) I called them up and explained the above which they replied I hadn’t opted out and they hadn’t taken the direct debits twice, they said they sent my policy to me email although I’d received nothing I asked what my new premium was per month in which I was told it’s £202.20 a month from £83.90 so over double what it was although nothings changed from the previous year except my no claims bonus has now increased to 9 years! I said I wanted the policy void not cancelled as I never agreed for insurance to roll over and I was told it’s started and my car would be insured that if I cancelled I would lose the £401.02 deposit and have to pay a percentage of my annual premium plus a £50.00 admin fee and cancellation fee. This company is a cowboy co-operation avoid at all costs, I will be reporting it and contacting the financial ombudsmen Reviewed on: 20th January 2024

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