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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.66 (947 reviews)

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1.51

Based on 947 reviews, last reviewed 23rd Jan 2026

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

38% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

12%

79%

Latest highest rating:

5

Good and not too expensive Was looking for good value car insurance and found this one. Not too expensive and so far can’t say anything bad. Very easy to sign up. Reviewed on: 5th September 2025

Latest lowest rating:

1

Bait-and-switch insurer Feels like a scam – stay away Quoted one price, then after the policy started 1st Central changed things retrospectively, increased the premium and a... Read more Reviewed on: 23rd January 2026

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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 (947)

Review of the 1st Central, Car insurance:

Simple and Easy

I have been with 1st Central for just short of 2 years, Customer Service is great, no issues with getting hold of an advisor to talk to regarding any query I have. The online portal is simple and easy to use, showing me everything i need to know regarding my insurance. Reviewed on: 11th July 2019

Customer Service that won’t speak to you!

At first it looked like 1st Central offered reasonable value for car insurance. However after being asked to contact their ‘Policy Analysis Team’ I have to change my mind. They asked me to contact them and then went ahead to dispute my employment status suggesting I was incorrect bizarre but true. As a result they insisted on me having a different employment status and wanted to charge me £98.80 to change it. sound unlikely I agree but is true. Since this dispute I have called three times, each time no one can answer my questions but promises each time someone will call me back, so far no call back. I did ask for a cost of cancellation which was £148 for a policy running three weeks but the reason for the high cost was ambiguous to say the least. This should be easy 45 years of driving and 10 + years of NCD and I am made to feel like a crook, I would not recommend 1st Central. Reviewed on: 15th October 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Nick, 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. Ashley Response date: 17th October 2025

Cheapest quote didn't last long

They came in as the cheapest quote and even though they're was done technical issues getting signed up I went with them then 1 week laid they needed to check a form that showed i had the purchase date of the car wrong and to update this they charged an additional £150 pounds. I'm currently trying to cancel the policy which is a nightmare and none of the links to do it online work so I'm stuck in chat bot hell. Wish I had just gone with one of the reputable companies and paid the extra £100 then Reviewed on: 4th October 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi James, 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. Ashley Response date: 6th October 2025

Be careful for additional charges!

Be careful for additional charges! I have bought car insurance and paid up front for it, after a week I have been asked to send vehicle registration documents which I did and got charged £80 extra !!(checks + administration fees) obviously if you want to cancel your insurance you will have to pay more admin fees so you will get stuck paying the additional costs which you didn’t know anything about ! Avoid this company!! Reviewed on: 15th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Ann, 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. Ashley Response date: 16th September 2025

I have used this company before, and have never had...

I have used this company before, and have never had any problems. Reviewed on: 6th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hello, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st Central this year for your car insurance. Ashley Response date: 8th September 2025

Got me a good deal.

Got me a good deal. Had a non fault accident. The customer service lady was nice but she didn't explain the claim process very well. Reviewed on: 5th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Faye, Thank you for your review. If you need any further assistance, please speak to our team on 0333 043 2022 or speak to us on web chat which can be found on our website. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 9am to 6pm. Ashley Response date: 8th September 2025

I have never had such an appalling experience with a...

I have never had such an appalling experience with a company in my life. 1st Call Central Car Insurance has shown me exactly how NOT to treat a customer. I took out a policy with them, only to later be told (after the fact) that I’d be charged almost £500 more. When I challenged this, the representative on the phone openly admitted that they understood I had not been given the full information needed to make an informed decision about taking out the policy in the first place. So essentially, I was misled into agreeing to something I never would have accepted had I known all the facts upfront. Despite this clear failure in duty of care, I was still told I’d be charged a £100 cancellation fee just to say, “No thanks.” After more discussion, the agent acknowledged the lack of information and agreed to refund the £50 cancellation fee as a “gesture of goodwill” – yet refused to refund the £50 arrangement fee, even though it was agreed that had I been properly informed, I would never have taken the policy at all. When I raised this obvious contradiction – that if you admit fault, the arrangement fee should also be refunded – I was told it was simply “her decision” and that my only recourse was to take it up with the ombudsman. I fully intend to do exactly that. Even more disturbing, the conversation I had earlier in the day seems to have mysteriously changed. The written record now being offered to me does not match what was actually said. Instead, I’ve received an empty “gesture of goodwill” in writing – a far cry from what was acknowledged on the call. I will be submitting a formal Subject Access Request (SAR) so that the recording of this conversation can be passed to the Financial Ombudsman. They deserve to hear the full picture, not the rewritten version the company is trying to pass off. It’s not just about the £50, it’s about principle. A company that admits wrongdoing but still fines the customer for their own failings is not a company that deserves to be in business. I’ve now wasted hours trying to resolve this and will be exploring my right to bill them for my time as well. Steer well clear of 1st Call Central. They are untrustworthy, dismissive, and operate with a shocking lack of transparency or fairness. If I could give them zero stars, I would. Reviewed on: 5th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Rebecca, 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. If there’s anything you’d like us to look into for you, please contact us by sending an email to [email protected]. Please include your policy number and details of what’s gone wrong, and we’ll see if we can put things right. Ashley Response date: 8th September 2025

Good and not too expensive

Was looking for good value car insurance and found this one. Not too expensive and so far can’t say anything bad. Very easy to sign up. Reviewed on: 5th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hello, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st Central this year for your car insurance. Ashley Response date: 8th September 2025

50% less than a previous other company.

50% less than a previous other company. Was to complete for similar level of cover. Reviewed on: 5th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hello, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st Central this year for your car insurance. Ashley Response date: 8th September 2025

Humans are still needed

More humans needed on telephone lines for older people Reviewed on: 5th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Nick, 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. Ashley Response date: 5th September 2025

Consider 12 months can see a number of changes

Face value they offer a good price of insurance for a year, however any changes or issues seem to always result in a price increase or fee. Customer service is none existent promised call backs not made, claims team ineffective I actually chased down the police report and regularly called the team to get updates as it seemed there was no urgency to pay monies back. My vehicle was a right off apparently it had had a previous write off so my offer was reduced ,the amount did seem low so I challenged them and the independent engineers, who initial on review stated this was the best offer but then realised a 20% reduction rae had been used and it should have been 10%. Teams are based from home Glasgow and Africa. The lack of attention to detail has cost me money and time that I will not get back. I am had to be away from this company. If you manage 12 months driving without any issues this is a cheap insurance. Reviewed on: 4th September 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Trevors, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. If there’s anything you’d like us to look into for you, please contact us by sending an email to [email protected]. Please include your policy number and details of what’s gone wrong, and we’ll see if we can put things right. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents. Ashley Response date: 5th September 2025

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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

38% increase in 1 star reviews

Latest highest rating:

5

Latest lowest rating:

1

About this product

1st Central Car insurance reviews (947)

Simple and Easy

Customer Service that won’t speak to you!

Cheapest quote didn't last long

Be careful for additional charges!

I have used this company before, and have never had...

Got me a good deal.

I have never had such an appalling experience with a...

Good and not too expensive

50% less than a previous other company.

Humans are still needed

Consider 12 months can see a number of changes

Do you have a different 1st Central product?

Want to see more from 1st Central?

Breakdown cover

Personal accident

Home insurance

Join Smart Money People

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