Write a review

1st Central: Car insurance reviews

Name: Car insurance
Rating: 1.67 (879 reviews)

View other 1st Central products

1.48

Based on 879 reviews, last reviewed 29th Mar 2025

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

41% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

11%

80%

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

Avoid at all costs I purchased insurance 10 days ago. After making the payment, I contacted customer service to inquire if any additional information was needed from me.... Read more Reviewed on: 29th March 2025

Read all reviews See your 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.

1st Central Car insurance reviews (879)

Review of the 1st Central, Car insurance:

AVOID AVOID AVOID TOTAL SCAM.

AVOID AVOID AVOID TOTAL SCAM. Very long story but will try to make it short. I had a policy with them for my previous car and mid policy I got a new car when I checked on 1st central for a quote the first time they gave me a really high price so I didn't go ahead with the change I closed the website and looked elsewhere, i even found better quotes that I should of taken but because I didn't want to lose my 2nd year no claim with 1st central so I went back to them and check to see if i would get a better quote which I did it said pay 147.26 in full or pay 300.01 in installments so i paid in full and I went ahead with the deal. Fast forward now they are saying for the first quote I mentioned before that i accepted the offer and then I changed the policy 2 days later and accepted that as well and that I didn’t pay 147.26 for the second quote but for the first quote I got with them and now they're asking me to pay 300.1 in full for March and then in April I would have to pay 300.1 again until my policy ends which is on 04/06/2025. I have tried to show them proof of payment and chats that I have had with other operators and they're just pretending they can't see anything wrong Reviewed on: 15th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi R H, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. Let’s see if we can help put this right for you. Just give our team a call on 0333 043 2088 or speak to us on web chat which can be found on our website. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Ashley Response date: 17th March 2025

Avoid at all costs

I purchased insurance 10 days ago. After making the payment, I contacted customer service to inquire if any additional information was needed from me. They informed me that nothing else was required. However, seven days later, I received an email requesting that I need to upload few documents, including my license and a no-claim bonus certificate, which I promptly did. They did not specify the number of years of no-claim bonus required, so I submitted a certificate covering three years. When I followed up with customer service, I was told that only two years of no-claim bonus from the same provider were necessary, which I had already provided. Despite this, they stated that since I submitted three years and they had not requested that amount, I would incur an additional charge. Furthermore, there was a discrepancy with the date of my license test, and although I was initially told that any amendments made online would be free, I was later informed that I would need to pay £166 to correct the date. The requirement for a three-year no-claim bonus certificate, when only two years were needed, seems unreasonable to me. This situation feels like an attempt to extract additional funds from customers. When I questioned why I was not informed of this earlier during my previous call, the representative explained that she was from a different department. Regardless of the department, it is unacceptable to provide misleading information to customers. They clearly stated that online amendments could be made without charge, so I fail to understand why I am being asked to pay an extra £166. Essentially, it appears that they offer a lower initial quote only to request more money shortly thereafter. They attempted to deceive me by questioning why the previous quote indicated 9,000 miles while the new one only shows 5,000. I explained that I had a car previously, and the system automatically populated the data since I used the same comparison website. This time, however, we will not be using the car as frequently because my current job does not provide parking, so it will primarily be for social purposes. She persisted, asking why I had mentioned 9,000 miles before. I clarified that while I did mention that figure, I did not proceed with the quote they provided; instead, I opted for a different option, which is unrelated to this situation. It seems they will create numerous excuses to extract money from you, and the entire company appears to be a scam. I have cancelled my current insurance with them will never use their service again. Don't buy this insurance after seeing cheaper price, they are stealing customer's money using their trick to scam. I never seen before this kind of Scammer company who steal customer's money after making lots of unnecessary excuse. Date of experience: March 28, 2025 Reviewed on: 29th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Parth, 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: 31st March 2025

Wouldn’t even quote for a renewal.

I was with this company for a year. I paid my premiums on time and without fail, when it came to renewing, they initially tried to add £150 a year to my premiums, despite me not having any accidents, not claiming or even contacting them. When I spoke to them to discuss this, they then said they couldn’t even quote me. If I’m not the sort of customer that insurance companies want then I don’t know what is! AVOID! Reviewed on: 28th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Dan, 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 can't offer insurance to every customer and we are governed by our underwriters. If underwriting criteria changes in the year, this means we sometimes can't offer a customer a new policy at renewal. Ashley Response date: 31st March 2025

Scam AVOID AVOID AVOID

1 day before my insurance was due for renewal I rang up and spoke with a lady who it's fair to say English wasn't her first language. I asked her multiple times to change my policy to pay monthly rather than renewal in one lump sum. She assured me that she couldn't do it that evening as the policy was in 'processing stage' if i called back first thing in the morning i wouldn't be charged and would be able to change to pay monthly as the policy will then be in 'confirmation stage'. I look at my account in the morning and the money has come out in full and when i call to complain i am told there is a cancellation fee and the money cant be refunded for 10 days.... Scam of a company AVOID! Reviewed on: 28th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hello, 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'd like to look into this further for you to help resolve this, please send an email to [email protected] with your policy number a summary of your experience similar to your review and we will look into it. Ashley Response date: 28th March 2025

Exit fees everywhere.

Exit fees everywhere. I sold my car so needed to cancel. They charge a £50 arrangement fee, £50 admin fee and a £10 cancellation fee. Now I thought cancelling was a admin task. Reviewed on: 27th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Ben, 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 cancellation fee when a policy is set up. We also advise of the £50 non-refundable arrangement fee. This isn't charged at cancellation, but this is a non refudnable fee from when you set you policy up with us. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 28th March 2025

You’re not really insured with 1st Central

Had my Range Rover stolen and found with missing parts. The experience of dealing with 1st Central was a nightmare from the very start, the vehicle was found by the Police on a Sunday, 1st Central offices were closed (with no emergency number) so I had to arrange my own recovery to avoid the thieves from returning and moving the car. The company created endless obstacles to delay my claim. I highly doubt 99% of the five-star reviews here are real — very dodgy insurance. When I requested a refund, they refused, claiming I had “benefited” from appearing insured in the IMB. Who pays for insurance just to show up in a database while having no real coverage? To add salt to the wound, they’re now asking me to pay storage. Reviewed on: 25th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Ilyas, 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'd like to look into this further for you to help resolve this, please send an email to [email protected] with your policy number a summary of your experience similar to your review and we will look into it. Ashley Response date: 26th March 2025

DO NOT USE- DREADFUL SERVICE

I feel completely miss sold by this company. I have been treated in the most appalling manner. I have been a customer for many years and had a 14 year no claims bonus. I have never had an accident in over forty years of driving. I recently had a gate close on my car and called to see if I could make a claim. They wrote my car off so I decided not to make a claim. I opened a new policy to give my no claims more protection and was told I could retain my 14 years no claims. I opened the policy on that premise only then to receive an email once the two weeks grace had expired to say because I had notified them of the gate incident, my no claims would be reduced to 4 years and my pcm payment would significantly increase. They claimed I hadn’t given them all the information they needed. This is nonsense. They have totally and knowingly miss sold me a product. I have put on a formal complaint and will be taking this to the financial ombudsman. My husband has recently passed away and I told them this. I feel that they totally took advantage of my vulnerability. It is truly shocking!!! Reviewed on: 20th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Wendy, Firstly, I'm very sorry to hear of the passing of your husband. I hope you and your family are doing as well as they can at this time. I'm sorry to hear of the issues you've faced with your claim. We'd like to look into this further for you to help resolve this, please send an email to [email protected] with your policy number a summary of your experience similar to your review and we will look into it. Ashley Response date: 21st March 2025

Be careful, rip of company, if you move house and us...

Be careful, rip of company, if you move house and use the online portal, they will still charge you £25 admin fee even though you are doing the admin work your self, also if you move to an area that is 100% safer and lower crime rate with less accidents then and also the use of a garage, then they will still bump your insurance up by 125-160. I have another car with an agreed valuation of 80k with Adrian flux, I went online and changed my address and Adrian flux have changed my policy with no Increase and no admin lol, just proves 1st central is a scam rip of type of company. Update today, I've just had an £80 refund due to the new area that I live and also due to the garage lol so it just proves my point that your butchered company love to rip your own customers of, now that's called a personal underwriter unlike your generated butchered version. If your CEO wants to find me then use my details, get him to call me and I'll send him my updated certificate for my GTR with agreed valuation and also the refund I'm getting for moving location. Reviewed on: 18th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Francisco, 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 and we also advise of them here on our website - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/motor/payments-and-fees/what-are-your-car-insurance-fees-and-charges. The price of insurance can change with any amendment to the policy, this is due to different risk factors. We have this article that goes in to some of the areas that makes up the price of insurance - https://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/car-insurance/what-affects-your-price. We can't speak for other insurance companies policies, as they will work with different underwriters to us. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 18th March 2025

SCAM SO AVOID, AVOID & AVOID

I am a current customer, had an incident on 12/8/24. They lied through out the claim handling process. They told me multiple times that they will send me an email BUT THEY NEVER DID so AVOID, AVOID & AVOID. Reviewed on: 17th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Arshad, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. Let’s see if we can help put this right for you. Just give our team a call on 0333 043 2022 or speak to us on web chat which can be found on our website. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 9am to 6pm. Ashley Response date: 18th March 2025

Con company

for I went ahead with my renewal policy and I got an email asking for my car logbooks . so I called them up to ask why . and they said that I needed to prove how long I’ve owned my vehicle for so I asked why and they told me there was a discrepancy on how long I had all my vehicle as last year policy it said 6 years and now this year policy it says I’ve own the vehicle for five years . which then they informed me that my insurance premiums are going to go up so I asked why would it make a difference on how long I’ve had my vehicle for as long as I’ve owned it and I am the registered person for when I am insured with you and they basically said I am a higher risk to loan money to for the shorter time. I have own a vehicle and I am a lesser risk to loan money to for the longer I have owned the vehicle . so basically I am a higher risk to loan insurance money too if I own the car for five years and I will be a lower risk if I’ve owned it for six years, which I find mind-boggling it shouldn’t come to how long somebody’s own a vehicle for to affect your insurance quote so one star review . The person I spoke to basically had an attitude constantly telling me to cancel. so I have cancelled my policy and now you have lost a £500 a year policy for something stupid as to telling me that because there was an error made by one year on how long I’ve owned the vehicle for you were gonna put my insurance premiums up . whatever error this was on one year it should’ve just been corrected and not affected my premiums so thanks for 1st central but you’ve lost my customer. This was the second year I had been with you as well I’ve also had other vehicles insured with you as well. I definitely won’t be using you…. When you go online there is a box to say you don’t own a vehicle yet if you check that box and get your quotes then go back and then instead of ticking that box but put in your owned the vehicle for 10 years the insurance quote is still the same there is no risk factor on lending someone money for the insurance quote . It’s About how long you’ve owned a vehicle for that is a credit check which goes on your credit record, they don’t do a credit check on you based on how long you’ve ordered a car for. Reviewed on: 11th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Mike, 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: 12th March 2025

Do not use

Clearly states no fees to change policy. I unf had to cancel and got charge half the yearly premium. Emailed and get nothing back. Do not use Reviewed on: 9th March 2025

Reply from 1st Central Hi Craig, 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 that there is no admin fee to change a policy, but there might be a difference in premium. We also advise of our cancellation fee when a policy is set up. We have this FAQ that goes in to some details on our this - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/motor/cancellations/if-my-car-insurance-is-cancelled-why-do-i-still-owe-money-to-1st-central. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley Response date: 10th March 2025

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

Car Insurance
from M&S Bank - Marks and Spencer 1.62 from 96 reviews
Car Insurance
from Legal and General 4.84 from 5 reviews
Caravan Cover
from Caravan and Motorhome Club 4.93 from 11157 reviews

There's still more to see!

1st Central has a range of products available. Check the ratings of each product to find the right one for you. 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