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1st CENTRAL Reviews

4.0 Rating 5,230 Reviews
75 %
of reviewers recommend 1st CENTRAL
4.0
Based on 5,230 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Own Driver, Postal Service
On-time Delivery
99%
Customer Service
Communication Channels
Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In
Under An Hour
Customer Service
4.1 out of 5
Read 1st CENTRAL Reviews
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Phone:

0333 043 2066

Email:

marketing@1stcentral.co.uk

Location:

Capital House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath
RH16 3SY

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1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 8th January 2025
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1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 8th January 2025
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Marcus Wickwar
5
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
If I could give 0 I would, Please please please do not waste your time or money on this 'insurer'. This company is not an insurance company they are brokers who will scam you, rob you and affect you both mentally and physically. I have no idea how this business is still running with the amount of people they are scamming. Out of the blue they cancelled my insurance, they said they needed extra documents. I was not notified at all, neither by text, phone call or post to indicate they require additional infomation. The only way I found out about this was because I checked my bank balance and they had refunded my money for the month. I gave them a call to understand why I had been refunded and only then they told me my insurance was going to be cancelled on 08/06/22 11:59pm - I FOUND OUT 10 HOURS BEFORE THE TIME IT WAS DUE TO BE CANCELLED. They expected me to pull out the documents out of thin air. To avoid this tarnishing my good record I asked the policy to be cancelled and they kept passing me over person to person - I was trying to deal with this whilst I was at work. Then in the end I had to ask them to call me back and then the lady said she will at 6:00 after I finish work. 6:00pm comes and no one has called me, instead I got a lazy email to say 'sorry we cannot cancel your insurance and there is nothing we can do'. The 'analysis' had locked my account so i was unable to cancel the policy online. Even the website is extremely dodgy, they had added a fee of £135 on my account and it said once i make the payment my account will be unlocked. I paid it and it was still locked - luckily I had sent written proof that i want my insurance cancelled and this was the only thing I had to cover my back. I called this morning and spoke to a man who was also very useless and he did nothing to help me and he kept saying to me the insurance cannot be cancelled and he has spoken to his manager. Later i conferred with a family lawyer and they advised me that what they have done is unlawful and should be reported to the ombudsmen. I then called them and threatened them with legal action and notified them that I have also contacted ombudsmen. After this they changed their tune and agreed to cancel my insurance on my behalf rather than them doing it and tarnishing my good record. This has caused me an unbelievable amount of stress and anxiety. PLEASE RUN AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY - The few pounds and pennies you save going for this insurance will only last a month before they start slapping random charges on your account. I insured my run around car with them and for a 2005 mini i essentially paid approx. £200 a month with all the charges they gave me and i only had this insurance for 2 month. I own a BMW X4m and the insurance is no where as expensive. I must say I have learnt my lesson and I will definitely do research before looking for insurance. STAY AWAY LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hello, Thank you for your feedback. We’re really sorry to hear about the experience you've had with your policy. Unfortunately, we can't see any of your details, but we would like to look into this further for you. Please contact us by sending an email to customer.relations@1stcentral.co.uk. Please remember to include your policy number and details of what’s gone wrong, and we’ll see if we can put things right. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Very poor communication skills
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hello, 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 2066 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
Posted 2 years ago
Absolute joke! Will be writing a massive complaint and will be raising this with your CEO Michael Lee, due to your technical errors and failure in informing me that my automatic payment fell through, but even this is incorrect as I had updated all of my details on your portal! you left me uninsured and UNAWARE!! You then charged me an extra £80 from my original renewal quote which I had confirmed and agreed back in May. I will be raising this further as you failed to communicate adequately and then overcharged me!!
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hello, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. I can see we sent you two emails, one advising of the payment had failed and to contact us and one to advise the policy had come to an end two days later. If there’s anything you’d like us to look into for you, please contact us by sending an email to customer.relations@1stcentral.co.uk. Please include your policy number and details of what’s gone wrong, and we’ll see if we can put things right. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Totally unhelpful,very rude staff who pass you on from one to the other like a stinky parcel,as no one wants to deal with your query.my wife involved in accident which she was not at fault,struggled hours on end to get through to them,refused to send recovery truck for my vehicle and had to arrange with another company,refused to be involved in the third party claim and advised me to use accident claim companies,tried to hoodwink me by sending me emails that say I have decided not to use them for my third party claim and I could be liable for some charges-when they are the ones that said they cannot take on my third party claim,the list of troubles from this terrible company are never ending,avoid avoid at all costs,this company’s insurance is not cheap at all but very expensive in the end and they will run rings around you,when you are in desperate need for help after an accident,they promised to call me back and they never did ,it’s all shambles with this insurance company
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hello, 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. If a customer of ours is driving another vehicle and has driving over cars on their policy. then any accident would be covered as a third party, fire or theft. We have this FAQ to explain what is covered under this cover - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/kb/FAQ/content/PROD-7555/What-am-I-covered-for-with-third-party-fire-and-theft-insurance. We also have this FAQ that advises our customers about driving other cars - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/kb/FAQ/content/PROD-7627/Does-my-policy-cover-me-to-drive-other-cars?query=driving%20other%20cars. If your wife is covered on the other car, then that insurance can look after this. If you require any clarification, please speak to our team 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
Posted 2 years ago
Have been a customer of 1st central for a few years now. Recently inhereted a new car, changed my policy on line as requested and ended up with two insurance policies, one for new car and one for car I have sold. Then had to pay £91 to cancel this policy and £53 for the new policy. Not a happy customer
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Ni Nicola, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. I can see that a new policy was set up for your new vehicle, rather than a change of vehicle via Your Account. Unfortunately, this means that two policies would be set up at that time. If there’s anything you’d like us to look into for you, please contact us by sending an email to customer.relations@1stcentral.co.uk. Please include your policy number and details of what’s gone wrong, and we’ll see if we can put things right. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
INSURANCE COMANY! Had nothing but trouble with this company from start to finish, Nothing is good enough even after been in touch with my old car insurance company for my no claims discount emailing and texting my phone demanding my no claims or the insurance would be cancelled! wants proof of your driving licence card front and back its a right fares to say the least. Payed my car insurance in full as it was one of the cheapest quotes I have had but believe me don't be sucked in Iike I have its totally not worth the hassle.. Thought right the have all my details everything is all above board the shouldn't hassle me no more but no how wrong was I the sent me an email stating that I needed to pay an extra £179.00 plus administration costs , so rung them up to get through to a rude man who wasn't helpful at all asked him why I had to pay the extra his response was you have changed some details on your online account which was the year I past my driving test my mistake yes and also I forgot to add my points too so all this results in been changed £179.00 for been honest and changing the details. After paying the insurance in full I have now left myself financially short of money so asked if I could pay monthly even thou I wasn't happy with paying the 179 and to my shock straight answer NO ! WHY can't I pay monthly his response was because you have payed the insurance in full you can't pay monthly 😡 even though there page saying if you are struggling to make a payment please phone to chat to our friendly staff🤣😡 PLEASE DONT BOTHER IT WILL COST YOU MORE IN LONG RUN..
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Tracey, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. Unfortunately, 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. This is the price we would've offered at the time if all of the details were as they are now. Please speak to our team on 0333 043 2088 or speak to us on webchat which can be found on our website. They can discuss the additional premium if you need any assistance. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
I hate leaving bad reviews but honestly this is the worst company I have ever dealt with please be careful pay a bit more for a reputable Insurance. I am 75 years old and thought I may buy a car got a quote and decided to take out a policy. The car fell through so contacted to cancel was happy to lose the first month that’s only fair, was told I could not cancel as I had not sent copy of log book, how would I have that for a car I never bought. I have tried 14 times to cancel and have proof but they won’t budge
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Lynne, 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 2095. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Not good reports at all. Not good treatment.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Benjamin, Thank you for your feedback. 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’ll use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
ABSOLUTELY APPALLING ONCE IT GOT PAST THE TAKING MY MONEY STAGE. TOOK 3 YEARS TO SETTLE A CLAIM AS CLAIM HANDLERS ARE LAZY AND INCOMPETENT
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Luana, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. Unfortunately, some claims can take longer than others. It depends on the circumstances of the claim, as well as any third party involved. if there's anything you'd like us to look into. Please contact us on customer.relations@1stcentral.co.uk with your policy number and a summary of your experience similar to your review and we will look into it. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Great until there is an issue, at times where most peoples finances aren’t great does this company feel it’s acceptable to charge a £15 late payment fee when I want to pay today 25th may by payment is due 25th may I can understand if I didn’t want to pay and just missed it, but not when I’m here stressed out wanting to pay I’m on maternity times are hard as it is! Had card issues and issued a new one and want to use that why can’t you just help people. There is no need for any of this hassle. Spent all day trying to pay trying to speak to someone and Nicky most unhelpful advisor as iv had issues with them before, everyone is struggling financially no other companies charge this unless the day has passed and a late fee occurs but I’m here trying to pay and they don’t care, they don’t care I have a family to feed I literally only have my insurance money available in my bank right now. I’m shocked I really can’t believe this awful company please they may be the cheapest but go for a more reputable understanding company because imagine what making a claim would be like I would dread to think.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Tara, Thank you for your feedback. 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 would like to look into this further for you to help resolve this, please send an email to customer.relations@1stcentral.co.uk with your policy number a summary of your experience similar to your review and we will look into it. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Terrible customer service. Very unhelpful. Won’t be using these people again and wouldn’t recommend anyone else.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Mark, Thank you for your feedback. 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’ll use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Had an email to review some details, Had my policy out for over a month now,I went through confused.com for the quote originally. I was asked how many years i had been driving for, I put 4 because 3 years and 8 months was closer to 4 then it was 3, Anyhow that was wrong and because i overshot it by there customer advisors advice i should of put 3 years. They're cancelling a policy because i put 4 years and not 3 but i put 4 to include the months, Either way it was wrong, Customer advisor said policy wouldn't of got cancelled if i chose the 3 years but either way the date wouldn't of matched my drivers licence. PS no month option was available for me to input my information of months when i was purchasing through confused.com. Colleague on the 10th of may confirmed my details and said yeah that's fine your occupation is what you said, Today i get told it's not and completely different however my job hasn't changed. Now wants £209 off me for amendments of occupation and because of how long i held licence for or a £80 fee for cancellation when i've not done anything wrong my end. Colleague at 1stcentral even said that it wouldn't of got cancelled if i chose 3 years but either way by the email i recieved and how they're trying to cancel it, It would of still been the wrong dates..... Anyway SHAMBOLIC on them, Questioned twice about occupation and then again today. BY THE WAY, i've had the policy out for over a month and they only just spotted a mistake in the system but gave me no time to sort it.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Katy, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. I can see this has been sent to our customer relations team. I'll pass your review on to the team to update your file. Please see this FAQ for our complaints procedure -https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/kb/FAQ/content/PROD-6082/How-do-I-complain-about-my-car-insurance. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
This is the most shocking customer experience I have ever received. I cancelled my policy and was due a £75 refund. I was not able to do this online as the bank details they held were out of date. I called and webchatted at the same time to explain this (I wasn't sure which one I would get through first!). I was told both on the phone and by web chat that their accounts team would call within so many days to take my new bank details to issue the refund to. This never occured. I received an email to say I will be sent a £25 refund to the card on file. I replied to explain I am due £75, and as I had said on the phone/web chat and that the bank details they hold are out of date. The response was that I am due £75 and they will refund it to my bank details on file. I replied again. I received an email today to say that the refund already was sent to my old account and they can do nothing more. I have tried to get through to their complaints team today. It's easier to get through a prison barricade. I was told eventually, after explaining the whole situation that 'the money has been refunded to the account on file and it takes 10 days'. When I said that I was frustrated at their lack of ability and understanding of the situation, they put the phone down one me. Seriously awful customer service. Typical computer says no behaviour. Please, please do not use this firm. I mean, how difficult is it to issue a refund to new card details?
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Thank you for your feedback, we're really sorry to hear about the experience you've had with cancelling your policy and receiving your refund. We've reached out to you to obtain some more information from you, so we can look into this further. Dan
Posted 2 years ago
I received my renewal quote, it was a lot lower than expected which was great, I'd just moved house and was messaging them on their live chat, both to change the address and ask what the monthly payments would be for my renewal as the one I'd received though my email was the yearly payment. I changed the address no problem and then asked for the monthly payments for my renewal, baring in mind my new house is a 2 minute drive away from my last one, on a safer more out of the way street, my renewal price has gone from £664.52 to £1184.64. This is atrocious, I understand the system is going to calculate this all but a £520.22 increase for a street 2 minutes up the road from my last house is abominable. It very much seems as if the company is using the change of address, even for exceptionally small distances i.e 2 minutes, to drag the prices up.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Kane, Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry to hear about the experience you've had with your renewal and updating your address. Unfortunately, information changing on your policy can result in the price changing. We're sorry this has resulted in us not being competitive on your renewal this year, we'll use this feedback to improve our service. Dan
Posted 2 years ago
This is one of the worst insurance companies I have ever tried to use: I took out this insurance in March 2022, knowing it was one of the cheapest. After 20 days, I get an email to review all my details and after 10 days I get an adjusted amount of + £911 (a barbarity). Adding up what I paid + new adjustment after 30 days, the value was more expensive than other companies year market renowned, so I decide to cancel and paid in cancellations £220, another barbarity. This is one of the worst insurance companies I have ever tried to use, pay attention.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi NM, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. Unfortunately, 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. We would like to look into this further for you, please give us a call on 0333 043 2095. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Cancelled my insurance within 24 hours as found one £240 cheaper and got charged £51 admin fee and 2 days insurance! Then got told if I decided to use them again within the next year of cancelling this policy I would lose my 5 years no claims bonus! Needless to say I told them I under no circumstances will I be back any time soon!
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Emma, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. The £50 non-refundable arrangement fee is mentioned during the process of setting up a policy. We do also list all of our fees on our website - https://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/car-insurance/important-information. In terms of your no claims bonus, this could only ever reduce if you were involved in an accident. So, I apologise, if you were given the wrong information. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
This is one of the worst insurance companies I have ever tried to use. I took out insurance with them and was advised I had a 14 day cooling off period and that if I decided to not go ahead I could cancel with no charge. I then bought a new car and called to get a new quote, as firstly my insurance hadn't actually started yet. I spoke to an advisor that said that the insurance would be nearly double the orice wich is what it is, I was asking for a breakdown and she then put the phone down. I called the 2nd time to cancel and was advised that yes it is within the cooling off period they will charge me £50 for registering me with the Insurance......something or other and that I am liable to pay this even though I wasn't advised of this on the phone! Worst experience ever!! Stay clear!!!
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Heather, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear on this occasion your experience with us hasn’t been as positive as we’d hoped it would be. The £50 non-refundable arrangement fee is mentioned during the process of setting up a policy. We do also list all of our fees on our website - https://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/car-insurance/important-information. We're sorry to also hear of the issues you had when speaking to us and the line dropping. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Absolutely horrible. Validation checks returned and increased premium without explanation. Sending promotional emails before replying to me and explaining why my premium has increased. Avoid at all costs. Shocking service
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Gary, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. Unfortunately, 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. We would like to look into this further for you, please give us a call on 0333 043 2095. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Just taken insurance out with these guys 16 years of driving experience hgv entitlement aswell as motorbike. No accidents etc in the last 5years but I do not qualify to be able to drive other vehicle on my policy. And they want to charge £50 to cancel the policy iv had for 24hrs
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hi Craig, 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. Unfortunately, some criteria doesn't allow our customers to drive other vehicles, we have this FAQ which explains this here - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/kb/FAQ/content/PROD-7627/Does-my-policy-cover-me-to-drive-other-cars?query=drive%20other%20cars. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
Before setting up your insurance with these people, make sure you know you'll be charged two fees in case you want to cancel. There is a cancellation fee and an arrangement fee. So basically, you're being charged two times for the same thing. Effectively, at this very moment, the cancellation cost is £100 with 1st CENTRAL. Remember this. I haven't checked all documents and especially the small print, but I'm pretty sure it's all there. Thieves are thieves legally these days. Don't count on common sense and decency. You'll not find it here. So another company on my blacklist. Avoid. PS: Btw, when I set up my insurance with these thieves, only some 4 months ago, I got an email containing the "certificate of motor insurance" and a "claim form". I don't remember ever being able to log into my account on their website to be able to see additional documents, and especially the documents describing the fees. I tried logging in so that I can cancel, but I couldn't so I had to use the chat.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Hello, Thank you for your feedback. We’re really sorry to hear about the experience you've had with your policy. Unfortunately, we can't see any of your details, but we would like to look into this further for you. Please contact us by sending an email to customer.relations@1stcentral.co.uk. Please remember to include your policy number and details of what’s gone wrong, and we’ll see if we can put things right. Ashley
Posted 2 years ago
1st CENTRAL is rated 4.0 based on 5,230 reviews