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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.51 (957 reviews)

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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

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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.

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1st Central Car insurance reviews (957)

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

AVOID AVOID AVOID

AVOID AVOID AVOID My son Had a third party accident was offered two settlement offers felt it was not enough so asked insurance company 1st central to reconsider to be told they are cancelling the policy as the car had been modified. It was an MSport BMW had absolutely no idea the car had been modified as all the cars are like this when searched on google. Treated him as if he was a criminal trying to make out these modifications were done by my son when he purchased the vehicle like this from the garage. If they can get out of paying a claim they will do avoid as all costs the worst insurance company around! Reviewed on: 20th January 2024

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