Write a review

Go to business site

1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.51 (957 reviews)

View other 1st Central products

1.51

Based on 957 reviews, last reviewed 17th Apr 2026

100% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

56% decrease in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

11%

80%

Latest highest rating:

5

Just started my third year of car insurance cover wi... Just started my third year of car insurance cover with 1st Central. Good value for money, helpful customer service, clearly laid out website and easy ... Read more Reviewed on: 17th April 2026

Latest lowest rating:

1

Do not use this provider for your car insurance I’ve had a very poor experience with this insurer. They failed to respond to three or four of my emails, and despite requesting a call from management... Read more Reviewed on: 10th April 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 (957)

Shocking!

Shocking!! Took out the policy and cancelled within the 14 day cooling off period, I paid an initial £29 deposit at the time of taking out the policy and they billed me £87 for cancellation. Reviewed on: 26th June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Russell, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. I can see the policy was cancelled 15 days after the policy start date, which is outside of the cool off period. If you need any assistance with the payment, please speak to our team on 01274 933 469. Ashley Response date: 28th June 2024

Do not touch.

Do not touch. Auto Renew you can't turn off, chat that doesn't work, no phone numbers unless claiming! Activating a policy before old one (with them) has expired then charge fee for cancelling an "active" policy. Should get email one month in advance then two weeks in advance. only received two weeks before renewal, then no way of turning off auto renew and policy almost doubled despite no claims. Just keep saying i should have turned off auto renew. New policy not started but they had it as "Active" online several hours before it came into force thereby forcing cancellation rather than blocking auto renew. Will be taking to ombudsman. £50 admin fee!!!!! Reviewed on: 21st June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Kim, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. Automatic renewal can be turned off at any time up, until the day before your renewal, via Your Account. This can be on day 1 of your policy also. We advise this on our renewal invite that we send also. The day before your policy you can speak to us to turn this off. You had an Online only policy, which didn't include telephone support, but our team on web chat could've assisted. I can see the renewal invite was opened. We have this FAQ for turning off automatic renewal - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/kb/FAQ/content/PROD-7100/What-if-I-dont-want-to-renew-my-car-insurance?query=automatic%20renew. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents. Ashley Response date: 24th June 2024

I am incredibly dissatisfied

I am incredibly dissatisfied with 1st Central Insurance. They asked me to call to confirm some details in my policy, and then they demanded an additional £70 just to update an information. This is an outrageous and unjustified charge. It feels like they do this to scam you out of more money once you've signed up with them. Their customer service is unhelpful and the entire process feels like a money grab. I strongly advise against using 1st Central Insurance. Save yourself the hassle and find a more honest and transparent insurance provider. Reviewed on: 19th June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Lorena, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. It's important to check that all the details you've input are correct, as all details are taken into account when calculating the price of your policy. If your details are found to be incorrect, we need to update them in order to ensure your cover is valid and any changes can affect the price of the policy we can offer. If there's anything you'd like us to look into with regards to your policy please contact us by sending an email to [email protected]. Please remember to include your policy number, claims reference number, email, name, DOB and details of what's gone wrong and we'll do our best to put it right. Clare Response date: 20th June 2024

cancellation is £0, but admin fee is £50!!!

Awful, set up insurance, following day got better quote, told cancellation is £0, but admin fee is £50!!! You have been warned. Don't touch them with a barge pole. Told it would be no charge if I sent new providers certificate of insurance, I did, telephoned to be told as its new business I have to pay. If I had have known this I would have stuck with 1st Central as now heavily out of pocket!! Rest assured will be alerting users where I can! Never will I use despite comparison sites.. Reviewed on: 17th June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Matt, 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 the £50 non-refundable arrangement fee when the policy is being set up. We advise our customers of this so they are aware from the start. We also have this FAQ that advises our fees - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/kb/FAQ/content/PROD-7619/What-are-your-fees-and-charges?query=fees. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 18th June 2024

They draw you in with a very reasonable quote and th...

They draw you in with a very reasonable quote and then double it after a few weeks. Very disinterested customer service. Clearly only to eager to get me off the phone. Kept putting me on hold for many minutes even though I told them I was calling from abroad. My advice. Don’t touch them with a barge pole Reviewed on: 13th June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Kath, 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 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. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents. Ashley Response date: 14th June 2024

Worst company

My insurance went up for no reason, asked for help they refused and said go somewhere else. We can’t help you. I been with them for 2 years but they did not bother to give a decent quote to a loyal customer. Reviewed on: 10th June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hello, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. The price of insurance is rated on a daily basis, which means this can change at renewal. We have this article that goes in to some details on what makes up the price of insurance - https://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/car-insurance/what-affects-your-price. I'm sorry we weren't as competitive for you this year, but I hope we can welcome you back in the future. Ashley Response date: 11th June 2024

Great First Impression

I haven't had to claim yet and I hope I don't have to but the process to apply was easy and their website is excellent. Reviewed on: 9th June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hello, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st Central this year for your car insurance. Ashley Response date: 10th June 2024

Took out a policy via comparison site to start today...

Took out a policy via comparison site to start today, when confirmation can't through, they put start date as 8th not 3rd. Phoned thinking it would be an easy fix, nope. Told me the system won't allow it. I would have to cancel, £50 admin fee, they would hold onto my money already paid for ten days, and I would have to pay another £250 today to start another policy. Explained it was their mistake - Faith told me they have never made this mistake! Absolute scammers, my car is lying outside in the city with no insurance, the day after I passed my test. Made a happy occasion an absolute nightmare. Please do not use them. Reviewed on: 4th June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hello, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. If there’s anything you’d like us to look into for you, please contact us by sending an email to [email protected]. Please include your policy number and details of what’s gone wrong, and we’ll see if we can put things right. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents. Ashley Response date: 5th June 2024

Pleasure

It was a great pleasure to have the opportunity to collaborate with this insurance company. They have a good value for money and a great management. Reviewed on: 2nd June 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Ecaterina, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st Central this year for your car insurance. Ashley Response date: 3rd June 2024

Affordable

Great affordable car insurance can’t go wrong Reviewed on: 30th May 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Kelsey, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st Central this year for your car insurance. Ashley Response date: 31st May 2024

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

Caravan insurance
from Compass Insurance 1.47 from 7 reviews
Motorbike (discontinued)
from MCE Insurance (inactive company) 1.35 from 74 reviews
Caravan insurance (discontinued)
from Saga 4.87 from 46 reviews

Want to see more from 1st Central?

Breakdown cover
from 1st Central 4.41 from 16 reviews
Personal accident
from 1st Central 2.23 from 5 reviews
Home insurance
from 1st Central 0.00 from 0 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