1st CENTRAL Reviews

4.0 Rating 5,187 Reviews
76 %
of reviewers recommend 1st CENTRAL
4.0
Based on 5,187 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 20th December 2023
Scam Insurance
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 30th November 2023
Attila Balogh
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 26th April 2023
Anonymous
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 8th October 2022
A. T
1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 8th October 2022
A. T
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
Would give them 0 stars if I could!!! Went for this insurer as they were competitively priced, but wished we hadn’t now! Sent two texts asking for documents and that they sent an email with the details. No emails were received. We emailed them and asked what documents. No response. Next thing we know we receive an email from them advising the premium was increasing by £23 a month due to the changes we had made. We had made no changes. After 2 unhelpful web chats one of which was ended by them they advised they had done a check and I had 3 points on my license (I have no points). Asked for a copy of my driving license and my partners and a copy of a DVLA access code for me. Provided this for them to say it had expired (it last 21 days and they tried to access it in under 24 hours it had not expired). Sent them a new one but then they wanted one for my partner as well. I did this and then they put me on hold for a long time to reverse the previous changes they made to the points. They then came back and said the day we past our tests did not match so the premium would be £10 more than it was previously quoted a month. Utterly ridiculous when you don’t put a date in when applying and just the month and year. Asked to speak with a manager to get the fees waived. Waited 30 mins on hold to get through for them to tell me this was not in their remit and would need to submit a complaint. What’s the point of having a management team when they can’t do anything! Just another way to infuriate your customers. I have already submitted a complaint yesterday when this all started due to the amount of time wasted, stress and anxiety caused and their standard of customer service. Also emailed them with details of my complaint and have received no acknowledgment. After the additional time waster today will send a further email and hold with bated breath for a response. Wish we could just cancel but at a charge of £169 that is not financially doable! Working in insurance myself I am so shocked at their service they really shouldn’t be running. Feel I will need to take this further to the FOS when they finally respond to the complaint and make it my mission to ensure that no one I know ever takes out insurance with them. Social media will be the next outlet to let as many people know to avoid!
Helpful Report
Posted 11 months ago
Had issues putting the correct job details in on the comparison website for the registered drivers of the vehicle, we couldn't put the correct sectors of the company (such as a manager, assistant, etc) in but the company/job title were all still correct, so we just put the closest possible options. After the policy was taken out we phoned the company (as requested by the company) only to find that they had raised an issue with the job descriptions/sectors, the person on the phone even struggled themselves to define the job titles appropriately on their end. Was told that the person on the phone would 'just have to put the closest possible option' (as we did before taking the policy out) and that we would be charged an additional fee (including £50 administration fee!) which put the policy as more expensive than the other quotes we had received. Cancelled the policy altogether, raised a complaint with the company, and are waiting on a refund
Helpful Report
Posted 11 months ago
The only Wabt your money . They don’t care for anything else . Don’t waste your time with this company
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Posted 1 year ago
How stupid was I but MORE how frustrated are we !! Writing on behalf of our daughter. Because I did search on her behalf for a reliable car insurance cover. Decided on 1st Central. Comprehensive car insurance However!! My daughter had an RTA on 3rd March She’s a single parent with 3 children 4,6 & 9 yrs. I thought I’d arranged replacement car by paying extra for ‘like for like, important as she needed to fit three children car seats. only to find out if car is Written off or Stole Loan car is void !! How stupid if insurance cover AND me,for missing!! When loan car is key it’s not an option ( unless you pay EVEN MORE ) More to the point, at time of writing this on 21.03.23 she has filled in umpteen forms. Made umpteen calls and STILL NOT had her car valued so she can get a replacement 😡 SO DISAPPOINTED. LET DOWN DEFINITELY WILL NOT RECOMMEND 1st Central. EVER
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
The scam ,costumer service speak non understandable english , hanging up on you , after accident claim impossible to speak with them
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
I started my policy with 1st Insurance in 2022. Unfortunately my car was stolen that year and I had to make a claim. On the following year my premium was excessive, which it was understanding after a claim. When I tried to get few NEW quotes prior to deciding to take the one. It cost me £132 a month, because I did not have other opinions I paid for it. I asked 1st Central insurance if I could pay a higher deposit so the instalments were cheaper but they refused. Nevertheless, I decided to pay 4 months payments in advance this for January, February, March and April 2023. And it was just over £700 to pay for the rest of year 2023. However, few days later I had a text message on my phone from 1ST CENTRAL saying they added additional charged to my policy. Now I have over £1000 to pay, almost DOUBLE of the initial price. I called them and explained that for two weeks I had about 4-8 quotes from them. I had to tick boxes on the go compare website. Because of a mistake of not ticking a box, a error they charged me DOUBLE as if it was a fraud ( I am a student nurse I don't need to make a fraud). They have all my details, all my details are on their system, none of my details have changed, same name, same phone number, same address and email.. I tried to explain that it was an error, I would not LIE they paid for my previous system Its all on their system. They refused to listen, were very rude condescending and extremelly unhelpful. I had tried many quotes, 7 quotes in a period of 2 weeks. All the quotes were expensive. I went with one although it was expensive I could not find a cheaper quote but all my details still same. First Cental staff said I did not disclosed a claim from 8 months before. I made a claim with 1ST CENTRAL I had no reasons to lie it was an error on the document was filled online they charge me double on my policy so I am paying almost £2000 for my policy. 1st Central Insurance stuff are rude, incompeten, very unprofessional, Not a clear English and poor communication skills. The worse customer service. They will put the phone down on you if you complain, customer service nonexistent! They will hang up on the phone on you. The worse customer services. And no I would not recommend you to any family and friends 😤. Very unhelpful, customer services hon existent, rude and they will speak down on you. Take your money 💰 somewhere! You will spend a fortune. Don't you dare make any mistakes t filling forms online. You will get charged for it. Its all about the 💰 🤑 💸 💲 😤 Take your money somewhere! Run!!! You will be disappointed
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Terrible customer services, and a the worst insurance company I ever had to deal with. It took them 8 emails, 5 phone calls, and 6 months all together to cancel my policy. In the meantime they kept charging me the monthly fee for 9 months after I sold my car ! At the end they even overcharged me with a ridiculously expensive cancellation fee that costs more than the policy itself. Absolutely ridiculous! I do not want to hear about them ever again. Worst rip off ever.
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Posted 1 year ago
Horrible experience with my motoring insurance by 1st central… and the cancellation fee was £59…more than the insurance itself…avoid this company!
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Posted 1 year ago
I received a phone call today from this insurance company. They wanted to discuss with me my yearly mileage which I was absolutley fine with. When I was asked the question I replied that I will do between 6k and 7k miles as I won't be driving as much this year. I was then forced to give exact figure so I replied 7k and that costed my extra 65GBP!!!!!I feel like I was forced to give the answer which allowed this firm to charge me 20% more for the insurance I already paid for! Discusting way to treat your customers!
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
My wife was comparing policies and did not intend on completing the policy... Website very unhelpful and certainly not user friendly, once the mistake was realised the policy was cancelled within the 1hr... you supposedly get 15 days cooling off... but what they hide in the small print is there is a massive £50 cancellation fee... absolutely disgraceful and we won't ever consider this company in the future and will warn everyone we can. At these difficult times how can you justify a £50 cancellation within 1hr of application?
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
My Grandaughter is insured with company she had an accident and bumped into another car unbenomed to her she was not insured for travelling to and from work. After the bump she came home and got ready to go to work she got a taxi to work and had a receipt from the taxi driver in the form of a text to prove she got a taxi to work 1st central refused to accept the text as a receipt so refused her claim. The claims team are based in South Africa and it takes nearly one hour to get through on the phone I escalated the claim to a complaint with the threat of going to the ombudsman. The complaints dept situated in Manchester phoned up and said they will pay for repairs for both cars it's been going on for over 2 weeks. They look out for ways to stop paying out on a legitimate claim. AVOID AVOID AVOID
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Terrible service, bullying tactics
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Poor customer service, mismanagement of policy rules and personal rules Happily to continue take payment till you have to make a claim then their attitude changes
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
DISGRACEFUL COMPANY HOLDING CUSTOMERS TO RANSOM IF THEY DONT PAY EXTORTIANATE FEES OF £173.00 TO CHANGE THE DATE OF PURCHASE ON A CAR POLICY THEN THEY WILL CANCEL AND PROMISES OF CALLBACKS THAT NEVER MATERIALISED , AVOID
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Opted to not renew my policy. Since then they keep telling me I owe money. I've phoned spoke customer services made complaint and been given compensation . Now again they asking for money or ballifs will be at my door. Avoid at all costs
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
I opted for NOT renewing automatically my car insurance, and to my surprise, I was charged. I called to ask them to correct the error, and again I was surprised to learn that I would need to pay £61 because THEIR system failed to recognize that I opted out of the automatic renewal. I didn't pay and then I received an email threatening legal action. That's unacceptable, and I'll pursue my legal rights against the company if they don't correct their mistake without charging me for that.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
My daughter was killed in a car crash while driving a hire vehicle. It took over 3 months of chasing settlement of her own vehicle then they sent settlement letter addressed to her despite knowing she had died. I have had no success regarding her accident in hire car. Shocking treatment!!!
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Absolutely shocking!!! We were left chasing them to put a claim in after completing the claim portal online. Once the claim was confirmed the following day we were told the Garage would call us. We heard nothing for 2 days, then we’re told the car is not assigned to a garage!!! All the time we have no car, even though our policy states a courtesy car. After phoning back and complaining I received a call from enterprise offering a 3 door Aygo. If we wanted anything larger we would need to pay for it. Any car would be fine however we have a 1 year old baby who has a car seat. This would not fit. We had to ring 1st central to ask and plead to offer us a 5 door car. They declined. And we were forced to pay a daily rental fee. The following day, I received an email saying they can’t find a garage for our car, and we would have to find our own garage and basically do all the leg work they do!!!! My partner has been unable to go into work due to the delay on the car being at a garage so we can get a courtesy car. Now we are paying on top of our monthly insurance payment for a car due to 1st central failure to get the car in a garage. It’s currently Saturday, the collision happened Monday and our car is still on the drive. Shocking… AVOID AT ALL COSTS
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
I am writing this review so you The Reader don't make the mistake I did of ever using 1st Central. I will admit initially they were the cheapest option and they were fine while my interactions with them were small and insignificant. Eventually I decided to cancel and this is where the problems began. They will slap fees and fees on you as you try to leave. admin fees, leaving fees the works. They will make it difficult for you to cancel. Their customer service team will burden you with constant waiting and confirming just to simply stop the policy. Once that is all done, you will be chased for debt collection even after paying their ridiculous egregious fees. I strongly recommend you Reader to take a look here and Trustpilot and all their social media found here: Trustpilot:https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/1stcentralinsurance.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1stCentral Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1stcentral/?hl=en Take a look at these people's comments and decide for yourself if they are for you. You get what you pay for in this life, and if you choose 1st Central you will only get misery
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Posted 1 year ago
I wanted to renew my insurance with 1st Central. I have 7 years no claims. The amount was £282 for the year, I was happy with it but told the gentlemen on the phone that I had moved house (literally around the corner in a small village) to which he said I would need to speak with the customer service team. I spoke to them and they said they needed £10 to change my address, £10!?! It is a nominal fee but for someone who has used the company and not made any claims I found it preposterous. I told them this and then they sent me back to another sales agent. This sales agent's 1st language was English. She told me if I didn't change my address and pay the £10 she wouldn't give me a new quote. After much coercion I said okay I will change I was then put back in contact with customer service who changed my address and charged my £10. I got back in touch with the same lady again who did the maths. Bearing in mind I can walk to my old house in 5 minutes (I have timed it), she came back with a price of £430. I found it completely underhand how I was coerced into changing the address before they would give a price only for them to whack the price up by £140!! I live in a sleepy village by the way. How they have a 5 star defacto rating is beyond me
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Posted 1 year ago
1st CENTRAL is rated 4.0 based on 5,187 reviews