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1st Central: Car Insurance reviews

Name: Car Insurance
Rating: 1.68 (862 reviews)

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1.51

Based on 862 reviews, last reviewed 11th Feb 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

Seems that's it's not just me experiencing the same... Seems that's it's not just me experiencing the same thing. I just read this review. The same think happened to me. Sadly, it's quite common with this ... Read more Reviewed on: 11th 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 (862)

Review of the 1st Central, Car Insurance:

BEWARE!! Ludicrous charges! THEY DO NOT CARE!!

Took out insurance and over a week later they asked for proof of NCB and proof of claims. Asked my last insurance provider for this. When I didn’t get them in time they charged £175. I had told them I had contacted twice to get these documents. I decided to cancel after nearly 4 weeks and for this I was charged £156, minus my first payment, despite their website saying it’s a £10 cancellation fee after 14 days!! Very impersonal service and completely ridiculous charges!! Felt as though they grabbed me with a cheap quote and then added on extras to make money. My monthly payment went from £37 to £55!! Felt like dealing with robots whose job is to add money on excessively!! Wish I’d read these reviews first!! Reviewed on: 29th November 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi Katharine, 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: 2nd December 2024

Poor customer service

Was charged an exorbitant amount to cancel policy and thereafter they continued to take money via direct debit. I Rang them and spoke to someone incompetent who promised a refund of fees taken after I had terminated the insurance….I’m still waiting for the refund. Go elsewhere. Reviewed on: 9th November 2022

AVOID THIS COMPANY!

Terrible company. Somebody crashed into my car on the 20th of August (not my fault) and I am still waiting for an engineer.. I have rang them countless times and told the same thing that someone will be in touch and then nothing.. and as for the emails and they have not even responded to them. I’m seriously thinking I have to go to Ombudsman because its just ridiculous. Now water is coming into my car through the door and causing more problems. I can’t believe that they can still operate. Not only is claiming unbelievably difficult even when it’s not your fault. They got some information on my statement of fact incorrect which was their fault and are now changing me an extra £100 a month! They really are the worst insurance company. Reviewed on: 7th November 2022

Disappointing

I am very disappointed by 1st central insurance. Poor website, links not working then website crashed. Charged £50 to cancel a policy within 2 hours, which is extortionate!!!! I will never want to use this company again. Reviewed on: 4th November 2022

Claiming is a nightmare

Update: I was told by the repairer that they couldn’t find what the problem was and 1st central said they were going to send out an independent engineer. However I got a phone call last night (3rd Nov) from the third party company that supply the engineer saying my insurance was in agreement with the repairer that the faults (which have only been present on the car since it came out of the repair shop) weren’t caused by the accident or repair and I have to pay for repairs out of my own pocket. I would love to know how they’ve come to this conclusion as the repairer doesn’t know what the fault actually is, and no one from the insurance company has been out to look at the car. Communication both internally and externally is not their strong point. I’ve had to do an excessive amount of chasing up on every aspect of the claim, including informing 1st central that the repairer they had assigned had rejected the repair when they had first been approached. Apparently 1st Central were unaware. I chased for a courtesy car twice before my car was picked up due to it being unusable and once again when my car had been picked up and was told I had said I didn’t need one. I was told there would be a courtesy car with me by the end of the day. There wasn’t, so I rang up and was then told the repairer didn’t have one available. Three different repair companies were mentioned to me over the phone within 2 hours after my car had been taken away, which was concerning, as it seemed they didn’t even know where it had gone. One call handler asked me where it had gone, as if that wasn’t information they should probably know. My car returned from a cosmetic repair with engine and anti skid faults that I can prove weren’t there the day it was picked up for repair and I now have no idea what is happening. 1st Central hasn’t contacted me once in reference to this, I have had to call them repeatedly to ask them to chase things. I will say when I put a complaint in they managed to deal with that within 24 hours and I was offered compensation that was suitable at the time. Due to the issues that have arisen since I feel it is no longer adequate. Just save yourself the hassle and stress and go with anyone else. Reviewed on: 4th November 2022

Beware of cancellation costs!!!!

After the first year the cost of cover increased by 15% (Even though I had an extra 1 year of no claims discount). Their email advised that should they not be able to collect the first payment, the policy would cancel as of the end of my previous one. Charged the princely sum of £128.20 cancellation costs. Avoid this company at all costs. Reviewed on: 3rd November 2022

Price increase after first month

They increased the price from just over £300 to nearly £900 because they though I didn't provide them with documents. I did that 2 weeks before deadline but they didn't notice! They put the price up anyway because apparently I entered wrong date of passing driving licence test and wrong occupation!! Absolute scammers. Reviewed on: 3rd November 2022

How much?

Changed my car they wanted £118 admin fees. Ok I'll cancel £170 cancellation fee. WTF. Will not be renewing with 1st central. AVOID. Reviewed on: 1st November 2022

AVOID-One of the most unorganised and incompetent companies I have ever dealt with.

I wish I could give them 0 star. One of the most unorganised and incompetent companies I have ever dealt with. They didn't instruct the garage to prepare a courtesy car for me although it's included in my policy and I requested it a number of times when speaking to their claim team. After two weeks' wait and numerous chasing calls, they finally rented a car for me through Enterprise. BUT they rented a Manual car when I only have an automatic license. I called them and Enterprise more than 5 times from last Friday until now, but the problem is still not sorted out. How hard it is to arrange a right courtesy car for your customer? Just unbelievable how slow and incompetent they can be. I would not recommend anyone to use this insurance company. Reviewed on: 1st November 2022

extra charge

got an email at 20.10 saying it was their second attempt trying to take payment and failed. This was the only email I received and the worst thing was I couldn't even call them up to rectify this as they closed at 20.00. called in the next day and was charged extra for late payment Reviewed on: 1st November 2022

Paperwork Scam

Myself and my husband took out car insurance for both our vehicles. Received the standard emails to say we were insured but then a few weeks later we were sent emails , that unfortunately went into our junk mail , stating that we needed to provide evidence of NCD , proof that we lived in the country since birth, DVLA code, the list goes on. Unfortunately because my husband didn't send his NCD evidence we have just received a £113.00 additional fee!! We have both used insurance companies for over 30 years and gave never been in this position before. I fortunately have 6 days left before I get my insurance cancelled by them for not providing evidence of living in the country since birth!! Avoid avoid avoid Reviewed on: 1st November 2022

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