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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

31% 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.

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1st Central Car insurance reviews (947)

hidden charges

I was asked to provide my v5c and it turns out I’d accidentally given them the wrong date of purchase. This resulted in a £21.50 charge which I don’t dispute (as it was human error on my part) but they also tacked on a £50 admin fee. They were most unhelpful on the phone and wouldn’t entertain the removal of this admin fee. They seem to do this to their customers routinely from flicking through their negative reviews. I wouldn’t recommend any company that uses such backhand tactics to increase their revenue. Reviewed on: 8th February 2023

Avoid at all costs

I chose this company for my insurance as they were on the mse website. After having been driven into yesterday in a no fault crash I was given the incorrect information on an excruciating phone call that took over an hour. Not only was I given incorrect information and put on hold several times without explanation, I was then charged £12.67 to change my address. I will be changing providers as soon as a decision is made on my car. Reviewed on: 7th February 2023

Unprofessional company

They made a change on my policy without contacting me before increasing the annual mileage resulting in a more expensive monthly payment. Definitely don’t recommend it!! Reviewed on: 6th February 2023

Misleading information

I made a claim after a natural disaster and wanted to keep my car. In their settlement letter not even a single word was about what will happen if I sell the car and want to cancel the policy. After selling the car I wanted to cancel my policy (in the meantime I bought another car and insured it with the same company) - they claimed all the remaining premium (£400). I complained at the Financial Conduct Authority and they came up with some bullsh.t saying that "it is quite normal to pay"...I did not accept their decision, and they said that it does not oblige me either. Now it is time to renew their policy on the other car which they set on automatic renewal so I could not cancel it online unless I call them. Now I paid the £400 reluctantly but I am leaving this review here to warn everyone - avoid this company by any means. Regards. Reviewed on: 5th February 2023

Cheaters

I received a phone call today from this insurance company. They wanted to discuss with me my yearly mileage which I was absolutley fine with. When I was asked the question I replied that I will do between 6k and 7k miles as I won't be driving as much this year. I was then forced to give exact figure so I replied 7k and that costed my extra 65GBP!!!!!I feel like I was forced to give the answer which allowed this firm to charge me 20% more for the insurance I already paid for! Discusting way to treat your customers! Reviewed on: 3rd February 2023

Avoid if you value your money

My wife was comparing policies and did not intend on completing the policy... Website very unhelpful and certainly not user friendly, once the mistake was realised the policy was cancelled within the 1hr... you supposedly get 15 days cooling off... but what they hide in the small print is there is a massive £50 cancellation fee... absolutely disgraceful and we won't ever consider this company in the future and will warn everyone we can. At these difficult times how can you justify a £50 cancellation within 1hr of application? Reviewed on: 3rd February 2023

Car insurance customer

Company policy is deceptive and they just want to rip off customers in every aspect. Reviewed on: 1st February 2023

Con-artists

They automatically up your insurance costs if you don't phone them. When I called and informed them of my change in occupation status, they doubled my premium. Absolutely avoid them at all costs—disgusting company. Reviewed on: 1st February 2023

Avoid

This is just a bad company, they use comparison websites and reel you in with a cheap price, Then they wait and demand more money, but will completely ignore emails… avoid Reviewed on: 1st February 2023

Rip off merchants

Purchased car insurance online. Email received “suspected identity theft” , need copy of my licence, which I sent. Further email received falsely stating had given them wrong date of driving test, they have changed my info resulting in additional £60 charge (50 of which was for admin) or insurance to be cancelled. Phoned and challenged them, they backed down, apologised for ‘mistake’. Emailed me to confirm back down. 1 week later another email ‘default notice’ demanding the £60 or will cancel policy. Phoned them, they advised latest email another ‘mistake’ As cover not due to start for another 2 weeks told them I want to cancel, with full refund of premium. They refused, stating refund would be subject to £50 admin charge, even though I was still within 2 week cooling off period and cover had not yet started. They may well be cheapest quote, but avoid them like the plague. Reviewed on: 30th January 2023

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