Write a review

Go to business site

1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.66 (950 reviews)

View other 1st Central products

1.51

Based on 950 reviews, last reviewed 12th Feb 2026

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

46% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

11%

80%

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

Absolutely appalling. Absolutely appalling. I have cancelled a policy with them and they proceeded to issue me a refund. Then they started hounding me with calls that I hav... Read more Reviewed on: 12th February 2026

Read all reviews Write a review

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.

Review 1st Central: Car insurance now

Help others make smarter decisions by sharing your own experience.

Write a review

1st Central Car insurance reviews (950)

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

Will take every penny they can - even if the insurance period HASN'T STARTED

Forced into selling my car after taking out insurance. Was due to start a gew days later and asked to cancel. £50 charge... no debates - refused to waive or partially waive. No point going to people who see you as a piggy bank. Reading up, they also charge ludicrous mid-term change costs... just avoid. Their online staff were fairly nice, however useless. Reviewed on: 19th August 2022

Do you have a different 1st Central product?

Share your experiences with products to help others make smarter financial decisions and learn more about different products available. Write a review

Alternative products

Static caravan insurance
from Eversure 0.00 from 0 reviews
Breakdown Insurance
from AXA 3.44 from 4 reviews
Car Insurance
from Fish Insurance 2.00 from 2 reviews

Want to see more from 1st Central?

Breakdown cover
from 1st Central 4.44 from 16 reviews
Personal accident
from 1st Central 2.23 from 5 reviews
Home insurance
from 1st Central 0.00 from 0 reviews

View all products

Join Smart Money People

Keep up to date on ratings of your favourite businesses. Find out about our awards and write new reviews with ease

Create an account

News, guides and insight from our team

View resource hub