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1st Central: Car Insurance reviews

Name: Car Insurance
Rating: 1.68 (857 reviews)

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1.52

Based on 857 reviews, last reviewed 23rd Jan 2025

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

32% 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:

1

Will increase policy Started my policy they then asked me for more information I provided said information they then hit me with an increase and an admin fee which resulte... Read more Reviewed on: 23rd January 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.

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1st Central Car Insurance reviews (857)

A joke

My car is in for fixing covered by them, they choose a garage and promise me a courtesy car, few days before the fix, i find the garage don’t provide courtesy cars and the insurance relies on the garage to sort it. Why in gods name would an insurer rely on the GARAGE to provide courtesy cars and then outright REFUSE to provide one themselves? An absolute joke Reviewed on: 20th March 2023

Scammers! Avoid them!!!

“I started my policy with 1st Insurance in 2022. Unfortunately my car was stolen that year and I had to make a claim. On the following year my premium was excessive, which it was understanding after a claim. When I tried to get few NEW quotes prior to deciding to take the one. It cost me £132 a month, because I did not have other opinions I paid for it. I asked 1st Central insurance if I could pay a higher deposit so the instalments were cheaper but they refused. Nevertheless, I decided to pay 4 months payments in advance this for January, February, March and April 2023. And it was just over £700 to pay for the rest of year 2023. However, few days later I had a text message on my phone from 1ST CENTRAL saying they added additional charged to my policy. Now I have over £1000 to pay, almost DOUBLE of the initial price. I called them and explained that for two weeks I had about 4-8 quotes from them. I had to tick boxes on the go compare website. Because of a mistake of not ticking a box, a error they charged me DOUBLE as if it was a fraud ( I am a student nurse I don't need to make a fraud). They have all my details, all my details are on their system, none of my details have changed, same name, same phone number, same address and email.. I tried to explain that it was an error, I would not LIE they paid for my previous system Its all on their system. They refused to listen, were very rude condescending and extremelly unhelpful. I had tried many quotes, 7 quotes in a period of 2 weeks. All the quotes were expensive. I went with one although it was expensive I could not find a cheaper quote but all my details still same. First Cental staff said I did not disclosed a claim from 8 months before. I made a claim with 1ST CENTRAL I had no reasons to lie it was an error on the document was filled online they charge me double on my policy so I am paying almost £2000 for my policy. 1st Central Insurance stuff are rude, incompeten, very unprofessional, Not a clear English and poor communication skills. The worse customer service. They will put the phone down on you if you complain, customer service nonexistent! They will hang up on the phone on you. The worse customer services. And no I would not recommend you to any family and friends Reviewed on: 20th March 2023

AVOID! AVOID!! AVOID!!!

I wouldn’t even give them 1 star, insurance was quote was quite low so I read the reviews, reading them I realised it was a mistake. I took the policy out on line late at night so tried to cancel online but it wouldn’t let me as it was still pending, I called them at 9am to cancel but have to pay a £50 arrangement fee!?!? It had be 9 hours since I’d taken it out and it was still pending but ive had to pay £50 to cancel!!! Unbelievable!!! … hopefully you read the reviews before purchasing. AVOID!!!! Reviewed on: 20th March 2023

Stressed and extremely Dissappointed!!

Stressed and Dissappointed customer I feel I was treated unfairly, my insurance informed me that someone made an allegations that I was involved in a car accident I know nothing about?? This a word of mouth, can’t produce evidence after almost 5 months of claiming. I feel obligated to prove my innocence so I sent a photograph of my car in every angle to prove there was no damage or never been fixed in any way. I have to resent it after 1 week knowing they did not received it?? Also a letter from my manager to proved I was at work on that day from 07:45- 21:00. Then told me to call back in 3 weeks only to tell me after 3 weeks that the other party did not received it ?? So they need to resend it. My insurance is due for renewal and they said it will increase!! As the case is not close. I feel so dissappointed, as no one can assure me that they will resolve it ASAP as I have all the evidence.. and the other party doesn’t have any evidence nor can’t produced any wvidence until after almost 5 months now. I was also informed that they will call me back, but no one bother to give me update. I got conflicting informations from the staff as well.. Until now I’m waiting from slow action!! Very odd insurance company!!?? Reviewed on: 17th March 2023

It is a scam company don't buy from it

I bought the insurance from this company to make a change on second driver name which it was clearly error of printing they requested over£270 when I asked to remove the second driver's name as I don't need it again they asked for same amount of money it is absolutely a disgusting company Reviewed on: 17th March 2023

Avoid this company like the plague

AVOID THIS COMPANY LIKE THE PLAGUE. Unless you enjoy being harassed by text messages, debt collectors and threats of being taken to County Court for no reason. They lure customers in with a very low initial quote, once they have you hooked, they start putting on extra, disproportionate, unjustified and unreasonable charges. We took out an insurance policy with this company who then proceeded to demand extortionate extra fees for minor admin alterations (that may also be spurious), and made it impossible to provide proof of No Claims discounts from previous insurance company, despite spending 45 minutes on the phone trying to sort it out. They presumably also make money from their premium rate phone number as well! So they hiked up their demands for even more money because they refused to accept proof of a No Claims Discount. We wrote to them to make a formal complaint but did not receive a reply. We cancelled the monthly policy premiums, which with a normal insurance company would mean you are no longer covered and be the end of the story. However First Central seem to believe they can wring more money out of us for cover they stopped providing when we stopped payments and moved to another insurance company who accepted our No Claims Discount with no problems. We are writing to the Financial Ombudsman and Financial Conduct Authority, and Martin Lewis the Money Expert. Message to First Central: no need to "reach out to us" via Trust Pilot thanks. We have all the correspondence you have sent us; contemporaneous notes from the phone call we made to you when trying to submit our No Claims Discount proof, plus a copy of our initial formal complaint. We've got things in hand. Reviewed on: 17th March 2023

Danger - Do Not Fall For Fake Cheap Policy

Where do I start with this lot - 1st Central Insurance is absolutely hopeless and it appears to me in my honest opinion it is set-up as a scam to extort more money from you. They don't seem to have the same categories in certain things as the comparison websites so you take out a policy through a comparison site then they get in touch (weeks and weeks into the policy so you can't cancel without large penalties, someone has to look into the frequency of this practice definitely) and tell you something is different from you claim or state then it's a £50 admin and an increase to your premium - of course it's now more expensive than the other quotes around it a the time except now you'd need to pay the cartel to get out the policy. Classic tactics of seafront cowboys - look to for the ball in the cup trick next ! Reviewed on: 14th March 2023

Avoid

I changed my car mid policy, the new premium quoted was over double that of other insurance providers, when i contacted customer services and ask if they could match the alternative quotes they said its automated and cant be controlled. When I ultimately cancelled the policy they charged me and additional £100, £50 admin fee and £50 cancellation fee Reviewed on: 14th March 2023

Refusing what customers are paying for

When having an accident recently they have been nothing but unhelpful and refusing to allow me access to my personal accident cover which I’m entitled to and paid extra to receive. I am facing potentially 5 months off of work as well as multiple surgeries and serious injuries. They are crap with their valuations as well, well below market value which at the present time won’t buy anything. I won’t be renewing with them as they are ridiculous and quite frankly only in it for your money. Reviewed on: 10th March 2023

avoid this company

Had to claim when my car was stolen from my home. Chronologically- tried voiding my policy due to a colour change that I informed them off before getting the vehicle wrapped … then they took ages to pay me out, when they did it was £2000 LESS than its insured value… although this wasn’t an AGREED VALUE policy…. The car was an immaculate Mercedes top of the range AMG …. 7 months later the Ombudsman ruled in my favour and made 1st Central / Skyfire pay me a portion of what they stiffed me for….. oh and to top it all off …. I had 6 months left on my policy with them so when I got a new car they swapped it over and just before the policy was due to renew they sent me a quote of over £1800 to renew with them !! I went elsewhere and got a policy with the same level of cover and benefits for £669.00 with protected NCB … of which £69 was for the protection so my point here is , had I chose not to protect my bonus , it would have been £600…. How can they attempt to stuff me with OVER three times that amount ? these clowns are an absolute joke , will never ever use these again , been a nightmare , and I am still waiting to paid the difference they have been ordered to pay by the financial Ombudsman… Reviewed on: 9th March 2023

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