Login
Start Free Trial Are you a business? Click Here

1st CENTRAL Reviews

3.9 Rating 5,237 Reviews
75 %
of reviewers recommend 1st CENTRAL
3.9
Based on 5,237 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
Visit Website

Phone:

0333 043 2066

Email:

marketing@1stcentral.co.uk

Location:

Capital House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath
RH16 3SY

Write Your review

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
My car was involved in an accident at not my fault. Since the 30th of May 2022( today is the 4th of July) and my car is still not taken to the Body shop. When I organized a Body shop myself insurance claimed that I have to pay a fee of £250 because it's not their chosen Bodyshop. The 1st central has been feeding me with the promises that they are working hard to allocate a garage for me, which is not true. It took me 10 minutes to find and agree with the garage for a repair. But insurance still is acting like they can not fix the problem, blaming the garage that they are not responding. 1st central also stopped paying for my courtesy car and told me that I have to return the hire car back to the Enterprise. After my complaint was raised with the 1st central that I need a hire car for my work, they have say that they will arrange another car, but manual. I have an automatic driving license. When I mentioned that, they disappeared again. They constantly continue lying and avoiding doing their job. Their staff is very unprofessional and lacks knowledge. They either hang the phone when you are calling for an update or say: We are very sorry, unfortunately, we are doing our best to sort this issue out. Due to the world crisis, we are unable to proceed with your request. Seriously??? My chosen Bodyshop is ready to take my car for repair now and 1st central is avoiding that. In reality, they don't do anything. I am wondering who employs people who don't k know what they are doing. I will be reporting this issue to Obdusman because they are lying to their customers. I strongly advise you not to go with this company as your insurance. AVOID AVOID AVOID.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Olesja, 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. As per my response on Trustpilot, I've sent this on to our claims team and they'll be in contact in due course. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
AVOID! This company may make it easy to sign up but that is because once they have ensnared you, they automatically renew your insurance at a much higher price then the previous year. They do this by suggesting they got your consent when they emailed you a renewal email which never arrives but their system apparently shows that you opened it. Now I’m no lawyer but had the email arrived and it was opened, I don’t believe that constitutes my written or verbal consent. If you are lucky enough to pick up in this fraud while you are still in your 2 week cooling off period they (kindly) waiver your cancellation fee, however they continue to charge an ‘arrangement’ fee of £50, which for some bizarre reason has to be charged regardless of legality or indeed common sense. I spoke to a manager who announced if he were to remove the fee he would lose his job? Using emotional blackmail to continue to defraud their customers gives a good indication as to how this company operates. I will not hold my breath when awaiting a return call from the managers manager who originally didn’t exist but then became available….
Helpful Report
Posted 3 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. Our renewal invites are sent two weeks before a policy is set to renew. This email advises of the date this will automatically renew. If the customer has opted out of this, it will advise when the policy is due for renewal. A customer can turn off their automatic renewal at any stage during their policy with us, via Your Account. 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 3 years ago
Rip off merchants its going to cost more to cancel my policy than to continue my payments. The insurance ombudsman should investigate this company. AVOID at all costs.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Paul, 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 advise of all of our fees on our website here - https://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/legal-information/important-information. We also have this FAQ advising why there might be an additional premium left to pay - https://help.1stcentralinsurance.com/kb/FAQ/content/PROD-7744/If-my-car-policy-is-cancelled-why-do-I-still-owe-money-to-1st-CENTRAL. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
This is an extremely ease insurance company to change to. Would recommend to friends and family
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Mary, Thank you for your five-star review and welcome to 1st CENTRAL 😊. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Absolutely shocking company with shocking practices to extract money from you for everything possible. Avoid at all costs is my free advice.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Shripal, 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. 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 3 years ago
AVOID! Once you've completed your 2 week cooling off period they start demanding documents, V5 docs (never been asked for this in 30yrs of motoring), NCD etc. They then look for the slightest detail on these documents to increase your policy and subsequently add an admin fee (£50). The weird thing about the situation is they don't demand these vitally important docs at the start of the policy when you can cancel the policy in the cooling off period. Stumped with a £13 increase in policy and £50 admin fee for incorrect purchase date of vehicle in 2016? Asked how much to cancel the policy.....£50 arrangement fee, £50 cancelation fee, £50 administration fee plus £30 for the 2 months we've been insured on a £220 policy, or pay the £63 fiddle and go to the ombudsman in the hope that they see this company for what it is.....A scamming machine. Customer service is diabolical in every area too. Avoid at all costs. SCAM SCAM SCAM!
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Robert, 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 3 years ago
ZERO RATING - COMMISSION BASED SCAMMERS Charged a £50 NON Refundable Administration Fee & Additional sum of £61.72, for updating my Car Insurance Policy. Total = £111.72 Update was to reflect my NCD ( No Claims Discount ) on my account, which was the case of changing 2 digits, on my online account. If I had been informed of this minutiae, this would have taken me, no more than 3 seconds to adjust, and that’s if I was blind, deaf and dumb, which obviously I am not. In discussions with Customer Services and Management, having spent 1 hour and 34 minutes, explaining that I was not at fault for this extremely minor error and able to prove it, ended up going nowhere. I was told if I did not pay immediately, my policy would be null and void and if I cancelled, it would cost over £200 in administration fees. This company is operating on Commission Based Employment, with employees only interested in taking your money. Please avoid at all costs, using 1st Central, as in the event of a valid claim, administrative or otherwise, you will suffer ‘caveat emptor’ “Let The Buyer Beware” and reach the same dead end as I did, trust me.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 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. As mentioned on Trustpilot, I'll pass your review on to our customer relations 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 3 years ago
It is easy
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Abdelbaset, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st CENTRAL this year for your car insurance. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Easy process and set up thanks
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Dave, Thank you for your great feedback! We always aim to make things as simple as possible for our customers and we're glad your experience was hassle-free :). Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Found them to more expensive with quotes
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Joseph, 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. I can't see that we spoke in the lead-up to your renewal date. We hope we can welcome you back in the future and please speak to us and we can see if we can assist with your price if you find a price cheaper with another company. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Beware of automatic renewal it cost me £51.48 to cancel an insurance policy that automatically renewed that I didn't want or need. E-mails go to junk folder, I don't review my junk e-mail folder on a weekly basis.... It up to the customer to review their junk e-mail folder is the only response I got..... Not happy at all.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Joanne, 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, we can't decide which mailbox our emails go to, you can amend the settings on your emails to make sure emails go to your inbox. I can see we sent the renewal invite 14 days ahead of your policy renewal date and I can see this has been opened. In this email, it advises how a customer can switch off their auto-renew in Your Account. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Easy planing for the insurance with
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Abdelhamid, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st CENTRAL this year for your car insurance. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Why don't you have Bulgarian language? There are too many Bulgarians in the UK and many of them do not speak English well and this turns out to be a very big problem, as in my case. Why are you suspending my insurance, I have written to you many times and sent you emails, I do not speak English well and that is why I cannot call you. This was my first insurance in England and I didn't know what the rules were, and since I also don't want you to renew it because you sent me an email, I couldn't log in to my account, so my nephew called many times, but you didn't get in touch. Now I have a new account with you and because I did not know that the insurance is renewed, I made a new insurance with you, which I paid once, in this account I wrote in the chat on this issue but did not receive help from there. For people like me who don't speak English well, it's best to reply by email. I'm having a hard time right now and I need a car every day. Please fix this mess 🙏
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Spasenka, 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. Firstly, you can always look to authorise someone to speak on your behalf if you would find that easier to speak to 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 3 years ago
Recalculation of my insurance should have happened following the removal of a claim that was made against me, for an incident I was not involved in. They are telling me that the price for the fees is solely based on the information provided to them and that they do not run any internal check across the national claim database. Absolutely disgusting. I am paying more when I have done nothing wrong and never involved in any accident!
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Stephane, 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 when you completed your purchase for your policy, there wasn't a claim declared to us. This means we aren't able to recalculate your premium, as the premium we've given you doesn't have a claim assigned to it. We only advise customers on a price on the details we are given by the customer. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Good price fast, whiteout problems,
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Radoslaw, Thank you for your five-star review and welcome to 1st CENTRAL 😊. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Quick and efficient, very competitive
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Rafal, Thank you for your great feedback! We always aim to make things as simple as possible for our customers and we're glad your experience was hassle-free :). Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Very happy with the service and price.
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Jurgita, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st CENTRAL this year for your car insurance. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
I discovered you on the Internet and at the moment you offered the best service for me. Thank you!
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Irina, Thank you for your five-star review and welcome to 1st CENTRAL 😊. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
Everything is perfect. Only price high for me
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi Ahmet, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st CENTRAL this year for your car insurance. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
I have only just took out a policy with 1st central so I cannot give a unbiased criticism but I am more than happy with the price
Helpful Report
Posted 3 years ago
Hi John, Thank you for your review and for choosing 1st CENTRAL this year for your car insurance. Ashley
Posted 3 years ago
1st CENTRAL is rated 3.9 based on 5,237 reviews