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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

Rip off merchants

As many state they'll call you and find a way to charge you more, apparently my job title being amended is cause for an extra £100 costs even though it's the same by the guys own admission on the phone. I foolishly used these guys before and left the 2nd year because they did this and now they have done it again, absolutely shocking that companies get away with this! Reviewed on: 3rd August 2023

Scammers. Avoid! Cheapest but will get more out of you

Scam, keep trying to charge me because they've had to change things that I haven't asked them for. Will cancel this policy and take the loss on them. Avoid these at all costs. They will cost you more In the long run. Reviewed on: 2nd August 2023

Goo value

Good price excellent service when I was wondering if I could changey car and how much it will cost extra Reviewed on: 31st July 2023

Worst service ever

After reading all the comments, I now regret that why I chose this insurance, had the worst experience so far ! Not helpful at all ! They are scammers . Very rude staff and no customer service at all. They don’t even know what they are doing, whenever I call they just pass my call everyone to atleast 10 of their dept and ask for the security check atleast 10x which irritates me, had an accident last month and still haven’t received any valuation for my car, which was a write off as per their So called TECHNICIAN says, on top they cancelled my insurance and didn’t even refund me any money, as per their saying’The car was imported’ and that’s the reason they cancelled my insurance. Be careful! Don’t get scammed by them. Reviewed on: 28th July 2023

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

DO NO USE THIS CON COMPANY This company will try every trick in the book to con money out of you. I paid in full for my car policy, I then got a call to ask me my exact mileage for the coming year, and then asked my exact mileage to my work, as this didn't exactly match my estimated mileage they said I had to pay a fee to change the policy, along with an admin fee! I was then asked my exact NCB years, I said your website only allows me to choose 9+, they said as I couldn't give them an exact number there will be another fee, this totalled £141 or my policy is cancelled. They have a scam going to call people after their policy is paid and demand the impossible so they can charge unreasonable fees. I have a claim with the financial Ombudsman now. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. FPM6017572054FC Reviewed on: 27th July 2023

Scammers!!! Do not use

My insurance was due for renewal, the new quote that was sent through was over £400 more. Rang this company to question why it had increased so much and 4 claims had been lmade on my policy (apparently by me) that were false. One member of staff had a different story of the incident to the next. One member of staff stated I reversed into a busy road, causing a car to swerve into a ditch. Another claimed I reversed and hit into a fence, causing damage to the paint of my wing mirror. When I queried where these claims were made from, they stated they came from my phone number, and using all my details. These ‘accidents’ never happened and this then affecting my no claims discount. The staff were incredibly unhelpful and the mismatch of stories seemed very suspicious. One member of staff escalated this further and stated she was going to get ‘fraud’ investigators involved, although I am yet to hear anything back days later. Another rang me following this and stated there was a ‘system error’ and all claims were wiped from my account. I cancelled immediately!! Please do not use this company, or check regularly that no claims are being made on your account without you knowing!! Reviewed on: 26th July 2023

CRAP CLAIMS DEPARTMENT

WHEN YOU NEED THEM MOST, ie A CLAIM, THEY ARE HOPELESS. YOU ASK THEM FOR INFORMATION, WHICH YOU NEVER GET. THEY JUST SEND OUT THE SAME EMAIL ABOUT EVERY THREE WEEKS AND CAN BE THREATENING...... STAY CLEAR Reviewed on: 24th July 2023

Dont go anywhere near this company

They give you a nice low quote to start with, then after about a month they email you to ask you to Contact them regarding a query with your insurance. For instance my wife put marketing Assistant instead of marketing co-ordinator on her insurance. When we rang, they informed us there would be no difference in overall annual price but to amend the insurance would be £120. Asking them to explain the difference in job roles they said a co-ordinator is in charge of people, my wife is in charge of nobody, but they would have none of as she had already confirmed her job role was actually marketing co-ordinator not assistant over the phone and reminded over and over that it was recorded. Then was told the job role effects the outcome of a quote and was told that we deliberately put in assistant as THEY told us we had searched other websites with co-ordinator and seen they where more expensive and deliberately changed it to Assistsnt to get it cheaper with them, (even though they have already mentioned that the annual price wouldnt change) They are just extorting money out of people over and over if you look at reviews (which aren't trustpilot) Reviewed on: 24th July 2023

Scammers

If you don't what problems just choose another company. I am shocked by what a tribute I got into working with them... They are blaming me for false claim that I didn't make, demand paying them a lot of money , threatening me with debt collection agencies and on top of this my 5 years no claim bonus is wasted... Reviewed on: 23rd July 2023

Avoid !!!!

Illegal money extortion practices, lack of communication between departments, employee incompetence, dishonesty ... I could go on and on. My policy has been illegally terminated twice just because the system information was not properly updated. First and last time I used this company. Absolute scandal and I will report it to the unit above them which is The FCA authority. Reviewed on: 18th July 2023

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