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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

17% 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

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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.

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

Fraud organisation keep away from them...

Fraud organisation. Rise cost of insurance with fairy tales reason, after you order your online car insurance. How long you owned your car" They axplain-You said you have your car 5 year but wee think you own your car 3 year, and that is the reason why wee have to rise your insurance price by 250£. It's nonsense. Keep away from this bullocks. Will never have a business with them. 100% Not recommended..... Reviewed on: 5th September 2023

Zero customer loyalty

Zero customer loyalty… poor service … renewed my car insurance policy with 1st Central in July… I have 12 yrs no claims… I failed to notify them of a 3pt fixed penalty speeding offence in February as an oversight … they were notified by price comparison sites as I had disclosed this when comparing quotes in July, so my failure to disclose was an oversight… premium increased by £265 in total which included £50 admin fee (nearly 50% increase) for a 3pt fixed penalty notice … won’t be going near this company again … avoid!!! Reviewed on: 1st September 2023

1st Central CANNOT BE TRUSTED

1stCentral CANNOT BE TRUSTED - AVOID AT ALL COSTS First Central charged me £80.54 for a 'mistake' on my application. The mistake was caused because the DVLA had the date incorrect on their system for the date that I purchased my car. Not only did I explain this to them, but they proceeded to take the £80.54 out of my account without my permission and after I was told, 'don't worry it won't be taken'. Now that I have had the DVLA change the date and emailed this to them, they have avoided contacting me back on 2 occasions to discuss having the £80.54 refunded. It seems like it is very easy for them to take this charge, but very difficult to actually speak to someone competent who is able to refund it. Every single staff member gave me different information, eventually I escalated the complaint to a manager, who assured me they would call me back. 2 Weeks have gone by and 1st Central have not contacted me back. I would have preferred to pay more money, for a more competent service. Lesson learnt.... YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET. Reviewed on: 1st September 2023

Absolutely awful company who do not care about their customers one bit

Was provided a quote which i accepted, 2 weeks later I receive an email asking me for information about a claim i had on a previous insurer. All information provided but turned out the actual date of my claim was a week before the date i had given 1st central, THE CLAIM WAS THE EXACT SAME MONEY AND DETAILS JUST WRONG DATE, 1 week of a difference and my policy went up over £35 a month even though every detail is the same. When you do eventually get through to someone they are not helpful at all, some of the worst customer service i have ever received and i worked for a year in the insurance industry. Reviewed on: 31st August 2023

Stressful telematics

It started off fine. I was a new driver a few months ago and went with first central because the telematics sensor seemed like a good idea and the price was cheap. A few months later I received emails about my trips not being recorded (despite my mobile app recording trips) and that I should be leaving my Bluetooth on (by doing this you can allow hackers into your system or it'll drain your battery which is why I kept mine off until I recorded journeys. Baring in mind on the installation page they send you for the sensor it does not tell you to leave the blue tooth on, nor does it tell you to turn it off, either way it was unclear! ). I always called them to ask what's happened and if I can do anything and we resolved it or so I thought. I received a cancellation email on the bank holiday weekend saying my insurance policy would be cancelled on the 2nd sept. I wasn't able to contact the telematics policy team until Tuesday which brought me great stress and anxiety. I was on hold on Tuesday from 10.30 till 4! I got hung up on once during this time and other times I wasn't answered. Finally got through to someone to talk about it. Different representatives told me different things and it was unclear what was going on. - I have had phone calls hung up on me MULTIPLE times when I have queried a fault on the app such as lowering my score when I haven't even driven the car on the day. I do NOT recommend this company to anyone. Just scammers. Not a good first experience as a new driver myself. Reviewed on: 31st August 2023

Unfair policy cancellation on 10th month

Very unfair company cancelled my policy for something out of my controll and absolutely would not recommend unless want to be screwed over Reviewed on: 29th August 2023

Scammers

It's evident that numerous reviewers have been taken advantage of for extremely minor issues and billed over £100 for 'revisions'. Unfortunately, I've also fallen victim to these individuals who seem determined to acquire money through any available method. I anticipate that they will soon be apprehended by the appropriate authorities and won't remain operational for much longer. I strongly recommend avoiding them. Reviewed on: 27th August 2023

Awful company

I’m a new driver (3 months). This company thinks it’s acceptable to fob me off and threaten to cancel my insurance based on the telematics they provided for me. Telling me that I had 6 trips with no data, to then changing it to 16 when I appeal it. Don’t even want to help or anything to resolve it and say ‘we can’t do anything as it’s on our system as no data was recorded’. Well must of been something wrong with the sensor. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND 1st central for new drivers. Reviewed on: 25th August 2023

Doubled Prices

I would say that I have no trouble with this insurer, they do their job (seemingly) and offer lots of extras. Sadly, they doubled my premium on the last renewal for no reason and then when I changed my car to an older one they added even more to the premium. I suspect they may be money-grubbing city types. Reviewed on: 24th August 2023

Helpful and good value

Apart from occasionally being slightly hard to understand some of the customer service reps, I found 1st Central to be handy, professional and good value for money. Reviewed on: 24th August 2023

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