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1st Central: Car Insurance reviews

Name: Car Insurance
Rating: 1.68 (867 reviews)

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1.49

Based on 867 reviews, last reviewed 25th Feb 2025

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

14% 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:

2

Brilliant price. But very poor Customer Service Brilliant price on comparison site. Went with them and put partner on policy. Kept getting emails and messages, tried hardest to upload driving licenc... Read more Reviewed on: 25th February 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 (867)

Review of the 1st Central, Car Insurance:

Avoid 1st Central Car Insurance at all costs.

Avoid 1st Central Car Insurance. They come up as the cheapest on many insurance comparison websites but they make their money through high administration fees any time you or they make changes to your policy. They requested added information 30 days after I applied and with only 1 day to go in my 14 day period, so when I had a disagreement over the documents I couldn't get out within the 14 day grace period. When they find fault in your documents, they don't explain what the problem is online and you can't make any changes to your policy until you've paid the admin fee. The call centre operator had an extremely noisy background (yelling and laughing) so I couldn't hear what was being said. They also failed to action something I requested over the phone. Two separate operators gave me incorrect information as to why my policy was being changed and why I had to pay the admin fee, wasting a day of my time and one less day to get this all sorted. They made it as difficult as possible for me to give them the new information to have the admin fee removed - I couldn't just upload to my online account and I have to call them once I've sent the documentation otherwise my email goes to the back of the 5 day long queue and I'll miss the due date. Most people wouldn't bother and just accept the fee, but that is how they make their money. I'll be cancelling as soon as possible. Could not imagine trying to go through this process if I ever had to make a claim. Reviewed on: 12th November 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi J A K, 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. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 13th November 2024

Website is tricky

I found the price quite good, but I find the website is very tricky to use. Reviewed on: 23rd August 2023

Great broker, decent price.

They are a great company to deal with. Easy options of phone or online chat. A modern insurance company for this day and age. Reviewed on: 23rd August 2023

Affordable and quick

Cheap easy to complete all online great value for the cover and saved me hundreds of pounds year on year to insure my car Reviewed on: 23rd August 2023

good price

good price , all easy to use, another year Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

Great value and hassle free

They offer great value for money and it was so easy to set up. It is also super easy to make adjustments online should you need to Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

Good. Not needed to use them but big hike in renewal premium

Not needed to use this insurance company. I was with them for 1 year. The renewal premium was double what I was paying. I know recent inflation and expenses hike etc but it was still very expensive. I contacted them and they were unable to match price other providers. Renewal cancelled. Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

They're running a late-payment scam

They failed to take payment, then waited 24 hours to inform me just so they could add a late payment fee. Obviously they blamed the bank for not being able to take it, even though there was absolutely no reason why not. I rang them up to pay within minutes of receiving this notification, but of course, they'd delayed to inform me so they could add £15 to my payment. A reputable company would have apologised and waived the late payment fee on the spot. Well, a reputable company wouldn't add a late payment fee until after you've been informed, but then the scam wouldn't work. The 'customer service' agent couldn't confirm if they would run this scam every month, obviously, but instead advised me I should ring them on the day it was due every month to make sure they took it to avoid getting a late payment fee, otherwise they'd delay contacting me every month which would ensure the fee was added. I'd never heard of them when I insured with them, but gave them a chance since I only needed third party insurance on a little run-around. I was very wrong to do so, but you can avoid making the same mistake. Stick with a reputable insurer who has a track record. Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

A 75% premium increase for year two! Extortionate doesn't cut it.

Auto renewal process kicked in and my premium went from £24 to £42 per month! No claims (EVER in my life), no alterations, nothing. Exactly the same circumstances led to 1st Central hicking my premium up by 75%! Then they charged me £55 for the privilege of canceling. Grab yourself a first-year deal, make sure auto-renew is OFF, then leave after a year. This is the second car 1st Central have done this on. No interest in retaining customers or nurturing loyalty whatsoever. Pile it high and sell it cheap in year one. Pull your pants down and hope you don't notice the draught in year two! Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

Cancelling policy for fake reason

Cancelling my policy for not recording trips even tho I record trips daily , scam of a company avoid at all costs Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

AVOID - Unfair telematics cancellation

Woke up to an email from 1st Central to say our telematics policy is being cancelled due to unrecorded trips being made, which we categorically refute. The trips in question have been accurately recorded via the mobile app, and there is clearly a data collection fault. You’d think 1st Central would give us a courtesy call to check if the sensor is working properly and gather more information before abruptly cancelling the policy, but no. Despite providing evidence that the trips in question have been properly recorded on our end, 1st Central is proceeding with the cancellation, which will impact the cost of our future insurance policies massively. We have raised a formal complaint, and if we don't reach an adequate solution, we will contact the financial ombudsman. A quick Google search will reveal similar issues with other 1st Central telematics users. I know the company has a bad reputation overall, but the telematics department is particularly unprofessional. Would recommend avoiding them completely. Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

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