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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
Anonymous
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 8th January 2025
Anonymous
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 22nd August 2024
Mehrdad
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 21st August 2024
Valeria
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 21st August 2024
Valeria
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 21st August 2024
Valeria
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 9th May 2024
Marcus Wickwar
5
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
If only there was no stars I'd have picked none they don't even deserve 1. I canceled my policy in March 2016 and paid what was due. Now they call me in February 2017 looking 34.77 from policy I canceled with no explanation. Complete joke avoid them, useless customer service.
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Posted 8 years ago
Look at independent review sites before dealing with this company. On telephoning this company there call operator's talk round in circles without answering questions. They clearly use this as a tactic to confuse and get you off the phone. Promises are made and not kept. Emails have not received a response. Poor customer service.
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Posted 8 years ago
I took out a car insurance policy September '16 as they were the cheapest on a comparison site, paying by monthly Direct Debit. 2 months in and they charged me (and thousands others apparently) 2x the monthly amount in 1 month. They then refunded both of these amounts and issued me with a final notice that my policy was to be cancelled due to non-payment! No prior warnings, no correspondence regarding their payment error just a letter threatening to cancel my policy. I called 1st Central to discuss the matter, the person I spoke to was lovely, she told be about the issue they had with their payment systems, apologized on their behalf, and set up a new policy whereby the 'missing' payment would be spread across the remainder of the term, which I did. Then, In December I noticed that my monthly payment hadn't left my account. I checked the MID website to see If I was still insured and to my shock my policy had been cancelled on 7th December! I'd been driving uninsured for over 2 weeks without any correspondence from 1st Central regarding any of this! I was horrified, I called them immediately and discussed the matter. Again they were apologetic, insisted it was a system error on their behalf and that If I paid Decembers installment my policy would be reinstated. I don't like hassle in my life, so I paid Decembers installment, had my policy reinstated and thought that must be the end of it. However, I received an email today from a collection agency stating that they have been instructed to collect £173 from myself on behalf of 1st Central for missing payments, and a cancellation fee. Un-be-lievable. I check my policy online and nowhere does it mention any outstanding balances, so I call 1st Central for an explanation as to why a debt file had been created in my name, to which they had no idea. I've never met such an incompetent business in my entire life. From taking double payments, out-of-the-blue threats to cancel my policy with no substance, to actually cancelling my policy without my knowledge, to selling a false debt in my name to a collection agency! And I've only been a customer for 6 months! I'm still waiting to hear what their response is regarding the debt collection agency, however the FCA and the Financial Ombudsman will be getting involved from my behalf. If you're reading this and pondering taking a policy with 1st Central - Don't. go elsewhere, anywhere, but don't trust these guys. Trust me
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Posted 8 years ago
Good price for car insurance. Immediate response
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Posted 8 years ago
I had problems on the site and accidentally paid for 2 insurance policies for the same car. When I called customer services I was greeted with a very kind employee who sorted it all out and refunded me. Great service. Thank you 😊
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Posted 8 years ago
Good price easy website to follow no
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Posted 8 years ago
Best policy price
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Posted 8 years ago
Due to an admin error on my behalf I missed the deadline for submitting my no claims bonus and driving license details on time. I have a combined no claims bonus on two vehicles of 20 years, my last driving conviction was over 25 yrs ago. So hardly a boy racer! 1st central cancelled my policy and charged the admin fee (no problem! its in the T&C's I agreed to) So..... I wanted a new policy, so I got a quote, 1st central were the cheapest again, I attempted to buy a new policy and was refused. It now appears that I am blacklisted now due to having a policy cancelled. I now have to declare that I have a policy cancelled and only have an option to say yes/no. After speaking to their customer services and explaining the situations why I missed the deadline I was passed on to the 'policy analysis team' I explained my situation again and explained again. All my original declarations were accurate, no claims bonus and driver details, no attempts to defraud or lie about anything. I am now being punished merely for returning paperwork late. Apparently human error is not permissible at 1st central, on behalf of the customer. I'm sure that errors have occurred on their side over the years, which, they will have apologised for. I now have to declare all car insurance companies that I have had a policy cancelled. My original policy was over £1000 and was paid up in full, obviously a refund is due and will take up to 5 days to process, funny how they can cancel so rapidly but not refund so quick? No,,, its not funny at all. My paper work was 5 days late,I wonder if I could claim 5 days interest for my refund??????I wont hold my breath. My new quote from them was £1300, unfortunately they choose not to insure me, just because of late paper work. They have my paperwork at their office now, just sitting there, proof of my no claims bonus and driving licence. However they don't want my £1300 to insure my car. I run my own business and often have deadlines broken by customers, however if one of them rang mea few days late I'm damn sure I wouldn't turn down £1300. The excuse 'the computer says no' is ridiculous, the idiot sat in front of the computer tells it what to do. The company must employ brain dead zombies spaced out by blue screen syndrome. Reading from a script all day must have turned their brains into mush. No sympathy, compassion or feelings about the impact they have just by pushing buttons. They cant have only done this to me, they must have done it to others. Makes me think that it might be easier just to drive it uninsured as many of the 'real' criminals on our roads. It would be cheaper than my new quotes. According to 1st central I am public enemy no.1 and must be punished form here on.
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Posted 8 years ago
The lady who helped me was brilliant. Knew all the answers to my questions
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Posted 8 years ago
because they offered me a reasonable price for my insurance
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Posted 8 years ago
The ease of buying insurance on line and there did not seem to be any hidden charges.
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Posted 8 years ago
Too many negatives to even go into. Long story short - DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS COMPANY. WEEKS OF HELL AFTER MY UNATTENDED CAR WAS SMASHED. Still after weeks of phone calls and emails- no car : No fair settlement and now I may lose my job if I can't get it sorted soon as I've moved away from the city and I need a car to get to work. Absolute a joker company - stay away!!! Unless you want to deal with muppets
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Posted 8 years ago
I called to make a claim, the person I originally spoke to put me on hold for so long when they were looking to check cover was in force, by the time they came back on the phone to confirm there was cover it was too late to make a formal claim as I ran out of time during my lunch 'hour'. I called again in an evening and was then told my claim was not insured, again I was put on hold, I had to read them their own policy wording, before then being told I could claim (there should be no question considering my policy is fully comprehensive). Once that hurdle was over I asked who the approved repairer was, to then be told I couldn't use an approved repairer. When I asked why they said it was because it wasn't an RTA (it was accidental damage to the vehicle), I asked where in the policy wording it said I couldn't use an approved repairer and they couldn't answer me. They advised that managers didn't work in the evening but one would call me back the next day to advise further. The next day came and went without a phone call. I called myself the following day, the manager looking in to the case was at lunch so a message was emailed to them to call on their return. Two hours later I still heard nothing so had to call again. I still didn't speak to said manager but I was told an approved repair could now be used, however my husband needed to call them and make a conference call with the DVLA to verify his license as the driver at the time of incident (apparently this is normal protocol with every claim) he called the same day and went through verification. I received an email to say we would have the approved repairers details no later than Monday. In the meantime we received a letter acknowledging we did not want to claim??? Very confused I called insurers, who said it had been sent in error. During this phone call I was told the license verification was outstanding, I said you must be mistaken this was done previously as requested. The person I spoke to said they would have to listen to previous calls as the verification had not been noted on the file (more time wasted). At this point I asked to make a complaint as I had no confidence in the company, that I was highly concerned that they were turning away claims that are covered under the policy and the sheer lack of customer service. I was told someone will be back in touch. Monday arrived, by 9pm I had still heard nothing about the approved repairer. I called and was told they were the out of hours team, they said they couldn't talk to me because my husband is the policyholder, this is despite me calling several times previously and reporting the initial claim. So my husband confirmed they could talk to me... I then asked who the approved repairer is. They said the file shows as being on hold and I would have to call yet again in the morning for further details. Mickey Mouse company, the saga continues....
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Posted 8 years ago
Avoid this company!! No cancellation fee but a £50 admin fee instead!! I phoned to check if I can drive a friends car in an emergency as the cover information was confusing. The answer was no! And no way to add it apparently. I asked to cancel within the 14 days - to be told about the £50 admin charge. Rip off or wot?
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Posted 8 years ago
The service is absolutely disappointing. My case has been going on for over a year however the lady who is supposed to help me with my case, doesn't even communicate with me. If I email her, she will then reply back with an update and she always has some sort of excuse. I regret going to this company. I would advise people not to deal with 1st central law. Such a disgraceful company.
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Posted 8 years ago
I work in insurance - 1st Central will rip you off and rob you blind. Avoid at all costs. Especially if you buy a new car and want to cancel. Pay a bit more and go somewhere better. If you do choose 1st Central, read the small print and make sure you interpret it in as many ways as you possibly can, or they will do you.
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Posted 8 years ago
From day one a terrible company and they saw out the awful service to the end! Firstly I made sure all my details were correct when I set up the policy, to then be hit with and admin fee because the number on my address was wrong, at the time I sent in a screenshot of when I filled in the forms however this meant nothing to them as apparently I could of changed it after the screen shot, why would I?? Rediculous!!! Then when my policy finished I spent over a month desperately trying to get proof of no claims so I could start my next policy elsewhere, but it was lie after lie promising me I would have emails sent out which never arrived, I had to call so many times. Then when I complained and exained its cost me £20 phoning them overall to get this sorted, and nearly cost me my next policy they just sent an email saying they know they were in the wrong and blamed a technical error, that was it! Absolutely terrible From start to finish AVOID at any cost!
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Posted 8 years ago
So I have several reasons why you should avoid this insurer. Both my partner & I have had policies. First of all, when I set up my boyfriends policy my laptop auto filled some of the info with mine instead and I didnt notice (yes, my fault) so when he tried to phone up to get a change of car quote his email and birthday were wrong so they said it was sent to fraud department and blocked his account and he would need to send in proof to get it unblocked. All fair enough. But the length of the phonecalls to advisors who had NO IDEA what the hell they were doing was ridiculous, so we just cancelled his account and took business elsewhere. Then, I called to get a quote to change my car and was told they couldn't insure me for that car (unknown reason, and yet another advisor who sounded fresh out of highschool and no interest in helping me). Now my renewal is due in 2 weeks and have just received a letter saying that on my renewal date they will be cancelling my policy as they will no longer insure me. I have no idea why as yet again no one can give me an answer. The policy they are cancelling is for a X reg 1.4 litre Honda Aerodeck Estate. I have 6 years no claims, I am 25 and the car they couldn't insure before is a 2003 2.4 Honda Accord. Well weird.
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Posted 8 years ago
I am unfortunate enough to be a new customer to this unprofessional insurance company. After accepting a car insurance policy and their website setting up the incorrect payment date I called the company to ensure my payment date was correct. The customer service operator informed me that this had been changed to the correct date. Later in the month and unfortunately outside the 14 day cooling off period, I was informed I would be charged £30.00 as the payment date was taken on the incorrect day. I obviously complained to the company who offered to waiver the administration cost to change payment date and informed me I would still have to pay the £30.00 charge! I escalated the complaint and threatened to contact trading standards and financial service ombudsman to which 1st central said they would respond within 48 hours. True to their word they did reply however this informed me that if I didn’t pay the £30.00 charge they would cancel my insurance and issue and additional £50.00 charge. Currently I am now dealing with this company through trading standards and financial service ombudsman. Avoid this company unless of course you like being lied to, charged for their mistakes and threatened with legal action. I would also advice anyone to contact the financial service ombudsman who has had bad experiences with this company. On a final note I think there is one unique feature about this company and this is all their satisfied customers appear to all post reviews on FEEFO which is linked into their website, whereas all the hundreds of dissatisfied customer use any other review website. Could this actually be the case? I doubt it but trading standards can investigate false recommendations and reviews.
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Posted 8 years ago
rip off merchants they shaft you with they're ridiculous fees avoid at all costs
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Posted 8 years ago
1st CENTRAL is rated 4.0 based on 5,230 reviews