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1st Central: Car Insurance reviews

Name: Car Insurance
Rating: 1.68 (859 reviews)

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1.51

Based on 859 reviews, last reviewed 31st Jan 2025

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

19% 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

The worst experience and the worst insurance company. The worst experience and the worst insurance company. My car broke down at the beginning of the insurance and they refused to suspend the insurance ... Read more Reviewed on: 31st January 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 (859)

Review of the 1st Central, Car Insurance:

TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I could give 0 I would, Please please please do not waste your time or money on this 'insurer'. This company is not an insurance company they are brokers who will scam you, rob you and affect you both mentally and physically. I have no idea how this business is still running with the amount of people they are scamming. Out of the blue they cancelled my insurance, they said they needed extra documents. I was not notified at all, neither by text, phone call or post to indicate they require additional infomation. The only way I found out about this was because I checked my bank balance and they had refunded my money for the month. I gave them a call to understand why I had been refunded and only then they told me my insurance was going to be cancelled on 08/06/22 11:59pm - I FOUND OUT 10 HOURS BEFORE THE TIME IT WAS DUE TO BE CANCELLED. They expected me to pull out the documents out of thin air. To avoid this tarnishing my good record I asked the policy to be cancelled and they kept passing me over person to person - I was trying to deal with this whilst I was at work. Then in the end I had to ask them to call me back and then the lady said she will at 6:00 after I finish work. 6:00pm comes and no one has called me, instead I got a lazy email to say 'sorry we cannot cancel your insurance and there is nothing we can do'. The 'analysis' had locked my account so i was unable to cancel the policy online. Even the website is extremely dodgy, they had added a fee of £135 on my account and it said once i make the payment my account will be unlocked. I paid it and it was still locked - luckily I had sent written proof that i want my insurance cancelled and this was the only thing I had to cover my back. I called this morning and spoke to a man who was also very useless and he did nothing to help me and he kept saying to me the insurance cannot be cancelled and he has spoken to his manager. Later i conferred with a family lawyer and they advised me that what they have done is unlawful and should be reported to the ombudsmen. I then called them and threatened them with legal action and notified them that I have also contacted ombudsmen. After this they changed their tune and agreed to cancel my insurance on my behalf rather than them doing it and tarnishing my good record. This has caused me an unbelievable amount of stress and anxiety. PLEASE RUN AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY - The few pounds and pennies you save going for this insurance will only last a month before they start slapping random charges on your account. I insured my run around car with them and for a 2005 mini i essentially paid approx. £200 a month with all the charges they gave me and i only had this insurance for 2 month. I own a BMW X4m and the insurance is no where as expensive. I must say I have learnt my lesson and I will definitely do research before looking for insurance. STAY AWAY LIKE THE PLAGUE. Reviewed on: 9th June 2022

Extortionate fees, nothing but threats of debt collection and shocking customer service

Cancelled my policy which was fully up to date with payments, charged an extortionate fee of £94 to leave but would not provide a breakdown of what this was for. Bully/harassment tactics and threats were used to make me to make me pay. I would never use again and from my experience I would advise to stay clear! Reviewed on: 18th October 2023

AVOID AVOID

They will happily take your deposit then cancel the policy quoting that you have been a victim of identity theft WTH Reviewed on: 16th October 2023

Avoid at all costs!

Told 1st central that I was moving address and job. They then cancelled the policy unless I pay an extortionate premium up front. Refused to negotiate or offer an installment plan. Rude staff when told I want to make a complaint. Guess it was my mistake for being honest with such a crooked company. I now will likely have a cancelled policy to my name and thus will be paying extra in the future. Avoid at all costs! 0/10. Reviewed on: 13th October 2023

Awful, avoid

Only one star as it isn't possible to give zero. We decided to upgrade the family car, after looking around we liked a VW Caravelle, got a quote online to swap our current cover with 1st Central to the new car and on getting a decent quote put a deposit on the VW. I'd got the quote on the vehicles private plate and the day before we went to collect went online to change the quote to the new (original) registration but the system wouldn't find it. I tried to contact via web chat several times but kept getting removed from the system every time I connected with an agent and was then unable to log in again each time until I logged out, cleared my cookies and logged in again. I eventually got through to someone who after a long, confusing conversation told me they wouldn't insure it as it's a van. I stated that they had quoted me already all that had changed was the VRM and was told that I'd only been quoted because I'd just put 'Volkswagen' and not 'Caravelle' even though the quote clearly states 'Volkswagen Caravelle' the insinuation being that I'd given the wrong details to obtain a quote - the only details I had entered were in fact the VRM 1st Centrals own system giving the vehicles details and asking me to confirm. I explained that a Caravelle is a car not a van and is M1 Diesel Car on the logbook thus legally a car - the response was 'its a VAN we don't cover VANS' this went back and forth a bit until I gave up and rang. Same thing on the phone with a gentleman firmly but at least politely telling me my car was a van because it looked like one and his manager said it definitely was. I again tried explaining that it was classed by DVLA as M1 Diesel Car thus lawfully a car and that categories were based on the intended use of the vehicle not the chassis but they were adamant they wouldn't cover it as it was a van (his manager said so after all and what do the DVLA know) Upshot is I have to cancel my cover - £50 fee and pay 100 odd days of cover as they are adamant my car is a van and won't insure it and take my custom elsewhere. Terrible customer experience from staff who are terribly trained and do not have a clue. Reviewed on: 6th October 2023

I was ripped off

No matter how cheaper this car insurance company. They are called 1st central on Money supermarket, Go compare or Compare the market. Please avoid as they will refuse to represent you in the midst of an accident or claim. The Customer service is also awful Reviewed on: 5th October 2023

Hidden charges, you will get a SHOCK

STAY AWAY, I cancelled my policy and got a big shock. Here are the following charges for the cancelling the policy after I sold my car. Admin fee £50 Cancelling £50 Arrangement Fee £50 Excess Protect £27.99 Personal Accident Cover £30 Interest for paying monthly £62.84 Final COST OF payment to cancel Policy £272 ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING COMPANY. I wish I could upload the screenshot of the charges. Reviewed on: 2nd October 2023

Heartless company who will charge you at every turn

We have used this company many times over the years, as a couple, maybe over 6 different policies. Today my husband had his insurance cancelled because he mistyped his email address by ONE letter! Instead of using initiative and trying to contact him via another means, they’ve simply cancelled the policy and sent a letter to say so. CANCELLED the policy- meaning a black mark is on my husbands name and he will now have to declare it in future, raising our premium considerably for the NEXT 5 YEARS because of one small human error. When he phoned, customer service have been extremely unhelpful with a ‘nothing we can do attitude’ and the absolute JOKE is that we’re being charged for this. A family already struggling financially and they’ve completely thrown us under the bus. Please note: their ‘defence’ is that it is “all done by computer” so if you want an insurance company that has humans using their common sense or one that has any care for customer loyalty or customer service, this is the NOT the one for you! 110% do not recommend. Reviewed on: 30th September 2023

Crap company

Constant issues and when I got that sick of them they charged me 125 pounds to cancel! Watch this company as they love hidden fees Reviewed on: 29th September 2023

Absolutely aswful

my girlfriend insured with them and every week there was a problem which could cause her insurance being cancelled, named drivers not driving the car (they don’t HAVE to drive it), the black box being loose despite it being on the windscreen, having to register named drivers and having the app downloaded. Just constant hassle for no reason. Reviewed on: 27th September 2023

Not good car insurance

They blamed me for an accident that I wasn't even involved in and reduced my NCD as a result, which cost me about £200. 10 months later they admitted that it wasn't my fault and gave me back my NCD but not any of my over payments Reviewed on: 27th September 2023

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