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1st Central: Car Insurance reviews

Name: Car Insurance
Rating: 1.69 (847 reviews)

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1.50

Based on 847 reviews, last reviewed 15th Nov 2024

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

17% increase 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

Ok where do I start ! Ok where do I start !!!!!! If you want to get car insurance then look else where !!!!!!!!! I have spent more time on the phone trying to get help with... Read more Reviewed on: 15th November 2024

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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 (847)

Review of the 1st Central, Car Insurance:

High £30 admin fee

High £30 admin fee when you have to call them even when it's something you can't change online. They don't warn you at beginning of call Reviewed on: 28th October 2024

Reply from 1st Central Hi K p, We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. We advise of our admin fees when a policy is set up. If a change is made over the phone the admin fee is £30, if it's made online it's £25. If you attempt to make a change online and have an issue, please advise our colleagues and they will amend this to £25 for you. We also advise of our fees here - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/motor/payments-and-fees/what-are-your-car-insurance-fees-and-charges. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 29th October 2024

Got in a crash and had my car wrote off.

Got in a crash and had my car wrote off. Other party involved was liable for the crash and they accepted liability but the claims team still tried saying it was my fault and needed dash can footage for a side impact crash. It took them 2 months to pay me out and valued me £600 for a car I could’ve sold to we buy any car for £1500. I was told with my courtesy car it would be arranged for pickup the day the car goes to the scrap company, I was waiting 2-3 weeks for the courtesy car and I use my car to get to and from work. Now to today when I cancelled my insurance 3 weeks ago when the courtesy car was taken as I have no need for insurance I receive an email saying they’re cancelling my policy effect immediately and charging me £3000 for cancellation. Id stay away they’re scammers Reviewed on: 23rd February 2024

Avoid extremely poor

Avoid. Daughter insured with these. She was hit in the rear and other driver accepted liability. She’s now been offered £5000 for a car that’s worth £6500. She said she would reluctantly accept £5500. They say no and have constantly threatened her too accept the offer and cancel paying for the rental. They’ve wrote it off and that took 3 month to find out they had too. Still don’t have an engineers report why and what for? Asked for written valuation reports on how they came to this value? Said they’d emailed it multiple times. Still not received. It’s made my daughter poorly and I have had to take it over on her behalf. They full face lie on the phone and when they don’t like the way it’s going, hang up on you. All Indian p/foreign people on the phone, following scripted responses etc. Made an official complaint now and will be wanting a final response in 3 weeks ( 8 weeks total ). Then it’s off too the ombudsman or solicitors after that. She sustained whiplash and concussion during the crash. She was stationary and hit in rear at 40mph. They won’t discuss her injury claims and just say you’ll have to wait and can’t provide a update. 4 months on now. Absolute joke… Please avoid this company. Research the underwriter. I’d never heard of them before when I did. 2 out of 5 they get for customer support. I’m starting to wonder if the lady that hit my daughter has the same insurer or underwriter? I’ll find that out I think before I get legal advice. Please avoid. I will never use this firm again… Reviewed on: 22nd February 2024

Truly Terrible Customer Service

My wife took out car insurance with 1st Central via Money Supermarket as they were competitively priced, all was good until we were asked to contact them to speak to the Policy Analysis Team, what followed was an absolute disaster, we were both relentlessly pressured to change our job titles to a more exact phrasing over and over and over by the Policy Analysis Team when we had initially provided truthful information and were consequently hit with a £50 admin charge to change these details for no reason, then my wife was asked for her no claims bonus from two years (two insurances ago) ago and because she didn't have it to hand was kept on hold for 20 minutes and then advised she had incurred a further £22 admin charge as the Policy Analysis Team had to investigate this, after leaving the call in tears she was then issued a renewed statement of fact where the majority of the details incurring the admin charges had not been actioned. We made numerous attempts to contact 1st Central asking that because of this the charges were dropped and were stonewalled at every turn with different totals of admin fees mentioned during each call, we raised a complaint and was given an excuse that the issue was just an IT issue and no admin fees were being dropped followed by the complaint being closed. In the end my wife had to pay £72 to cancel the policy (just to get away), to summarise, she was charged for unnecessary changes which weren't changed on her policy, charged for not having evidence of a no claims bonus from two years ago, no updated policy provided, complaint ignored and then no notification of cancellation of policy - do not be fooled by their low cost on the comparison sites! Thoughts and prayers for anyone who has to make an actual claim with this company - AVOID Reviewed on: 22nd February 2024

Con artist

In the space of 3 weeks of signing up my policy doubled. If I would like to cancel I can but pay a charge of £110. I was advised by staff it is not uncommon price change daily and can go up by 47% is quite normal. Staff read from script therefore a human conversation is impossible, very frustrating. I was with Admiral for 7 years I only changed due a cheaper quote a very silly.mistake being the quote has now doubled Reviewed on: 22nd February 2024

Con artists! Stay well away from 1st Central!

3 weeks after buying car insurance with 1st Central I received an email asking me to confirm details. After contacting them they asked the occupation of my named driver on the policy and then doubled my car insurance cost (another £200) because they did not agree with the named drivers occupation title and changed it to something similar. I asked to cancel the insurance and was told this would be another £90. Searching online it appears there are a number of 1st Central customers who have had the same problem. They offer the best quotes and then wait until your 2 week cooling off period ends before finding ways of charging extra. Con artists would be the term I would use. Stay well away! Reviewed on: 21st February 2024

USELESS COMPANY

One star is too much for this company - 50/50 on the staff, some are great, some are awful, the company does not know how to write to customers but can slap on a default for £98 without telling me?? been chasing the removal of this since December and IT'S STILL NOT RESOLVED. Thrilled to be declined on my car finance due to this, this is the company's negligence and I'm suffering & paying to price for incompetent staff. Reviewed on: 19th February 2024

NCD Certificate

his morning, I received my renewal notice by email. My insurance had gone from £240 to £403. I thought this was too high and decided not to renew with them. I went on to their website and followed their instructions. My insurance was due to run out on the 3/3/24 so I cancelled it from the 3/3/24 at the latest time they had from the drop-down box, 23.45. I received an email stating that my insurance would end on the 3/3/24. Minutes later I received an email with a NCD certificate. The certificate said 9 years when it should be 10. I contacted them via their webchat service and explained everything to them. After a while going backwards and forwards, I was told that there was nothing they could do, and it would remain at 9 years. They said the start date of the policy is 04/03/2023 and the time is at 00:01:00. So, for ending the policy 16 minutes early they have dropped a full years NCD off me. I thought I had followed the instructions correctly, but according to them I didn't. They refused to help me and said that is the final decision. I said I was making a complaint to the ombudsman, and they said 'OK, anything else I can do for you' this is shocking and appalling service and I am penalised for a genuine mistake and for not renewing with them. Avoid them as if they can do this for NCD what loopholes will they use if you make a claim. Reviewed on: 19th February 2024

I am writing this review to express my profound disa...

I am writing this review to express my profound disappointment and exasperation with the services provided by your company. A one-star review doesn't even begin to cover the range of my dissatisfaction. You make me wish there was an option for a zero-star rating. There stands a gross lack of transparency in your operations - a glaring discrepancy from the professional behaviour one expects from a reputed insurance service. Allow me to regale you with the sorrid details. Approximately three weeks back, I had the misfortune of availing car insurance from 1st Center for my wife. Promptly acting on your request, I submitted my wife's driving license and no claims history within the required time. Imagine my consternation when, following the sadistic wait till the elapsing of the 14-day cooling-off period, you ordained to inform me of an 'alleged error' in entering my wife's job title and demanded an increase in the policy premium. The monthly payment, initially stipulated at a dear £125, skyrocketed in a heartbeat to an outrageous £365, after the addition of a so-called 'consolidation fee.' This sudden and inexplicable escalation in charges without a reasonable explanation is not just worrisome but a telling testament to your company's unscrupulous practices. To any unfortunate soul considering engaging in business with 1st Center Car Insurance, I say, 'Avoid as if your life depended on it.' It pretty much does. In my experience, the company seems to exploit any conceivable loophole for the sole aim of increasing monthly costs and yielding profit through the ruthless cancellation of policies. Insurance services ought to uphold the esteemed principles of transparency and fairness. However, it seems 1st Center Car Insurance found a bypass to these essential values, leaving clients like myself beyond disillusioned and questioning the ethical credibility of your business. Reluctantly, Pav Reviewed on: 15th February 2024

Awful company.

Awful company. AVOID! 1st CENTRAL Insurance are to be never used again from my family and friends. Come with strong advice not to use them. Further to an annual car insurance policy I took with them in November 2023. They followed up asking for proof of NCD on Xmas Eve 2023. Unfortunately xmas holiday season wasn't an ideal time to organise this for them and when I finally sent the NCD after the holidays they said it was eight hours too late and charged me £150.00. Never use them, They are blacklisted as an insurance company for me and I'd help anyone with the advice not to go with them. Use other companies and pay a little extra. They are money grabbers. Reviewed on: 15th February 2024

Awful experience

Charged me £125 because I’d put my partner’s occupation as manufacturing engineer instead of mechanical engineer…even though he does both at his job. Customer services representatives are rude and aggressive. I was told I’d still need to pay the £125 even if I cancelled my policy within the free cancellation period of 14 days. I have now found out that 1st Central offer low prices to lure you in and then fine comb the policy to check for ‘mistakes’ or make aggressive phone calls to pressure you into making a mistake and then make their money through the extra charges they apply. Disgusting. I would never use or recommend this company again. Reviewed on: 14th February 2024

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