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1st CENTRAL Reviews

3.9 Rating 5,244 Reviews
75 %
of reviewers recommend 1st CENTRAL
3.9
Based on 5,244 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

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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
Dreadful. They make it extremely difficult to get hold of anyone if you want to cancel your policy, and then when you finally get through, they hit you with astronomical charges. I expected to pay a nominal cancellation fee (Tesco charge £40) but nearly £300?? That's not just unreasonable, it's practically theft - small print or no small print. It's no wonder there are so many uninsured drivers on the road.
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Posted 10 years ago
Avoid like the plague! Record keeping is diabolical relating to payments and cover, no one knows what they're on about and you have to wait around 20-30 minutes to talk to someone. Worst Insurance company in the world (I'm pretty sure).
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Posted 10 years ago
BAD BAD BAD service!!!! NEVER NEVER use them.... They are incompetent and useless!,,
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Posted 10 years ago
BAD CUSTOMER SEVICE AND LONG WAITING TIME ON PHONE
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Posted 10 years ago
Would give no Stars but not possible. Absolutely awful. A nightmare from start to finish, Firstly it takes on average about 20 mins to get through to the call centre and when you do many of the staff and uncertain about what they are doing which add to the frustration. They tell you one thing and then it turns out to be false. They never get back to you on any issue and you have to keep calling them. I had to wait 7 months for them to resolve a minor crash third party liability and when they finally did it they charged me. They said my NCD would not be affected and it was. they lied to me, they where negligent, they automatically renewed my policy with out my permission, they made my transition to another company very difficult. I would have been better off without any insurance than with the 1st central. Words can not express the appalling service this company has given they make faulty towers look competent.
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Posted 10 years ago
1 star because cant give no stars. Avoid , they took money out on the 1st of the month when i told them no money would be in til 4th, they are incompetent liars never again. They then added charges in excess of £50 and told me it would collect 2 days later not hppy ,considering cancelling them and go with someone else as cant imagine having a bump with them .
Helpful Report
Posted 10 years ago
Sent proof of NCD three times and they still ask for the same info, with the threat of cancelling the policy and charging £75, maybe best to pay £10 more and go somewhere else, I wish id read reviews before dealing with these guys!!!!!!!!!
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Posted 10 years ago
I must be one of the lucky few who have had a great experience with 1st Central. I have been with them for around 4 years and have been unable to fault their service. I originally moved from Admiral due to the price difference. Everything with 1st Central so far has been so stress free and easy. I am always changing cars and when I do, it costs very little to change the policy (the most I've spent is £40, and that was moving from a Honda Civic diesel, to a BMW 330i). For the first few years I had to call them to make any changes to my policy as you couldn't do it online (you can now). I got through to someone within a few seconds of dialling, spoke to very helpful and polite people and was all done within about 5 minutes. I recently changed my policy through the online portal and again it took about 5 mins, then received my new certificate instantly via email. I can see that a lot of people have had bad experiences with them. I can honestly say that I have never had a problem with their service, however I have never had to put in a claim. So far though I have been very impressed with their service and would have no reason to consider changing insurance companies.
Helpful Report
Posted 10 years ago
1st Central are one of the cheapest providers through price comparison sites and you definitely get the quality you pay for, or rather lack thereof. I don't think I've ever had a phone call with their customer services team that was under an hour long, with at least 50 minutes of that time being spent on hold. Heard nothing from them all year other than the odd email trying to sell me something, then when renewal time came around they emailed me just under a month before the expiry of my current policy, saying that due to a technical error they couldn't renew my policy automatically and I should contact them. I phoned them (another hour long call, around 5 minutes of which were spent speaking to a human) and was told to wait for the renewal pack to come in the post because they had "lost" virtually all the details of my policy. Eventually I emailed them back when it came to a week before the expiry of the current policy with still no sight of a renewal pack, I also requested proof of my no claims at this stage because I was certain by this point that I would never go with 1st Central again. The day before the policy expired I received an email, at 6 minutes past 5, to say that I should call them, the same email told me that their phone lines closed at 5. I still haven't received proof of NCD from them and frankly I don't trust them to send it to me at all, and I can only imagine how awful my experience with them would have been if I actually needed to make a claim during the year I was insured with them. If you want cheap insurance then they're fine, but it's not worth the hassle when it comes to your renewal. Cowboys. Useless.
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Posted 10 years ago
If you want to call them regarding a claim expect to wait for up to 1 hour just to speak with someone. Claims are only open 9am to 6pm? so people who work during the week have no time to contact them as they are either understaffed or have problems with their phone systems. Avoid.
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Posted 10 years ago
So much trouble for a little incident. They don't look after you, they don't do their job properly. They will never contact you, even if you ask. So much stress !!!! After 2 months, nothing is done! NEVER NEVER choose this insurance!!!
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Posted 10 years ago
Sorry to write this but it is the worst insurance company I have dealt with in 16yrs of having been driving. I would definitely not recommended them to anyone.
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Posted 10 years ago
BEWARE !!!!!!!!! There website would not let me amend my car details the day before my policy was due to start it kept freezing tried loads of times. Had to ring them in the end the next day to be told that the price difference can go up, but by £42 pounds, even though the night before I had a quote with the same company for just over £1 difference!!!!!! I told them I would like to leave due to this and was told there is a £50 cancellation fee now my policy had started!!!!! If there website was working I could of made amendments last night. I feel I have been done over by this company please don't get treated the same. I have raised an official complaint and if I get no joy I will be taking this further with the onbudsmen.
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Posted 10 years ago
Be easier to list what went right • • • Their you have it
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Posted 10 years ago
The only way to stop auto renewal is to call 1st Central. They do not accept contact by email you just get an automated reply. I have called over 5 times to cancel the auto renewal and each time have had to hold on the phone for over 25 minutes and no body at 1st Central even answered the phone on the first 4 times. This has given me the impression of a very shoddy unprofessional outfit. It did cross my mind as though it could be a deliberate attempt to prevent customers contacting them so they can deliberately debit customers cards with a one off payment for renewal of the policy. I would NEVER use his company EVER again.
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Posted 10 years ago
Company is a complete joke avoid at all costs. My car was stolen and damaged for me to get my car after nearly 4 weeks I've to pay 210 storage costs you are told different stuff every time u ring that is after waiting up to a hour to be put through staff are incompatent disrespectful and are useless at there job. Please take my advice I wish I read this before taking policy out they will find every little detail to not pay out. 100s of pounds in damage has been done to my car from its in the care have pics to prove. Avoid avoid avoid
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Posted 10 years ago
Appalling service. Renewed my car insurance last year and had nothing but problems each month. Kept sending me default notices even though it was their fault for not taking out my direct debit. had to phone up each month and make a card payment. Now cancelled my policy and paid off and they still taken a card payment without my authorisation. May be cheap but appalling service and communication between departments. they still owe me £45 back which they fraudulently have taken.
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Posted 10 years ago
The worst customer service I have ever received. Wait times of over an hour. Agents not even listening. No common sense. I have made almost 50 calls in regards to two issues of that I have had.
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Posted 10 years ago
I had a very competitive quote and a good renewal quote the following year. I then moved house, less than a mile away from my old house I could throw a stone at my old house. They told me it would cost an extra £450 pounds a year, my monthly payments went up by £60 a month!!!!! I told them I was not having that so asked to cancel my policy, I was then told it would cost me £170 to cancel!! In my absolute rage I hung up to think about my dire options as I couldn't speak to the rude customer services anymore. He then phoned back and told me he had cancelled my insurance. He stated that because I had hung up on him he decided to cancel it. I had not said agreed to it when I asked if I had the right to cancel my insurance without my permission he pretty much told my he could do what he likes. Terrible company the worst customer service I have ever encountered.
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Posted 10 years ago
I got a very competitive quote from !st central through one of the comparison websites. The first years insurance went by with no problems. Then when i went to renew again, i actually couldn't process my payment through their website on several occasions. I tried on 2 separate occasions via telephone after long waits on hold. I was promised call backs as the price on their website didn't match their phone quote. I never got any return calls and as my insurance was due to expire the next day, i had to find an alternative insurer. Their customer services are very poor, and when i gave them constructive feedback through their complaints department, i got nothing back. I find it incredible in this competitive market, they didn't want to make sure i was even given basic customer care to an existing customer who wanted to renew their policy.
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Posted 10 years ago
1st CENTRAL is rated 3.9 based on 5,244 reviews