Write a review

1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.67 (903 reviews)

View other 1st Central products

1.51

Based on 903 reviews, last reviewed 17th Jun 2025

400% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

9% decrease in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

12%

79%

Latest highest rating:

5

Found you online,needed a cheap quote,you certainly... Found you online,needed a cheap quote,you certainly provided it.Thank you Reviewed on: 3rd June 2025

Verified source

Latest lowest rating:

1

It feels dishonest and manipulative!! Avoid them!! I initially received a quote over the phone, which I agreed to, and even got a confirmation email with the agreed amount. Later, I received another em... Read more Reviewed on: 17th June 2025

Read all reviews See your 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.

1st Central Car insurance reviews (903)

Review of the 1st Central, Car insurance:

Shambles!

My insurance increased from £780 to £1080 after another year of no claims. Obviously, I then wanted to cancel my policy. I spoke to the online chat where I cancelled my policy and I received a confirmation email for this. £1080 was then taken from my account a few days later suggesting my policy was being renewed, even though I confirmed I was not renewing a few days prior! Having spoken to customer services, it will take up to 10 working days to get this money back. Absolutely shambolic. I will never use this company again and I will ensure all close family and friends do not use 1st central either. Disgusting. Reviewed on: 1st June 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Tyler, 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’ll use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents. Ashley Response date: 2nd June 2025

Crap company

Constant issues and when I got that sick of them they charged me 125 pounds to cancel! Watch this company as they love hidden fees Reviewed on: 29th September 2023

Absolutely aswful

my girlfriend insured with them and every week there was a problem which could cause her insurance being cancelled, named drivers not driving the car (they don’t HAVE to drive it), the black box being loose despite it being on the windscreen, having to register named drivers and having the app downloaded. Just constant hassle for no reason. Reviewed on: 27th September 2023

Not good car insurance

They blamed me for an accident that I wasn't even involved in and reduced my NCD as a result, which cost me about £200. 10 months later they admitted that it wasn't my fault and gave me back my NCD but not any of my over payments Reviewed on: 27th September 2023

Worst Insurance company ever

Don't be fooled by the initial low insurance quote you will no doubt be given by one of the price comparison sites, this is just to reel you in and your premiums will probably go up in the first few months. Their call centre would appear to be in the far east so consequently it's quite difficult to understand what's being said. Don't try emailing them either because they take on average five days to read it according to their own information. I cancelled my insurance with them after three months and was charged £154 for the privilege. Spend a little bit more and get your insurance from a reputable company. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Reviewed on: 21st September 2023

a £100 fee to make a small change !! Terrible customer service

I needed to make a slight change 1 hour after booking the insurance (28 days before it was due to start!) and they said that will be a £100 fee !! Terrible customer service Reviewed on: 20th September 2023

Rude customer service

Absolutely rude customer service who do not let you speak!! Definitely do not recommend Reviewed on: 18th September 2023

Extortionate Fees

I’m very disappointed, sold my car, so cancelled my insurance 4 months in but it’s basically cost me the full year to cancel! Shocking & daylight robbery. Reviewed on: 17th September 2023

Shocking

Overcharging….. made up an endorsement on my policy then said I didn’t declare any. Then made my refund but didn’t cancel the policy I had cancelled the DD from my bank so they didn’t get that so instead they illegally took money from my card from another bank which they were given details of for the refund ! They admitted they had a note for the cancellation and a cancellation code but had still taken 2 mo this of payments. Wanted a copy of my licence to check my endorsement and I told them they didn’t and needed part of my licence number and a check code. They insisted they get copies of the licence. Guess what they then emailed me back for a check code Reviewed on: 15th September 2023

Avoid this company like the plague. A nightmare to deal with.

I like many, shop around each year for car insurance. I apparently got an email renewal at twice the price of the previous year, & i may have opened it but this policy was not with my reg on the policy, so was ignored. So I shopped around & saved just over a ¼ of the price with Hastings insurance. On the same day 1st Central had used their auto renewal scam to take nearly £400.00 out of my account. I had this stopped at my bank as it was for the wrong car registration & i already got another policy. They are now threatening me with legal action unless paid by a certain date. I have asked for the cancellation, so i can never have to deal with them again & keep getting fobbed off to avoid the 14 day cooling off period. I wish I had researched this company as they have a massive amount of bad reviews on other sites which I suspect the links won't be allowed here. But on just a few site i looked at well over a thousand complaints & I am sure there are many more. So, if i was you avoid them. I still lost £50 cancellation fee just to get rid of them. Reviewed on: 15th September 2023

Misleading Practices and Unreasonable Premium Increases

Certainly, here's a detailed review that you can post on Trustpilot: Title: Misleading Practices and Unreasonable Premium Increases Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5 stars) I wish I could give 1st Central Insurance a better rating, but my experience with them has been incredibly frustrating and disappointing. Premium Manipulation: My initial interaction with 1st Central was based on their seemingly competitive prices. They quoted a lower premium compared to other insurance companies listed on comparison websites like Confused.com. However, this initial low quote turned out to be a bait-and-switch tactic. After signing up and providing all the necessary information, I was shocked to see my premium increase by a whopping 70%. This hike was attributed to an undisclosed non-fault incident, despite the fact that my no-claims bonus remained untouched. Lack of Transparency: One of the fundamental issues here is the lack of transparency. I believe that insurance companies should provide clear and honest information to customers from the very beginning. If a non-fault incident carries the potential for such a significant premium increase, this should have been explicitly mentioned during the application process. Instead, it felt like I was deliberately kept in the dark until I was committed to the policy. Questionable Fees: The cancellation and administration fees imposed by 1st Central also raised eyebrows. While they claim these are standard, they seem disproportionate to the services provided. The overall canelation fees were the equivalet of a year insurance premium in particular, felt excessive, especially given the circumstances of the policy cancellation. Regulatory Concerns: I was hopeful that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) would have some guidelines in place to ensure that insurance companies operate fairly and transparently. However, the response from 1st Central and their reluctance to address my concerns regarding transparency and the sudden premium increase make me wonder if they are operating within the bounds of FCA regulations. Conclusion: In conclusion, my experience with 1st Central Insurance has been marred by misleading practices, a lack of transparency, and what I consider to be an unreasonable premium increase. I had initially chosen them based on their competitive quote, only to discover later that their actual pricing strategy was far from transparent. As a consumer, I value honesty and fairness in my interactions with businesses, especially when it comes to financial services like insurance. Unfortunately, my experience with 1st Central has left me deeply disappointed and frustrated. Advice to Others: Before choosing 1st Central or any insurance company, I would strongly advise potential customers to carefully read the terms and conditions, ask about potential premium increases, and thoroughly research their practices. Don't be swayed by an initially low quote; it might not reflect the final premium you'll end up paying. Overall, I would caution others to be wary when dealing with 1st Central Insurance and to consider alternative options that may offer more transparent and fair practices. Reviewed on: 12th September 2023

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

Car Insurance
from ABC Insurance 4.14 from 3 reviews
Breakdown Cover
from RAC 1.41 from 160 reviews
Motorhome Insurance
from Insurd 0.00 from 0 reviews

Want to see more from 1st Central?

Breakdown cover
from 1st Central 4.47 from 16 reviews
Personal accident
from 1st Central 2.00 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