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1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.66 (948 reviews)

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1.51

Based on 948 reviews, last reviewed 4th Feb 2026

100% decrease in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

31% 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

Worst experiwce in my 35 years of driving amd getti... Worst experiwce in my 35 years of driving amd getti g drivers insurance. They were cheapest on comparison site.. purchased.. then on my policy details... Read more Reviewed on: 4th February 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 (948)

Thief's, lack of knowledge and u professional

Trustpilot reviews Trustpilot Thanks! Your review counts. You reviewed 1st CENTRAL Insurance Your review is pending—it may take up to 2 hours to appear on Trustpilot. Learn more Shuhud M 0 reviews GB Rated 1 out of 5 stars Unprofessional, cowboys and thief's Been with these guys 5 years and every year they auto renew policy when I've told them do not. Hence you get trapped and to leave u must pay a charge. They then claim every year that they have nothing on the system stating that I asked for this, even though I spoke to managers each time. Aside from this they team is not knowledgeable, they fob customers off and they really show no care. I only remain with these guys as I find the concept of moving insurance difficult and the auto renewal trap doesn't help. Would never advise anyone to use these guys, Complete waste of time, Unprofessional, cowboys to say the least. Increased my insurance this year by 500pounds even though there were no accidents or convictions this year and they justify it by saying it 'could be' because of many reasons, but they don't provide a reason and just blame the underwriter Reviewed on: 13th May 2022

AVOID!

terrible customer service, worst insurance ive ever been with so cancelled and took a hit. would hate to actually need them if i had a accident! Reviewed on: 11th May 2022

3 months on and they still have my car

Tell your friends and families to avoid this company at all costs. For 3 months + they have had my car and not started the repair. They have give me dates and cancelled on when it is going to be repaired, customers services won't let me talk to a manger and can't answer any questions. They are now damaging my mental heath as I suffer from anxiety, and worried if I will get my car back, this for a front bumbler and lights. I have had to go to the Financial Ombudsman service to start a case and get cooperation for the mental torture they have caused me. If you need their help here is the web page https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ I have never been treated like this every in my life before, I really mean what I say about not using them, they are not fix to be in business, don't let your families and friends be treated like this. Reviewed on: 10th May 2022

Late fees galore

Got payment date changed to avoid late fees, they agreed. They didn't bother changing the date and I got charged the late fee AGAIN. Called up they apologized and changed date and said they'd removed the late fee. They didn't and when I called up again said a load of nonsense and they have to talk to a manager. Fed up paying late fees because of their mistakes! Avoid! Reviewed on: 9th May 2022

Do not use this company

Decided to add an additional £140 to my policy because I was unable to provide details of a claim I had declared from 2019. I had declared it was a stationary accident in a car park and that it was my fault when taking out the insurance. I didn’t have the additional information so they added an additional £140. I cancelled the insurance at an additional cost to me of £190. Disgraceful service Reviewed on: 6th May 2022

Shocking service. Validation process gets lost in amongst promotional emails and my insurance has increased without any explanation.

Received validation checks, supplied all documents. Insurance increased, no explanation in the emails and the life chat service was unavailable all day today as “all agents are busy” in amongst this 1st central sent me multiple promotional emails trying to promote a £50 referral scheme. I would not recommend this company to anyone. Abismal service Reviewed on: 6th May 2022

Please avoid at all costs

I am currently on hold with this dreadful company. I haven't even started the policy yet and went through my policy and decided within a week that this company is not the right insurance company for my needs they are not fit for purpose. They have charged me for not going ahead with the policy and it is £50 and claiming it is called an arrangement fee. However they have said they are not a Brookers and yet charging customers arrangement fees. Absolutely disgraceful. Please avoid. Reviewed on: 5th May 2022

Cowboys - make sure to complain!

I’ve used them for the first time recently and like many others were hit with an extra charge after they asked me to send additional docs in and low and behold the date I passed my test was wrong as well as NCD. I argued regarding my NCD but can’t see how I possibly put the wrong date down for passing my test but either way I accepted that must’ve been my error. I believe it’s down to pre saved data in these comparison sites and 1st Central are sneaking in catching people out after the usual cooling off period so they can throw cancellation charges left right and centre. I found the staff rude, one hung up on me, was passed around, failed promises until I eventually raised a complaint and a manager has called back and offered me compensation and apologised. My extra charges have also been fully written off so PLEASE don’t just accept their crap, if you feel they have been shoddy then make that complaint. They are meant to be offering customer service but you can barely call it that at present. I appreciate a small amount of compensation doesn’t always fix an issue but if they are trying to shove your premium up and have treated you badly then raise a complaint and get the comp offered to take the edge off. Every little helps in this day and age!! Reviewed on: 4th May 2022

Awful service

Son took out insurance online. Got an email saying they needed extra docs by a certain date,which son sent. Only realised they had cancelled his policy when he saw he had extra money in his bank. No communication of ANY kind telling him what they had done. Lucky he was off for a few days. He could have been done for no insurance and he needs a clean license. Simple txt or email to let him know before they sent the refund and it could have been all sorted. Absolutely useless. Reviewed on: 3rd May 2022

Car insurance

It's an unbelievable ,how this company, can exist in England. They have a horrible behaviour with the clients. Are focused to make money at any ways. Best advice:just neglected Reviewed on: 2nd May 2022

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