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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.66 (944 reviews)

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1.51

Based on 944 reviews, last reviewed 16th Jan 2026

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

14% 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

Fell for the Administrative Surcharge Scam I am another of the many who have fallen for the 1st Central Administrative Surcharge Scam..Basically, after the 14 days they contacted me to say that... Read more Reviewed on: 16th 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 (944)

Review of the 1st Central, Car insurance:

Great customer service!

Easy to navigate website, friendly staff & competitive prices Reviewed on: 6th July 2019

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

Cheapest quote didn't last long

They came in as the cheapest quote and even though they're was done technical issues getting signed up I went with them then 1 week laid they needed to check a form that showed i had the purchase date of the car wrong and to update this they charged an additional £150 pounds. I'm currently trying to cancel the policy which is a nightmare and none of the links to do it online work so I'm stuck in chat bot hell. Wish I had just gone with one of the reputable companies and paid the extra £100 then Reviewed on: 4th October 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi James, 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: 6th October 2025

Be careful for additional charges!

Be careful for additional charges! I have bought car insurance and paid up front for it, after a week I have been asked to send vehicle registration documents which I did and got charged £80 extra !!(checks + administration fees) obviously if you want to cancel your insurance you will have to pay more admin fees so you will get stuck paying the additional costs which you didn’t know anything about ! Avoid this company!! Reviewed on: 15th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Ann, 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: 16th September 2025

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