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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.66 (946 reviews)

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1.51

Based on 946 reviews, last reviewed 21st Jan 2026

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

50% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

12%

79%

Latest highest rating:

5

Good and not too expensive Was looking for good value car insurance and found this one. Not too expensive and so far can’t say anything bad. Very easy to sign up. Reviewed on: 5th September 2025

Latest lowest rating:

1

Cancelled car insurance, no apparent reason - AVOID! I have been with 1st Central for 5 years. This year they put my car insurance up from £26 pcm to £39 pcm, which I thought was a ridiculous jump in cos... Read more Reviewed on: 21st January 2026

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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.

1st Central Car insurance reviews (946)

Review of the 1st Central, Car insurance:

DO NOT USE- DREADFUL SERVICE

I feel completely miss sold by this company. I have been treated in the most appalling manner. I have been a customer for many years and had a 14 year no claims bonus. I have never had an accident in over forty years of driving. I recently had a gate close on my car and called to see if I could make a claim. They wrote my car off so I decided not to make a claim. I opened a new policy to give my no claims more protection and was told I could retain my 14 years no claims. I opened the policy on that premise only then to receive an email once the two weeks grace had expired to say because I had notified them of the gate incident, my no claims would be reduced to 4 years and my pcm payment would significantly increase. They claimed I hadn’t given them all the information they needed. This is nonsense. They have totally and knowingly miss sold me a product. I have put on a formal complaint and will be taking this to the financial ombudsman. My husband has recently passed away and I told them this. I feel that they totally took advantage of my vulnerability. It is truly shocking!!! Reviewed on: 20th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Wendy, Firstly, I'm very sorry to hear of the passing of your husband. I hope you and your family are doing as well as they can at this time. I'm sorry to hear of the issues you've faced with your claim. 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: 21st March 2025

AND YET ANOTHER PROBLEM..

I recently was in an accident and my car had been written off. I kept being told over the phone to just transfer my new car over to my current policy when I got one. When I got a quote online using the change the car on my policy feature the breakdown it gave me was ridiculous. They wanted me to pay for a year’s worth of insurance for the new car over 4 months which is when my policy ends as well as paying the current policy I have on my car. I used the web chat to try and talk to someone as I wasn’t understanding this breakdown when they’d been saying transfer a new car I thought it would just let me pay for the new one until the policy ran out. The person they connected me to (Sinothando) was completely useless I was talking to them for 40 mins and I just couldn’t get an answer as to why I was being charged for two policies and why I had to pay for 12 months of coverage over 4 months. They just kept telling me that there are different premiums for different cars which I was obviously aware of and that I wasn’t going to be paying for two cars but clearly I wasn’t from the breakdown. Then any time I asked about why I would have to pay for 12 months of coverage over 4 months they just would not answer the question. It was 40 mins of just going round in circles and they just wouldn’t answer my question. I looked it up online afterwards and if you make a claim you still have to pay out the policy, so I would have been having to pay the rest of my policy for my written off car and the new one. So the person I was speaking to was outright lying to me as it was completely the case that I would have to be paying premiums for two cars and yet they said multiple times that wasn’t the case. Then for the paying 12 months insurance over 4 months looks like it was just to maybe align with what they have on their system but then I would have been stuck with them for another year which I definitely didn’t want to be after the hell they have put me through the last few weeks and I would have had to have paid it in 4 months for no real reason other than to align with their system. Again the person I spoke to just wouldn’t answer this question I have no idea if they were just clueless or knew there was no real reason for this but they were awful and gave me no help. Just avoid this company they’re a nightmare to deal with and everything just feels like a lying scam with them. Reviewed on: 3rd December 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Chloe, 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 would 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: 8th December 2025

Rip off company! AVOID AVOID AVOID

Rip off company! Scam you into paying another £60 after paying in full for the policy to change the date the car was purchased 3 years ago as i got the dat a month wrong. A completely irrelevant detail to the cover just a scam to get more money. Funny how they only asked for the info after the 14 day cooling off period and wanted a big cancellation fee. Worst of the worst company. When questioned they didnt care Reviewed on: 26th November 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Scott, 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: 28th November 2025

After I was hit by a van and this was no fault

After I was hit by a van and this was no fault accident where other party accepted full liability, my actual nightmare started with 1st Central Car insurance. A car hire company, repair shop and 1st Central, they all made me chase these 3 separate companies repeatedly for my courtesy car and getting my accident car repaired. After 2 months when I got my car back it was very shoddy repair with water leaks coming in, lights not working and wrong car logo stuck on! I made a written complaint (they acknowledged receipt) but they have still not responded after 2 months!! Now I am escalating my complaint to Financial Ombudsman. AVOID buying car insurance from them at all costs, you will regret it. Reviewed on: 25th November 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi AS, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. You can find our complaints details here, including a contact number - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/general/contact/how-do-i-complain-about-my-insurance. Ashley Response date: 26th November 2025

wankers!!

avoid at all costs you r not covered shameful service!! 7 days on no call back Reviewed on: 24th November 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Guss, 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. Ashley Response date: 26th November 2025

AVOID AT ALL COST

They have been awful to deal with the last few months. One of the first things was that I needed to update one of them named driver's details and tried to do it online but I kept getting an 'oops something went wrong' page every time I tried to submit. I had to call up and do it over the phone and was charged a fee, I told them I wasn't able to do it online because it wasn't working, but they were still happy to charge me. I've since read a lot of reviews saying the same thing, it seems like an extremely common occurence and conveniently they get to charge fees when it happens. We also unfortunately, had to make a claim recently when we got hit in the rear by a direver who was speeing and changing lanes wihout indicatind and hit us when he was trying to sped up and squeeze behind us. We had 3 witnesses that put him at fault due to his reckless driving. We tried to call 1st central to get our car picked up from the road wherer the accident happened. I couldn't ge through to a preson the automated phone system made me click for a breakdown pick up and they asked why I clicked it and I clicked the accident option and it kept taking me back the the breakdown options and just kept me in a loop between the two. We had to call someone else in the end. They were completley USELESS at even try to contact for a service they offer. Then for the claim they put us fully liable despit the fact we had witnesses and the third party was driving recklessly as caught on a dash cam. The best part was when the claim agent called me to say we were going to be fully liable and even said themselves that they could see the the third party was speeding and changing lanes illegally an that they know we have 3 witnesses who say the same thing and he had none but we were still going to be put at fault. They also looked at our case for about day before decing this no back and forth with the thrid party insurance company. They didn't even try for joint liability, which definitley would have been possible give how the third party was driving and we had 3 epople to back it up and they SAID THEMSELVES that he was driving dangeously. There was also a clear reluctance to go to court, ehich is very convenient since legal fees are covered in my policy. They clearly just didn't want to actualy have to put the time or money into fighting the case, but what is the point of having legal feed covered in a policy to then never bother fighting for your customers. I was essentially paying for somehting they clearly had no intention of paying for. I wish I had read the reviews before using this company as I've read so many reviews where people have been in the same situation as us. They've had evidence and the company has just settled almost immeadiately and showing signs of ebing reluctant to go to court. Never use this company they have loads of hidden fees and they WILL NOT FIGHT FOR YOU even if the evidence is stacked against the third party. They are completley USELESS if you have an accident. I have been telling everyone I know not to use them and I will continue to do so, they are scammers. I will not be renewing my policy and I will never use them again. Reviewed on: 23rd November 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Chloe, 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: 24th November 2025

AVOID AT ALL COST! SCAM!!

AVOID AT ALL COST!! SCAM!!! They attract you in with a low insurance quote, then wait until JUST after the cooling off period has ended to say you have to phone their "Policy Analysis Team", at which point they aggressively assert a change needs to be made to your policy (even if that's a complete lie) and therefore the price will be much higher. In my case, they claimed it was because my job description was wrong, which is complete and utter nonsense. Despite stating as much on the phone to them and making it quite clear I don't accept any change to the policy, a few days later I get an automated email saying my bank card will be charged more money. I did not authorise this and I'm fairly sure this is in fact fraudulent. This company operates a scam, has no intention of ever honouring their original quote, and will be reported to the financial ombudsman. If you're a customer with this company then you'd better pray you never need to make a claim, because I have a feeling they'd never accept it! Looking at other negative reviews, it seems I'm not alone in this experience, which is putting it mildly. Reviewed on: 6th November 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi L H, 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 November 2025

Avoid - Coercive pattern,will trap you, non consented £

DO NOT USE!!!! you will be trapped into paying extra!! i have been with 1st Central for a good few years now, since 2019 and i have not had any issues until now! i have been a loyal customer for years, and i have never cost them a penny, never claimed never missed a payment, they offered me a renewal this year an after looking around i thought no i will stay but i definitely regret my decision. They contacted me 2 days after my cooling off period asking for more information, i rang them and provided this, and then due to my occupation changing from admin assistant to accounts assistant they have tried to charge me an extra £226!! baring in mind i work from home, i am still the same assistant i have always been and i pose no risk sitting at home ALL day to work. I feel they are coercive, as its either pay £226 or £150 to now cancel ???? i havent even had a full month and they feel this is acceptable behaviour. after reading reviews it seems to be a reoccurring pattern of contacting customers after the cooling off period to TRAP you!! i have spent hours on the phone and noone can help. I know the response to this will be the same generic that all other reviews have ! this company goes against the Consumer Duty and Treating customers fairly. And will be reported to the FCO after 8 weeks. There is an ongoing complaint, and im waiting 2 weeks nearly to hear back from someone on this. Appalling company, disgusting behaviour! Reviewed on: 30th October 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Jess, 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: 31st October 2025

Scam scam scam

Gave me the lowest price but after buying the car insurance they jacked the price right up so I cancelled which cost my over £140 to do so, surely this can’t be legal? I will never use the again and to everyone else steer clear of them Reviewed on: 25th October 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Jon, 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 October 2025

Useless customer service

Useless customer service. Have been trying to get MY money back that they owe me for almost 8 months and they are useless. Will transfer you to different people multiple times and hang up. When asking them to confirm phone calls through emails they say they are unable to do that. All in all, an absolute mess. Insurance is meant to make your life easier but that is not the case with this company. Reviewed on: 17th October 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Amelia, 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. We would 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: 20th October 2025

Customer Service that won’t speak to you!

At first it looked like 1st Central offered reasonable value for car insurance. However after being asked to contact their ‘Policy Analysis Team’ I have to change my mind. They asked me to contact them and then went ahead to dispute my employment status suggesting I was incorrect bizarre but true. As a result they insisted on me having a different employment status and wanted to charge me £98.80 to change it. sound unlikely I agree but is true. Since this dispute I have called three times, each time no one can answer my questions but promises each time someone will call me back, so far no call back. I did ask for a cost of cancellation which was £148 for a policy running three weeks but the reason for the high cost was ambiguous to say the least. This should be easy 45 years of driving and 10 + years of NCD and I am made to feel like a crook, I would not recommend 1st Central. Reviewed on: 15th October 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Nick, 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 October 2025

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