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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

Great service

Amazing price, great service, friendly staff Reviewed on: 30th May 2023

Bad

This is honestly one of the worst companies ever, they send you a review to fill out literally just after you take the insurance out, so I’m sure you only have positive things to say. God forbid you ever have to claim, they have the worst communication, they send you around town and back and forth between teams. A lot of mechanics won’t do any of their repair work because they don’t pay them, so you may be waiting a VERY long time for their “approved mechanics” to fix your car. I had to find my own body shop repair and luckily they did the work. I had to get the ombudsman involved because it honestly was the worst service EVER. Reviewed on: 30th May 2023

DO NOT USE PLEASE

Worst customer service ever asked to speak to managers and a call to be listened to and they refused. Rude on calls and give wrong advice PLEASE USE ANYWHERE ELSE Reviewed on: 25th May 2023

Absolutely incompetent con men

Would not take my direct debit would not set it up after 4 months they tried to blame me and threatened to cancel my policy charging me obviously. My bank said they had never attempted to set up a direct debit this is a scam so you end up paying late payment fees and eventually pay a cancellation fee just to be rid of them . They made alot of money for doing nothing . Advisers are just kids no idea what each other is doing waste of time talking to them may as well bang your head against a wall .NEVER AGAIN. I have now changed to Churchill who are reputable and no issues what so ever . Reviewed on: 23rd May 2023

Avoid they just keep milking you for money.

Cancelled policy on Oct 22 for a car as I've got a van now and they don't cover commercial vehicles, fast forward to Feb 23 and I notice I'm still being charged. Contacted them they said I never cancelled at all. Cancelled there and then. Was assured I wouldn't get any Cancellation fees ec as they don't cover vans, had to then send them proof I had a van. Sent them registration and statement showing id purchased it. Apparently thats not good enough, I've now had them register a late payment against my bank last month and currently on hold to speak to a supervisor as the guy dealing with me had now said I need to provide proof now that I no longer own the car and he's asked for dvla or a v5. What is it with this company? They're making me jump through hoops hoping I'd just pay up. The late payment fee has already impacted my credit rating and they've also send an email dated today saying I have a month to pay or I'll have a default notice. I'm stressing out about this as I've already paid them for months it was supposed to be cancelled around £200ish and now they're still wanting £50ish whilst making me jump through hoops for them to waive the fee. How can company's operate like this? Is there an ombudsman you can complain to etc? Currently been on the phone for 49mins most of which is on hold waiting to speak to a supervisor... Reviewed on: 19th May 2023

Avoid

Got an online quote and went ahead with the quote. Couple mths later, we got an email asking for more money.(£600 more) called the company, who said they sorted this, and took loads more details from us. Again, it is not long after, another email asking for more money. This time, advising me they will either cancel my policy or take the large amount of money from my account. I've been trying to contact this company now all evening. This is becoming very stressful now. This company should be reported and investigated. Reviewed on: 18th May 2023

terrible company

they auto renewed a policy and i did not have that vehicle anymore they said id have to prove it before they would cancel when i sent proof they still tried to take money Reviewed on: 17th May 2023

Rubbish Company KEEP AWAY

Took out a policy via compare the market, all details correct including value of my car. I spotted a mistake with the value of my car, a couple of months in, which was under valued by over £2000. I asked them to correct the mistake and was refused. Was told I thats what I accepted when I didn't. Told them to cancel the policy as they are not covering what is needed and are refusing to rectify the issue. I immediately went else where. Now they are trying to still get money out of me. They can jog on. Found out afterwards that my son in law has also had trouble with them in the past. KEEP AWAY Reviewed on: 16th May 2023

Scam! Scam!

I've found 1Central on gocompare, everything was ok at first, they gave me a 31 £ / month insurance policy. I was ok with it and paid that sum for 2 months. Now I received a email that "Thanks for keeping us up to date and making a change to your 1ST CENTRAL car insurance policy." I didn't do anything to my car policy policy, didn't went online to change anything, didn't change car, or address... anything. Now they are asking 65£ every month. Is this even legal? Avoid please, don't go with those guys. Reviewed on: 16th May 2023

SCAM

The most ridiculous company. Signed up in March, they took money but never sent me the policy details. I phoned up and they said they had no record of me. They then took all my details and signed me up over the phone. A month later they asked for pictures of my driving licence which i uploaded. Then a month on again, i receive an email saying my insurance has been cancelled due to them finding out i am in a different occupation to the one on my account. I have not changed jobs so i phone them and she says she will stop the cancellation of my policy but that they have to 'amend' the policy to the correct details, which are the details i originally provided anyway. Now waiting for a call-back as said i am not paying for amendments for something they wrote. Huge scam, obviously enter wrong details so they can charge for a policy amendment. If i didnt amend the policy they wanted nearly £200 for cancellation fee!! For a policy i didnt even cancel. Reviewed on: 15th May 2023

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