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1st Central: Car Insurance reviews

Name: Car Insurance
Rating: 1.68 (860 reviews)

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1.52

Based on 860 reviews, last reviewed 6th Feb 2025

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

39% 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:

1

Almost got me arrested Opened a new policy in November, now currently February 2025. It turns out these scammers cancelled my insurance without telling me and allowed me to ... Read more Reviewed on: 6th 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 (860)

Review of the 1st Central, Car Insurance:

TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I could give 0 I would, Please please please do not waste your time or money on this 'insurer'. This company is not an insurance company they are brokers who will scam you, rob you and affect you both mentally and physically. I have no idea how this business is still running with the amount of people they are scamming. Out of the blue they cancelled my insurance, they said they needed extra documents. I was not notified at all, neither by text, phone call or post to indicate they require additional infomation. The only way I found out about this was because I checked my bank balance and they had refunded my money for the month. I gave them a call to understand why I had been refunded and only then they told me my insurance was going to be cancelled on 08/06/22 11:59pm - I FOUND OUT 10 HOURS BEFORE THE TIME IT WAS DUE TO BE CANCELLED. They expected me to pull out the documents out of thin air. To avoid this tarnishing my good record I asked the policy to be cancelled and they kept passing me over person to person - I was trying to deal with this whilst I was at work. Then in the end I had to ask them to call me back and then the lady said she will at 6:00 after I finish work. 6:00pm comes and no one has called me, instead I got a lazy email to say 'sorry we cannot cancel your insurance and there is nothing we can do'. The 'analysis' had locked my account so i was unable to cancel the policy online. Even the website is extremely dodgy, they had added a fee of £135 on my account and it said once i make the payment my account will be unlocked. I paid it and it was still locked - luckily I had sent written proof that i want my insurance cancelled and this was the only thing I had to cover my back. I called this morning and spoke to a man who was also very useless and he did nothing to help me and he kept saying to me the insurance cannot be cancelled and he has spoken to his manager. Later i conferred with a family lawyer and they advised me that what they have done is unlawful and should be reported to the ombudsmen. I then called them and threatened them with legal action and notified them that I have also contacted ombudsmen. After this they changed their tune and agreed to cancel my insurance on my behalf rather than them doing it and tarnishing my good record. This has caused me an unbelievable amount of stress and anxiety. PLEASE RUN AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY - The few pounds and pennies you save going for this insurance will only last a month before they start slapping random charges on your account. I insured my run around car with them and for a 2005 mini i essentially paid approx. £200 a month with all the charges they gave me and i only had this insurance for 2 month. I own a BMW X4m and the insurance is no where as expensive. I must say I have learnt my lesson and I will definitely do research before looking for insurance. STAY AWAY LIKE THE PLAGUE. Reviewed on: 9th June 2022

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

Let down

Purchased insurance with a one off payment of 240 pound which includes Rac cover happy with policy then the harassment started .Wanted proof of no claims for me and my wife and proof of non fault accident I was constantly bombarded with texts and e mails from this company even though I asked them to wait for my previous insurance to send details I eventually downloaded all relevant details and was told not good enough all though it was stated non fault accident by this pointI am passed right off and cancelled the policy as I could not take another week of harassment, subsequently lost 160 pounds including my rac membership this company is a joke and I would recommend every one steers well clear of this bunch of incompetent individuals Reviewed on: 21st August 2023

Terrible experience

Navigating a non-fault claim has been... well, let's just say it's been a journey. It's not just the numbers they've offered me that have me scratching my head, but the whole process. Between hugely delayed responses, chasing evaluations, and the countless hours I've spent on hold or being bounced around departments, it's been nothing short of painstaking. I've had to take things into my own hands, including getting my car booked into a garage, getting my car towed to this garage, getting 1st central to get back to me on evaluations the garage sent to them weeks ago etc. the whole process has taken much longer than it should have. And the offers they're giving me for the write-off are laughable. If I want to buy-back my vehicle the prices they've given are a massive percentage of that valuation they've given me. I am paying heavily out of my own pocket for an accident I wasn't even present for. Do yourself a favour and AVOID. Reviewed on: 16th August 2023

AVOID

DO NOT under any circumstances use this insurance company. 1st connect, all I can say is what a joke. It was a little bit cheaper which is why I went with them. But I wish I paid abit more for a decent insurance company. They contacted me in February, may and July. And on all 3 occasions I replied within the minuet of getting the email. I attempt to contacted them via email, phone and live chat. I got 1 response on live chat and that was to call a number and they wernt available at that time. Moving forward, I get an email saying my insurance will be cancelled with 7 days notice. I instantly ring and ask why. The answer - we have tried to contact you, your telematics isn’t connected properly and you’ve not got in touch so it will be cancelled. After a lengthy phone call it was found that the problem was if 2 people were in the car both with the app and Bluetooth on it wasn’t connecting. They told me I shouldn’t have replied to all the emails as it was a do not reply email ( IT DID NOT STATE THIS ). So after sending all evidence of contacting them, they have still cancelled the insurance. So I would absolutely NOT recommended this insurance. Reviewed on: 15th August 2023

Good one

Good price and good car insurance Reviewed on: 12th August 2023

Easy and affordable

Good communication and an easy to navigate website along with low prices for fully comprehensive car insurance. Whats not to like. Reviewed on: 9th August 2023

Poor service

My wife's car was parked outside our property and a neighbours vehicle rolled off he's drive and struck her car . 1st Central recovered the car and declared it a write-off . This was mid April, today we discovered that for the last 4 months they have continued to take installments out of our account. Cancelled today and told it would cost us £50 cancellation fee despite them writing it off 4 months earlier. Stay away from this company. Reviewed on: 8th August 2023

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