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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.67 (903 reviews)

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1.51

Based on 903 reviews, last reviewed 17th Jun 2025

400% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

10% increase 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

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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 (903)

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

They asked me to pay them more money after 3 months on my policy

They asked me to pay them more money for my policy after 3 months on it. The highly organised scams insurance companies and utility companies are pulling on customers speaks volumes about where UK is headed. I cancelled my insurance policy with them and took out a new one with new insurer. I would rather pay more with a new insurer than be a returning customer with this joke of a company again. Reviewed on: 11th September 2023

Joke of a company!

Absolute joke of a company! Just shows you that you get what you pay for! They came up the cheapest on compare the market so we went with them! Big mistake. We had a crash 4 weeks ago and the car is still sat in my driveway and no courtesy vehicle provided even though its part of my policy! Reviewed on: 11th September 2023

disgraceful company

this company should not be selling insurance as there not capable of doing so Reviewed on: 10th September 2023

DO NOT USE!!!

I went to a Comparison site for a quote and 1st Central gave me the cheapest so obviously i went with them. No soon as everything was sorted about a week later they doubled my account saying that there was an accident reported of which i know nothing about. I rang these up and was told that i had to get evidence from my previous insurers and they also know nothing about there was nothing on their records. This has now gone by the by and when threatened to cancel cover they told me that i had to pay a fee. All this company wants to do is get as much money from you as they can fleece from you recently i changed my car sorted it out online thanking that i wouldn't get charged for doing it that way and was slapped with an admin charge which i did myself because of being online. Very recently i changed my plates on the car to private plates again did this online it first said nothing to pay then on the next page charged me £25.00 admin fees again for something i did online. Biggest insurance scammers out and should be checked by the ombudsman of which i may do myself. When my insurance is up for renewal trust me if they cahrged me a penny for cover i would steer in the opposite direction. Reviewed on: 9th September 2023

They overcharged me twice

They claimed that an instalment was impossible to collect. But the money is in my account as normal. It isc2nd time it happens. I have other direct debits on my account and never had an issue. Avoid them I'll change company for sure Reviewed on: 9th September 2023

Impossible to speak with an advisor

This is a very disappointing company if you need to speak with them . When i needed to make a minor change i was twice cut off by the helpline after waiting for ages . There is no easy way to communicate with this company . It took ages on the computer - although was resolved . I would never use them again . I would pay more to have a better customer experience Reviewed on: 8th September 2023

Worst Insurance company Ever

AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS! I’ve been with this insurance company for just over 4 months,The original pricing of their cover seems impeccable however they will constantly threaten to void your insurance over false detections on their systems, I’ve had phone calls to tell me they’ve detected collisions which haven’t happened (my car was parked on my driveway) and they take every opportunity to charge you extra, impossible to contact as they don’t answer the phone or their emails and after the hours you spend on the phone attempting to get through the advisors are the most unhelpful people you could ever speak to Reviewed on: 7th September 2023

AVOID!!! - Worst insurance company out there

Very appealing price to begin with then two months later they contacted me to say that some details were incorrect. I contacted them on the number provided in their email address and they claimed that I did not provide enough evidence. To start with they wanted a copy of my driving licence which I dont understand considering I put my unique licence number but I was not too fussed about that. Then they told me they needed some sort of quote from DVLA (not sure what thats about as I never been asked for this), still wasn´t too fussed. Then they said that I had put details wrong for example- instead of puting my wife (second driver) as a staff nurse I put as a registered nurse and they had to change that in the policy. Then I was informed over the phone that the service I was provided over the phone was NOT free and I had to pay £50 admin fee to amend these changes from staff nurse to registered nurse. On top of this my monthly payment would go from £36 to £83 because of these minute changes. I was so frustrated with this company that I decided to cancel the policy which I was charged another £50 cancellation fee (fair enough). I ended up wasting more momney by cancelling, however, I would much rather cancel and go with another insurance (which I did straight after) than continue to give them any more of my Money. I sincerely hope their approach changes altogether but small advice to others ‘Do not be fooled by their initial low prices as I came to find out that apparently what happened to me happened to a lot of people and it is very common with this company’- AVOID !!!! The only reason I dont give 0 starts is because its not an option here Reviewed on: 7th September 2023

Horrendous

Deliberately misconstrue a previous no fault claim as fault. This is just an excuse to charge more. They place all the onus on the customer to run around phoning other insurance companies. The quene for calling the Helpline is hours Reviewed on: 5th September 2023

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