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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
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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
Wrong reg on car Can not understand people you talk too and very rude
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi, I'm sorry to see you haven't had a great experience with us. I hope we are able to change this in the future for you. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us on 0333 043 2066. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Thank you Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
I insured my car with 1st Central for the first time this year and I will not be returning or recommending them to anyone else - in fact I would actively discourage people from insuring with them. They accused me of providing them with incorrect information via the comparison site that I found their policy through and tried to charge me to make a change to the policy! They were very unhelpful and if it wasn't for me being confident in my challenge they would have taken advantage of me. If I was a vulnerable person, I'd have had no hope. While they are completely within their rights to conduct vigorous validity checks, their checks are far greater than any other insurer I've been with. So much so, that I got the sense that they were actively trying to find reasons to find fault with the information I had provided so that they could charge me for the privilege of making a change to my policy information. I would be intrigued to know how many policy information changes they initiate compared to other insurers and how much of their revenue is generated from this practise. In my case, the challenge concerned the question 'when did you buy the car?' I bought the car around 10 years ago, so this is how I answered the question on the comparison site. However, my ex boyfriend was the registered keeper for most of that period, and I only became the registered keeper two years ago. They said that my answer around 'buying' the car was wrong because they actually wanted to know when I had become the registered keeper. I might even add that on the V5C document it distinctly says 'this is not proof of ownership - it shows who is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle'. They then proceeded to blame the comparison site saying that they didn't have any control over the questions they asked and that they categorically would not waive the policy change fee. I'm sorry, but if you're paying a comparison site to acquire new business you have an obligation to ensure that you're aligned in the way you are interpreting the questions and answers. And certainly not charge people for the administration it takes to get the information right post-quote! I do also appreciate that my case may not be 'typical', but some understanding on 1st Central's part would have gone a long way. Ultimately it wasn't my fault that this information was perceived by them to be incorrect. I'd answered the question to the best of my ability. They did eventually concede (after some difficult and stressful phone calls) and waived the administration fee, but still charged me for the premium increase caused by the updated information. I begrudgingly paid it, but ultimately I shouldn't have been charged given that as far as I was concerned their price advertised on the comparison website was correct according to the information I had entered. They just wanted to squeeze every penny out of me and had no concern for my customer experience. This experience also completely diminished any faith that I had in them to actually insure my car. If I'd had an accident I can only imagine the holes I would have had to have jumped through in order to have claimed. I've now cancelled my policy and I'm with another insurer whom I trust.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Sheri, Thank you for your feedback. We’re very sorry to hear about your experience with us. 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
Rip off merchants extortionate price to cancel .Making it an expensive experience I understand there would be some charge but £94 !!!! Would not recommend to anyone it’s not as cheap as you may think . Beware of the very small print £50 to take out policy ! £50 to cancel policy ! Before you start . AVOID AVOID AVOID
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Deborah, 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
1st Central is the worst car insurance company ever. Suggesting this company only to my enemies. They make changes to your car insurance 14 days after you have taken out the insurance, charge you for them, then don't answer your e-mails, long phone waiting queues, don't call you back when said they would, don't talk to the driver, cancellation fees are written £50, but they want to charge you £145, basically, making it impossible to cancel it, customer service is horrible, no way to do anything online, just waiting till the policy finishes and NEVER again with this company. If you think it's cheaper than others, think twice, they will make some changes and will charge you more than more expensive companies, you will fall in a trap. Can't imagine what would happen if needed to make a claim.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Sandra, Thank you for your feedback. We're so sorry to hear about the experience you've had with policy. 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
They are stealing money from customers. Avoid
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi, I'm sorry to see you haven't had a great experience with us. I hope we are able to change this in the future for you. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us on 0333 043 2066. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Thank you Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
Cancelled insurance earlier in the year. Shocked to find months later they have been taking money from bank account. Then they 1) refused to refund by saying the cancellation had not been confirmed by me, and 2) quoting small print from T&Cs to justify their action!!
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello, Thank you for your feedback. We’re really sorry to hear about the experience you've had with your cancellation. 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 4 years ago
I do not recommend, they themselves change the monthly amount you have set to direct debit without informing you, so better check your bank account and they charge you because you do not know that they may be charging more for 3 months without any reason.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Thanks for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about the experience you've had with your monthly payments. If you’d be happy for us to look into this further for you, please contact us 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. Dan
Posted 4 years ago
Scummy business practices, may look cheap on comparison sites but if you ever actually need to change anything or use your policy, they will come up with arbitrary fees and make your life difficult. DO NOT USE 1ST CENTRAL IT WILL WORK OUT MORE EXPENSIVE IN THE LONG RUN, THIS IS THEIR BUSINESS MODEL
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
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 have reached out to you for more information to look into this further for you. Dan
Posted 4 years ago
Took out policy on insignia 2.0 litre diesel. Was paying £34 a month. Had to change car as I was sold faulty car and changed it to a 2.0 litre diesel SEAT Leon, they wanted £87 per month for this car!! I decided to cancel it as this quote is ridiculous. I cancel it and had to pay £106 for the inconvenience too. I then went online to get a new quote from 1st central for the SEAT and they are quoting me £40 per month. So all in all they are just ripping me off for having to change over details on the new car. How this is £47 per month difference I will never know. Awful company who I will never deal with again
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Thank you for your feedback. We’re very sorry to hear about the experience you've had of changing the car on your policy. We’ll use your comments to help improve our service. Dan
Posted 4 years ago
had to pay £100 to cancel - stay away from them
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi, 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
Person I spoke to on renewal very unpleasant and decided to hang up on me after I told him I found cheeper price on line with them, than the one they quoted me.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Vincent, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear you’ve had difficulties when speaking to us about our renewal. We’d love the opportunity to help put this right for you, so please get in touch. Talk to our team on web chat, or please give us another call on 0333 043 2055. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. Ashley
Posted 4 years ago
Absolutely pathetic. I took out a policy 10pm only to realize that the start date was accidentally been entered wrong by me. Should have been 09/09 but it was showing 20/09. Went on webchat first thing in the morning but was told can’t change it but take a new policy out and we will cancel this one. I told them don’t have enough money in bank to pay for both but they wouldn’t listen. They just wanted £50 fee for cancellation. Greedy pathetic and unprofessional.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Sajida, Thank you for your feedback. We're so sorry to hear about the experience you've had trying to amend your policy. 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 4 years ago
Rubbish never use them again everytime you change something that they ask you the price went up by £15
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hello, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. Unfortunately any change to a policy could impact the price of the policy we offer, so we would need to update these to make sure your policy is correct. If you would like to speak to someone regarding a change, please call us 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 4 years ago
AVOID this company! You have a 14 day cooling off period where they have already taken all of your insurance price and then despite cancelling within this so called cooling off period they charge a £50 Arrangement fee!?!? Even though I set this up through a price comparison website and they had absolutely nothing to do with it apart from conning me of my money!! I was also missold as within the quote it said it provided personal accident cover but this was not covered at all!! AVOID at all costs!!
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Emily, 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. Ashley
Posted 4 years ago
Existing customer, auto-renewed my insurance without any call to understand if ANYthing relating to me or my car had changed and at the same cost AND we have another car insured by 1st Central. I searched for New insurance and low and behold 1st central can provide the same insurance fro £400 cheaper per year for New customers so I have gone ahead with that. Not happy that this is how existing customers with 2 cars are looked after very poor.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi David, 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. Ashley
Posted 4 years ago
Dreadful bought policy paid price then got a email 3 month later asking for an extra £284 plus £50 admin fee as I hadn't replied to a email they had sent me but I never received any emails, or phone calls from them now I can't afford to pay my car insurance
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Adele, Thank you for your feedback. We’re very sorry to hear about your experience with us. 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
I have purchased car insurance and this company is disaster! I am calling the company forever and nobody is picking up the phone. I received additional fee to pay. Another company that is ripping off people. I asked for proof of putting details incorrectly and nobody bother to even reply. Being on the phone trying to get hold of someone is frustrating. I highly don't recomend!!!
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Joanna, 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 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
Tried to cancel policy and told would have to pay over £150. in fees. Only 4 months left on policy. DO NOT USE THEM. They charge for every Item. Extremely unhappy with them and the service.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi, 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
Just rang 1st central as my quote to renew had gone up from last year. I advised at same time that my employment status and personal circumstances had changed (made redundant in Feb and currently 7 months pregnant). Renewals team advised that customer service team needed to change my details first in order for them to give me best renewal quote. Customer services team wanted to charge £57 to change my employment status (with less than 1 month left on current policy) and said there was no way around this. Money needed to be paid in order to receive an up to date renewal quote. there was no movement, no helping with a solution. No thank you for being a loyal customer etc etc.
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi, Thank you for your feedback. We’re very sorry to hear about your experience with us. 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
I wouldn’t even give these people one star, i started and paid for a policy in full and in 10 minutes I decided I made a mistake and wanted to cancel the policy and when I called them they said that they are going to charge me £50 for a settlement fee which I was not aware of at the time of the purchase. They rob you they are CON’s BE AWARE I have an email confirming that I can cancel the policy within 14 days without a charge. What a joke of a company - DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY THEY HAVE LITERALLY JUST FORCED ME TO STICK TO THE POLICY - BE AWARE GUYS JUST USE PROPER INSURANCE COMPANIES LIKE ADMIRAL OR DIRECT LINE - DO NOT USE 1st Central - absolutely appalling company day light robbery. Disgusting service VERY VERY VERY VERY UNHAPPY 😡😡😡
Helpful Report
Posted 4 years ago
Hi Rehann, Thank you for your feedback. We're so sorry to hear about the experience you've had with your cancellation. 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. Yasmin
Posted 4 years ago
1st CENTRAL is rated 3.9 based on 5,237 reviews