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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)

AWFUL COMPANY

Charged me an admin fee to cancel my insurance within the cooling off period. it states you wont be charged a cancellation fee, however they dont tell you about an admin fee. Customer service is awful!!!! so hard to talk to anyone and get told different things by different people. honestly avoid avoid avoid i cant stress it enough Reviewed on: 3rd January 2023

Cheating customers

I had a very bad experience with this company.They increased our insurance payment without any notice.When we called them ,they tried to find to many excuses for this and finally they came up with the reason that my driving test date was wrong and they had to change it in their system which cost £75.We finally cancelled their insurance and they charged £173 for that too.The entire experience was soo bad and it is not a company we can trust.The staff is also not too supportive.Initially they fool the customers with low insurance cost but eventually they will cheat you by charging extra money ,that even for the reasons no one can ever think of.*DON'T GET FOOLED* Reviewed on: 30th December 2022

Shockingly bad

I cancelled my policy earlier this year and paid the cancellation fee. Since then, I have had to prove to them that I paid it (I sent bank statements), which they have ignored and I am now being chased my a debt collection agency with the threat of my credit score ruined for a bill I’ve paid. Absolutely useless, no customer service, scammers who have caused me stress for several months. Avoid at all costs. Reviewed on: 30th December 2022

Nightmare is understated

Nightmare is understated. I filed a claim in August 2022. It's now a few days to Jan 2023 and my car hasn't been sorted out after doing all the legwork myself. I spoke to different people in their call centre in South Africa who gave me varied information. First I had to source my own repairer because theirs are not bothered. Second I had to chase them all the time, no courtesy calls for an update. The courtesy car company kept calling me for an update, which I didn't have. I had to cancel the courtesy car to stop the annoying calls. I have been passed on, put on hold, etc. Endless. Don't be deceived by low prices. Reviewed on: 30th December 2022

Extra charges

Avoid at any cause, they are applying extra charges to everyone. That is how they make money. Reviewed on: 29th December 2022

Horrible company. You will regret your decision.

They quote cheap on GoCompare, all obliging and attractive. Then they will find fault with your application input information to cause them to slap an admin fee change on you. I was bombed with £150! The following experience got so bad I was really upset as I reckon I do not cheat as a way of life. Over the phone I was challenged because I could not remember the day of the month I passed my test! ( 40 years ago) You will regret Could you? It got worse from there. I paid and ended up owing them! Reviewed on: 27th December 2022

Cancelled my policy and charged me

I renewed after a year of being with them to avoid having to sign up to a new company (might aswell have) I even paid an extra £100 they added onto my insurance quote. Paid the whole year then a month after my renewal they needproof I'm from the UK, I sent them my bc, council tax bills, national insurance number, p60s etc anything I could find to proof I was born and live in the UK, then they said they needed a 5 year or older bank statement which I told them I couldn't get from the bank at short notice they need to send it to my house, so they've cancelled my policy and deducted a £75 cancellation fee plus I've lost a month's insurance so I'm nearly £200 down and my car is now uninsured for tomorrow! It's ridiculous why I would need to provide so much details when I've sent the correct proof you guys need, and I renewed to avoid having to send all my documents to a new company!! Reviewed on: 22nd December 2022

Awful do not insure with this company

Took out policy.. after 14 days they asked for NCD proof which I haven’t been asked for by previous company’s for years. I thought I had 12 years but I only had 11 so they they have charged me £11.02 plus £50 admin charge. They state on their website that there is no admin fees. Clearly they do so miss selling policies.Customer services are not helpful, even spoke to manager. They should have requested this within 14 days so that I had the option to cancel and go elsewhere, which would have now been a lot cheaper. Do not use this company, avoid at all costs. Reviewed on: 20th December 2022

Tried to cancel a day after auto renewal

Should have caught it earlier but illness and hospitalised prevented this. They will charge a £50 admin fee so whilst I still might make a saving there is little point. Cx service not willing to help. Cost for the days insurance £1.91, total cost £51.91 Reviewed on: 20th December 2022

SCAM PREDATORS OPERATING ON COMPARISON SITES

As with everyone else I signed up to them as they came up the cheapest with decent reviews on GoCompare, all was fine until ONE MONTH later (after the cooling off period!) when they asked for further information, this was sent within minutes of their request, and a follow up telephone call to check they had everything they needed, yes they said. Another ONE MONTH later they decide the information is wrong and added an admin fee of £50, when I told them no way and I wished to cancel they added a £180 cancellation fee. They have now been chasing me relentlessly for nearly a year threatening ruining my credit record. I have lodged an official complaint about them with the ombudsman which i suggest you all do too. I don't know how they are still operating or why the comparison sites are allowing them to advertise on there????!!! Absolute SCAM operation, cowboys. Avoid at all costs! Reviewed on: 19th December 2022

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