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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.71 (965 reviews)

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1.71

Based on 965 reviews, last reviewed 7th Jun 2026

100% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

8% decrease in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

11%

80%

Latest highest rating:

5

Just started my third year of car insurance cover wi... Just started my third year of car insurance cover with 1st Central. Good value for money, helpful customer service, clearly laid out website and easy ... Read more Reviewed on: 17th April 2026

Latest lowest rating:

1

Please avoid this company, money grabbers! I purchased car insurance and then found a more comprehensive cover for the same price, so within 12 hours decided to cancel whilst policy was pending... Read more Reviewed on: 7th June 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.

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1st Central Car insurance reviews (965)

Great broker, decent price.

They are a great company to deal with. Easy options of phone or online chat. A modern insurance company for this day and age. Reviewed on: 23rd August 2023

Affordable and quick

Cheap easy to complete all online great value for the cover and saved me hundreds of pounds year on year to insure my car Reviewed on: 23rd August 2023

good price

good price , all easy to use, another year Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

Great value and hassle free

They offer great value for money and it was so easy to set up. It is also super easy to make adjustments online should you need to Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

Good. Not needed to use them but big hike in renewal premium

Not needed to use this insurance company. I was with them for 1 year. The renewal premium was double what I was paying. I know recent inflation and expenses hike etc but it was still very expensive. I contacted them and they were unable to match price other providers. Renewal cancelled. Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

They're running a late-payment scam

They failed to take payment, then waited 24 hours to inform me just so they could add a late payment fee. Obviously they blamed the bank for not being able to take it, even though there was absolutely no reason why not. I rang them up to pay within minutes of receiving this notification, but of course, they'd delayed to inform me so they could add £15 to my payment. A reputable company would have apologised and waived the late payment fee on the spot. Well, a reputable company wouldn't add a late payment fee until after you've been informed, but then the scam wouldn't work. The 'customer service' agent couldn't confirm if they would run this scam every month, obviously, but instead advised me I should ring them on the day it was due every month to make sure they took it to avoid getting a late payment fee, otherwise they'd delay contacting me every month which would ensure the fee was added. I'd never heard of them when I insured with them, but gave them a chance since I only needed third party insurance on a little run-around. I was very wrong to do so, but you can avoid making the same mistake. Stick with a reputable insurer who has a track record. Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

A 75% premium increase for year two! Extortionate doesn't cut it.

Auto renewal process kicked in and my premium went from £24 to £42 per month! No claims (EVER in my life), no alterations, nothing. Exactly the same circumstances led to 1st Central hicking my premium up by 75%! Then they charged me £55 for the privilege of canceling. Grab yourself a first-year deal, make sure auto-renew is OFF, then leave after a year. This is the second car 1st Central have done this on. No interest in retaining customers or nurturing loyalty whatsoever. Pile it high and sell it cheap in year one. Pull your pants down and hope you don't notice the draught in year two! Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

Cancelling policy for fake reason

Cancelling my policy for not recording trips even tho I record trips daily , scam of a company avoid at all costs Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

AVOID - Unfair telematics cancellation

Woke up to an email from 1st Central to say our telematics policy is being cancelled due to unrecorded trips being made, which we categorically refute. The trips in question have been accurately recorded via the mobile app, and there is clearly a data collection fault. You’d think 1st Central would give us a courtesy call to check if the sensor is working properly and gather more information before abruptly cancelling the policy, but no. Despite providing evidence that the trips in question have been properly recorded on our end, 1st Central is proceeding with the cancellation, which will impact the cost of our future insurance policies massively. We have raised a formal complaint, and if we don't reach an adequate solution, we will contact the financial ombudsman. A quick Google search will reveal similar issues with other 1st Central telematics users. I know the company has a bad reputation overall, but the telematics department is particularly unprofessional. Would recommend avoiding them completely. Reviewed on: 22nd August 2023

Let down

Purchased insurance with a one off payment of 240 pound which includes Rac cover happy with policy then the harassment started .Wanted proof of no claims for me and my wife and proof of non fault accident I was constantly bombarded with texts and e mails from this company even though I asked them to wait for my previous insurance to send details I eventually downloaded all relevant details and was told not good enough all though it was stated non fault accident by this pointI am passed right off and cancelled the policy as I could not take another week of harassment, subsequently lost 160 pounds including my rac membership this company is a joke and I would recommend every one steers well clear of this bunch of incompetent individuals Reviewed on: 21st August 2023

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