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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.5 (957 reviews)

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1.50

Based on 957 reviews, last reviewed 17th Apr 2026

100% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

50% 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

Do not use this provider for your car insurance I’ve had a very poor experience with this insurer. They failed to respond to three or four of my emails, and despite requesting a call from management... Read more Reviewed on: 10th April 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 (957)

IF ONLY I COLD RATE THIS COMPANY 0 STARS

horrible rude customer service on every phone call. really unhelpful and wanted to charge me more per month to switch to a smaller, less power and engine capacity vehicle. i strongly advise going over to admiral as they provide much better customer service and have better prices. Reviewed on: 21st November 2022

Charged me double for second year!

Disgusting! Tried to charge me double for second year at £2200 and couldn’t match the £800 from Hastings! Only would decrease by £100. Don’t bother - Hastings have been great! Reviewed on: 18th November 2022

Rip of merchants

Rip of merchants charging over £100 extra to remain with them compared to joining as a new policy holder via compare the market. Reviewed on: 18th November 2022

Why is this ok

If I could give a minus I would I was recently employed and then I was let go due to cut backs and mental issues and now not working there charging me £894 how or there going to cancel my policy of I do not pay upfront as they will not add to monthly instalments so is there a point of carrying on as we do our best to survive then corporate companies see it OK to take money you have got as no job so what's the point might as well give up now save all the struggle Reviewed on: 16th November 2022

They proceeded to take £143 from my bank account without my knowledge or permission

After taking out what I thought was a reasonably priced policy,I later changed my email address and phone number. I contacted their call centre who after nearly 2 hours agreed to amend my details. However when I discovered that money was taken unlawfully from my bank account,it was obvious that they had been sending communications to my old email and phone which I couldn't access. The car was stolen in August 2022 which has been traumatic as It was my late wife who bought it in 2017. Stay well clear of this company Reviewed on: 15th November 2022

1st Central are criminals falsifying documents

After 2 months of me being insured with them they falsified information on documents out of their own volition and raised my policy for £500! They didn't even say why! I haven't been sleeping all night. Next morning I call and they say they doubted my occupation so they put me as unemployed. What is false and it was never true! They just made up information and raised my premium for £500! Borderline criminals!!! Reviewed on: 15th November 2022

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

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