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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
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1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 21st August 2024
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1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 9th May 2024
Marcus Wickwar
5
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
Very rude employer today at 11 am answering calls and pretending he cannot hear you. The way he treats people is disgusting. Worst insurance call handler ever. I do not recommend this company. Please make sure that if you want to calcell it will cost you over 100 ponds to do so. Avoid these rude people.. Shame on you!!!!
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Hi Antuca, Thank you for your feedback. We're extremely sorry to hear about the experience you've had when speaking to one of our team. We will be using your comments to look into this further and provide appropriate feedback and training to our staff to improve our service.
Posted 5 years ago
£30 "admin fee" charges for very minor changes Called up to change direct debit date to suit my pay day in my new job. Customer advisor told me i would have to speak to the Finance Team for that but before passing me over asked me to update my occupation status to keep my policy valid to which I did, changing from a Student to Employed and for changing this I was left with a so called "admin fee" charge added onto my monthly payments taking it from £49 a month upto £54. Unnecessary, inconvenient and annoying.
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Posted 5 years ago
They charge £30 admin fee for simple changes!! I informed them my occupation status had changed from a student into employment which they charged me for, adding the charge onto my monthly payments taking it from £49 up to £54. Absolutely ridiculous to charge so much for very minor changes. Doesnt encourage customers to keep things up to date/valid if that's what is happening each time!!
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Posted 5 years ago
A recent breakdown cost me a loss of a week’s work and more than the annual policy because of a mis diagnosis by breakdown technician. Also, I phoned to change payment date as changed jobs to be told you wouldn’t do this casting me a further charge and now I have a failed direct debit I’m charged a further fee of £30. This is very bad and unsympathetic and once I’ve paid this policy in full I will never return to your company for future cover, you just don’t listen or help your customers at all and just make more and more ways to make more money out of me!!! Very disappointed.
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Posted 5 years ago
Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. This company are very cheap the 1st year. But then they have hidden fees to cancel. To recoup their costs! £50 to get back "set up fee" and £50 cancellation fee. Apparently they send out a renewal email. I didn't get it. Strangely. As it was 130% more than the year before. Why? When I asked that question was told I could I could cancel! I did. But be aware you cannot cancel online via their portal. or via Webchat. To cancel you have to call and speak to someone. So if you are anywhere near the 14 day beware it takes time. If you have any issues contact the Financial Ombudsman they can raise an issue with them. As you can only call and no record of that. AVOID AVOID AVOID
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Hi Elizabeth, Thank you for your feedback. We're really sorry to hear about the experience you had with your renewal and cancelling your policy. If you'd like us to look into this further for you, please contact us by sending an email to customer.relations@1stcentral.co.uk. Please include your policy number and the summary of what's gone wrong, and we’ll look into this.
Posted 5 years ago
By far the worse insurance company I have Ever come across. These people are literally thief's! Take your chance if you must like I did.. But don't be surprised when the company try and take money for slight changes on your policy.. . Apart from ways to make more money go in there pocket. There's a majority of other insurance company's who will help and support you despite paying an additional 10pounds. Trust me don't join these people. They are a joke. Telling my family and friends the same advise. I hope they shut down. They took the P so bad.. That I paid an additional £300 2months in to my contract to leave and go elsewhere, because my insurance was increased by an additional 100 a month. Worse place ever and I will not stop spreading it. I hope I can help someone else out like I wish u was helped before joining this insurance company. SO disappointing I've left previous reviews about their thiefing behaviour, had a message by a representative of the company telling me to contact someone to delve into the issue.. Did that and was like talking to a brick wall repeating the same thing again and again. I hope you guys get a taste of your own medacine because you know what your doing. If I get the opportunity.. I will report you further searching for the genuine reviews highlighting your scamful behaviour, watch.
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Hi Shevelle, Thank you for your feedback, we're really sorry to hear about your experience of changing your policy and then having to cancel your policy. We're sorry to hear about the experience you had when you spoke to our customer relations team as well, we will use this feedback to provide feedback and look to improve our service.
Posted 5 years ago
I got the quote and wanted to move the start date a bit earlier. They jacked up my premium. this means if u have less time to buy they would charge you more irrespective of other things remaining unchanged.
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Posted 5 years ago
Hi Nasir, Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry to hear about your experience of trying to change the start day of your policy. Please give us a call on 0333 043 2066 or speak to us on webchat via our website if you would like to discuss this further. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm
Posted 5 years ago
They are just Mugging you Get away from them as far you can
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Posted 5 years ago
Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry to hear your experience hasn't been as positive as we'd hoped it would be. Unfortunately we can't see your details but we would like to understand your experience in more detail. Please give us a call on 0333 043 2066 if you would like to discuss this further. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm.
Posted 5 years ago
I am highly disappointed to be saying that 1st CENTRAL left me feeling cheated by them. The company seems to not care about a human mistake and will do everything to finalize claims, which they promise they will do. After being a loyal customer with 1st CENTRAL for many years they left me stranded with a rejected claim, and after many phone calls, promises to get a call back from their managers (which ultimately I had to chase) they did everything to prolong the process and finally told me that they rejecting my claim. In short, as a policyholder I rang to report a flood, which killed the engine since they cover the flood they were taking my claim on board, my dad was a named driver on policy and I mistakenly told them that he was going work, which I later found out he wasn't and send them a lot of evidence to prove it. company has no compassion and I feel like they believe that what I am saying is true (backed up by evidence) but they don't want to accept it. I would like to this opportunity to reach out to 1st CENTRAL to please reconsider their decision.
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Posted 5 years ago
Hi Peter, Thank you for your feedback, we're sorry to hear about your experience of your claim and speaking to our team. Unfortunately we can't see your information 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 include your policy number or claim number and the summary of what's gone wrong, and we’ll look into this further for you.
Posted 5 years ago
There was an issuse with them and their… There was an issuse with them and their system since 31 july i was calling thwm to change my vehicle with new insurance but they can't i called them 5th time but still they can't n yesterday i asked them to cancel the insurance and now they say they have problem and they want me to give new insurance quote but i don't want as i already sopke to one of their colleagues called carol as they said n thier manager said they wont be cancelled charges n today they say nothing is written on the notes. So that means its customer fault from 31 july m asking to change n calling them early in the morning n chasing them like i said 9 days m using day insurance n is expensive but today n yesterday i said to cancel. But now they turned that they can't wipe of the cancellation charges as thier fault n they fail to do it? Last quality customer service Advisor as well to be give them business like this as they are shut down the business its money business is going on. Never recommend to anyone it would be worst experience. After 2months they are lot paper work i did but even they charge me 75 for administration fee why? Brooker fee 100 why? Never ever recommend to friends at all. Fooling people this company n making money gud at this time due to no proper job at all for everyone. U will u be paid by ur self. God is there....
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Thank you for your feedback. We’re very sorry to hear about your experience with changing your car and speaking to our team. 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 look into this further.
Posted 5 years ago
Terrible!!!! Customer service experience was really bad. The operator was totally unsympathetic to my situation; speaking robotically without so much as a single solution offered.
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Posted 5 years ago
Hi Lindsay, Thank you for your feedback. We’re really sorry to hear about the experience you've had when speaking to one of our team. If you would be happy for us to look into this further, please give us a call on 0333 043 2066. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm. We’ll also use your comments to help improve our service and training for our agents.
Posted 5 years ago
I took that insurance for secend car with 1st Central ( bit cheeper then with other companies),my bad. Tried to save money but instead I had headache. They want me to send more and more documents at all the time,not good enough. They cancelled my policy £75 for that. Refund should be 3-5 working days ,now is more then 10 days and no sound of my money received yet. They are happy to quick take your payment but refund... My advice for all of you, go with more famous company what u all ready know. Samtimes slightly more expensive but no headache. My previous insurance , insured my car without any problems.
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Hi Inga, Thank you for your feedback. We’re really sorry to hear about the experience you had with your policy and still not receiving your refund. 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 look into this.
Posted 5 years ago
The company tend to be the cheapest but go on to make their money by trying to scam newly registered customers. They will send an email asking for scans of license etc. to double check dates. They will then insist what you entered is incorrect, change it on your policy without asking, and charge you for it. DOUBLE CHECK on you policy data - they will try and do this even if you enter the correct info, in the hope that you don't push back. I made sure my dates were correct and they still lied. Thankfully I had the evidence. They also rely upon people coming in from comparison sites, where the exact date you passed your test isn't entered. It will default to the 1st of the month on their system, so if you don't manually change it on their own website, they will charge you for providing wrong info. This isn't a one off, I was with the company several years ago and the exact same thing happened. Of course I decided to go for them again as they were cheaper, and I didn't learn my lesson!! Absolutely avoid. Rather pay an extra £100 than go through the stress of dealing with this terrible company.
Helpful Report
Posted 5 years ago
Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience of setting up your 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 look into this for you.
Posted 5 years ago
So I have just moved address and updated 1st Central striaght away, they wanted to charge me £125 for this change on a £644 Policy so nearly 20%! It is completely unreasonably especially when I explained to them that my vehicle had been unused for 3months during the pandemic lockdown and I was kind enough to remain insured with them during that time however they do not want to sympathise with that at all considering my annual mileage is lower.
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Posted 5 years ago
Have been with them for a while and got a renewal notice but thought I’d search to see if there was cheaper out there. I found one exactly the same plus basic RAC cover £60 cheaper......with the 1st Central?? Took it and tried to stop the original auto renew.....mistake! If they are taking your money they answer the phone, don’t hang up and are competent but if you are cancelling they can’t be bothered answering the phone, no online option, if you do get through they hang up.
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Posted 5 years ago
A cancellation fee of £50 to cancel my policy, however I cancelled during a 14 day cooling off period. What is the point of the cooling off period if I’m going to be charged £50 for cancelling?
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Posted 5 years ago
I give one star due to an awful experience I had yesterday when buying the policy. Let me explain: the policy was bought through the comparison site compare.com. The system was very unreliable as personal details that are entered on the compare.com seemed to be incorrect when transferred on 1st central. For example, my date of birth or date the driving licence was obtained. When I tried to edit them just before buying the insurance, the quote was changed to a higher price. I tried to log on on 1st central to see my account and the policy, I couldn’t log on. Then I had to contact your customer service and they had to amend my details. I am really worried that other details are incorrect which will invalidate my policy. Therefore I would like to receive the policy documentation as soon as possible so I can check whether my details are correct and the the policy that I bought is the right one. When do you estimate I will get the documentation?
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Posted 5 years ago
Hi Mariela, Thanks for your feedback, we're sorry your experience hasn't been as positive as we'd hoped. We aim to send your customer documents to you within 24 hours of you taking out your policy via e-mail, we apologise if this wasn't the case. Your documents can also be accessed via your secure customer portal on our website at anytime of day. If you’d rather speak to a member of staff, we can look into this further for you, please contact us on 0333 043 2066 or speak to us on web chat. We’re here to help from Mon-Fri: 8am to 8pm, Sat: 9am to 5pm, Sun: 10am to 2pm.
Posted 5 years ago
Buyers Beware, please before you go ahead with this scamming company make sure you know their hidden fees which is £50, as soon as you purchase you have to pay this if you need to amend or cancel your policy during cooling off period.
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Posted 5 years ago
Hi Amad, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. For more information, our full terms and conditions can be found in your policy wording. We’ll also use your comments to help improve our service.
Posted 5 years ago
I am shocked at the high cost of the set up which is non-refundable. £50 Is a ridiculously high amount and considering I had the taken the insurance out for only two days with a start date for 2 weeks away I think it is disgusting. Con-men. It being non-refundable I can understand it being £50 is a disgrace.
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Posted 5 years ago
Hi Amy, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with us. For more information, our full terms and conditions can be found in your policy wording. We’ll also use your comments to help improve our service.
Posted 5 years ago
An absolute disgrace of a company. Do not take any insurance out with this mob. Incapable of processing insurance changes. Has resulted in an impounded car, £300 fine, 6 points and over £200 in impound fees due to them not applying changes properly to my policy. Avoid at all costs.
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Posted 5 years ago
Hi James, 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 look into this.
Posted 5 years ago
1st CENTRAL is rated 3.9 based on 5,237 reviews