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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

Bloody Crooks

Stay clear of this company - refuse to refund £50 deposit when i cancelled the policy after making a small change, put the price up by £250. How they get away with it i don't know. Reviewed on: 2nd September 2022

Con Artist

they gave me a policy and then 2months later tried to charge several extra fees!!!! it pays to go to a high end firm and pay more and not put up with thieves in suits Reviewed on: 2nd September 2022

Bullyboys

These guys are bullies and total harassment. I gave up driving through health issues and sold the car and cancelled my insurance. Straight away, they were chasing a cancellation fee non stop. Phone calls, texts, emails constantly all day long. Total desperation and very unprofessional. Never again. Reviewed on: 1st September 2022

If this is the only review you ever take notice of...

Oh my gosh , this company has nearly driven me to depression . When I started the policy my other half was a gardener . He lost his job so unemployed . Fc contacted me and asked if his occupation had changed , I said yes , they added £50 charge to my account . Customer advisor said my policy would increase by £3 because of the changes . Next monthly installment is taken out of my bank and its risen from £31 to £64 , because my partners unemployed now? I try to ring them to see why the huge increase , but everytime I ask a question bit they seem to be hearing me say something completely different . Tonight's phone call resulted in me getting an email saying your changes have been made and another £50 charge , when I haven't even changed anything . I'm seriously close to tears ! Please don't give these nasty pieces of work your custom . If you work for this company you ought to hang your heads in shame ! Reviewed on: 30th August 2022

. PLEASE AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS

Avoid like the plague. Almost impossible to communicate with following cancellation of policy, due to new car purchase. Have sent proof of new ownership countless times but they are still demanding payment for several weeks of cover, when vehicle had new owner. BE AWARE THAT THEY WILL CHARGE YOU WAY OVER ____________________________________________________ £100.00 FOR CANCELLING YOUR POLICY. ________________________________________ They will also over quote you for new vehicle, prompting cancellation as it is in their interests to charge the amounts above. I have also spent over 5 hours on phone to reach resolution, to no avail. ****PLEASE AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS**** Reviewed on: 26th August 2022

Steer clear of this company

The worst insurance company I've ever dealt with in more than 35 years of driving. I am due a partial refund as I changed car. I've have been chasing them for a month. I'm on my 8th call now. Still not got it back. They want almost six months worth of premium for me to cancel after 44 days of insurance! I can't believe I'll ever see that money anyway. I cannot even imagine what it would be like if I ever made a claim. Stay away! Reviewed on: 26th August 2022

con artisits

seriously pay the little extra and steer clear , they will hit you with hidden fees, and will contact you making up excuses to raise the price, rubbish horrible avoid. Reviewed on: 25th August 2022

Horrendous Experience

Total scam artists, avoid avoid avoid!!! Reviewed on: 25th August 2022

Rubbish

Avoid at all costs!! The worse car insurance company I ever come across. First I trying to change my address which is in a same area from my previous address so they wanted to change me more than £200 then I decided to cancel my policy to just get rid of them as I couldn’t trust them anymore. When I tried to cancel it they changed me cost for 70 days of cover £55.96 Interest for paying monthly £22.30 Arrangement fee £50.00 Personal Accident cover £30.00 Admin fee (for making changes during the year) £50.00 Cancellation fee £50.00 Be careful! All of this was not showing when the insurance was presented online. Reviewed on: 24th August 2022

STAY AWAY

Woke up to an email saying my policy was going to be increased by almost double with absolutely no reason or no consent from myself whatsoever. I was in shock. After ringing the insurance to find out more it was because they automatically increased my annual mileage from 10,000 to 20,000!!! Again with NO CONSENT. They done this, and it was admitted to me on the phone by them, because they seen one of my previous quotes was for 20,000 miles (this was auto filled by a comparison website due to my last year’s insurance requirements). But after i noticed the mistake i amended the quote and changed it to 10,000 miles as i don’t drive as much anymore for many reasons. So because of this they tried to accuse me of doing more miles and filling out incorrect information, so took it upon themselves to add more miles to my policy without consent! There was an email sent out to me regarding sending proof of no claims, which i done and it was all verified, but i missed the tiny part of the email at the bottom that said ‘please can you contact us to confirm some details over the phone.’ They said this was to discuss the mileage situation before they made the changes, but since i never got back to them down to a genuine mistake of my own, they decided to take matters into their own hands and actually amend my policy without asking me?!?! Instead of actually trying to contact me again via email or even better via phone call?? That’s just one of the issues i’ve had with the company since joining 3 months ago but i can honestly say they are the biggest con insurance companies out there. Constantly trying to rip customers off to make more money. STAY AWAY! Reviewed on: 19th August 2022

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