1st CENTRAL Reviews

Name: 1st CENTRAL
Rating: 3.97

4.0 Rating 5,187 Reviews

76 %

of reviewers recommend 1st CENTRAL

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

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

Visit Website

Phone:

0333 043 2066

Email:

marketing@1stcentral.co.uk

Location:

Capital House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath
RH16 3SY

Write Your review

Tell us how 1st CENTRAL made you happy

Help future customers by talking about customer service, price, delivery, returns & refunds.

Minimum 10 characters

Would you like to add a photos or videos?

Strengthen your review by uploading photos & videos.

Drag files here or browse

(Supported files: jpg, png, mpeg, ogg, mp4 & webm)

What's your name?

Leave this blank if you'd like to publish your review anonymously.

(Optional)

What's your email?

We need your email address to verify that your review is genuine

Please note that we may share your email with the company to verify your order.

1st CENTRAL 1 star review on 20th December 2023

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“AVOID! At first they took the payment every month which was fine but then they put the price up and started taking the payment twice. Have cancelled direct debit to them and hopefully can somehow get my money refunded :/”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 days ago

“Horrific, terrible company, deliberately evasive, shocking experience avoid”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 week ago

“AVOID SCAMMER!!! Between 1 year period I was changed my car and that cheeky company changed automatic renewal. When I recognised charge my card phone them but not available Sunday. Phoned another I spoke african accent people who eat when talk to me! 2 hours tyr to sorted I get back my full money. They charged me 3 days insurance and also ARRENGMENT FEE! AVOID THAT COMPANY!!!!! Date of experience: 02 April 2024”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 weeks ago

“Scammed by this company.. After 2 months of my policy, this company decided my 9+ years of no claims bonus wasn’t good enough because it was previously on a pickup truck… So they doubled my premiums and reduced my no claims to zero, even though I have never made a claim. Not wanting to lose all my no claims I was forced to cancel the policy, which they very nicely charged me £119 to cancel… Absolute scammers stay away”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 weeks ago

“This company is rubbish. I drive to Europe. I know they cover Europe countries for 90 days and I don’t have to have green card. But I rang them told them I’m going drive though Serbia and because they not in EU I needed a green car or international insurance certificate that show which countries they cover. But they don’t provide me one. I rang them about 20 times spoke to every single person there. I explained the situation, I said I pay if there is fee but they don’t give sugar. I have drive to Europe few times before I was with admiral and Esure they provided me with green card. I been asked green card before so I know what they like when you drive to other countries but I went without one because first central refused to give me one. So I drive and at the Serbian border I paid about £100. had to get insurance to drive in Serbia otherwise they wouldn’t let me into country. this company don’t care dant give sugar about they customer. Specially if you are foreign they don’t even wanna listen you. very bad customers service. I’m cancelling my insurance with them I had multiple insurance. If you wanna decent service don’t go near them”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 weeks ago

“I kissed someone bumper no damage at all but I reported them in case they opened a file for me and they told me it will be close in next 6 months i have passed 6 months I called them and they telling me now will close it in 1 they lied to me and for last 2 years they didn’t give me good service iam not recommending them to anyone”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 weeks ago

“If I could put -* I would. My dad tried to renew his policy after being insured with 1st central for last couple of years. With him not having Internet and no knowledge of it, I have been doing his online car insurance quotes for a couple of years. Got his renewal email on my email address which again has been used for last couple of years with all his policy being sent to me for print off. He phoned to speak with them and pay his renewal price over the phone. Having partial hearing and not properly understanding the advisor, he got to point where he was asked to put his long 16 digit card number in to his keypad, not having a touchscreen mobile phone he was 1 digit short everytime he tried to make payment from his bank card. He explained he was not good with this sort of thing, being in his 70s, not very savvy with technology.....he asked could his daughter, me, get in contact with them and deal with t on his behalf. So I did this, was asked to send email to confirm who I was and that I had authorisation from my dad to deal with, after 2 emails, I then called back again, went through all the security details that I provided on the 2 emails. Got to the point where card number, expiry and 3 digit security code was given, to be told payment didn't go through, which was rubbish as the funds were there. To then be told they ave declined the insurance. I ASKED WHY? TOLD COULDNT TRLL ME. So My dad attempted to call 1st Central to find out why he has been declined. In his 58 years of driving he has never had a declined insurance. Fuming to say the least, they will not tell him why it has been declined. A complaint letter will be sent to them, and furthermore to the Ombudsman. To get to the point of insurance due for renewal and not an English speaking person to speak to, is ridiculous, poor customer service and will never recommend this insurance company. The fact my dad now has to get me to try do further comparison site quotes for his car insurance due within 2 weeks, that question HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DECLINED INSURANCE has now got to be answered YES for a reason unknown.......avoid dealing with this Company !!!!!......no matter how, I will get to the bottom of this......this now will potentially stop him getting a decent renewal price, all because this company are useless at dealing with people, especially pensioners !!!!! He is not a risk, nor is it fraud, so why can they decline this insurance after already being a customer with no insurance claims.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 weeks ago

“Very similar experience to a lot of other customers - 1st Central will lure you in with a cheap price. Once the cooling off period has finished they'll follow-up with small discrepancies (such as purchase date of car being out by days), you'll then be hit with a premium increase and £50 admin fee. Avoid as it's not just the money, but the hassle of sorting through all this”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“Everything charging nearly £400 to cancel insurance tried doing it 2 weeks ago was £220 now it’s £360 asked why it went up so much in 2 weeks apparently £140 is blood interest just awful company gonna cancel and never go with them again”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“AVOID AVOID AVOID AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDEDED ON IT! The review written below by Pav is exactly what happened to my husband. They quote a cheaper price - you pay in full then they contact you AFTER the cooling off period and adv. that MINOR details were incorrect i.e. the exact date you arrived in the country was not accurate and the fact that you are about to start a new job (days away) increases your policy by £170 What the heck does that have to do with anything. You have paid in full for the insurance for the year - how can this possibly affect the cost!!!. My husband rather paid the cancellation fee then have to deal with this company. The person - assisting - Mishka was also EXTREMLY rude and arrogant.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“The call Center rep Was very aggressive, unprofessional, intimidating and misleading in what he said I openly had made a mistake start policy on the 1st of the month instead of 2 days before Cannot amend policy Told me first of all I couldn’t cancel Then said he could after speak to floor manager but only if I would go through to sales to do another policy I had bought it off a comparison site so it would of been a lot more to buy direct After 45 mins I was put through to complaints dept”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“My wife took out car insurance with 1st Central via Money Supermarket as they were competitively priced, all was good until we were asked to contact them to speak to the Policy Analysis Team, what followed was an absolute disaster, we were both relentlessly pressured to change our job titles to a more exact phrasing over and over and over by the Policy Analysis Team when we had initially provided truthful information and were consequently hit with a £50 admin charge to change these details for no reason, then my wife was asked for her no claims bonus from two years (two insurances ago) ago and because she didn't have it to hand was kept on hold for 20 minutes and then advised she had incurred a further £22 admin charge as the Policy Analysis Team had to investigate this, after leaving the call in tears she was then issued a renewed statement of fact where the majority of the details incurring the admin charges had not been actioned. We made numerous attempts to contact 1st Central asking that because of this the charges were dropped and were stonewalled at every turn with different totals of admin fees mentioned during each call, we raised a complaint and was given an excuse that the issue was just an IT issue and no admin fees were being dropped followed by the complaint being closed. In the end my wife had to pay £82 to cancel the policy (just to get away), to summarise, she was charged for unnecessary changes which weren't changed on her policy, charged for not having evidence of a no claims bonus from two years ago, no updated policy provided, complaint ignored and then no notification of cancellation of policy - do not be fooled by their low cost on the comparison sites! Thoughts and prayers for anyone who has to make an actual claim with this company - AVOID”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“I am writing this review to express my profound disappointment and exasperation with the services provided by your company. A one-star review doesn't even begin to cover the range of my dissatisfaction. You make me wish there was an option for a zero-star rating. There stands a gross lack of transparency in your operations - a glaring discrepancy from the professional behaviour one expects from a reputed insurance service. Allow me to regale you with the sorrid details. Approximately three weeks back, I had the misfortune of availing car insurance from 1st Center for my wife. Promptly acting on your request, I submitted my wife's driving license and no claims history within the required time. Imagine my consternation when, following the sadistic wait till the elapsing of the 14-day cooling-off period, you ordained to inform me of an 'alleged error' in entering my wife's job title and demanded an increase in the policy premium. The monthly payment, initially stipulated at a dear £125, skyrocketed in a heartbeat to an outrageous £365, after the addition of a so-called 'consolidation fee.' This sudden and inexplicable escalation in charges without a reasonable explanation is not just worrisome but a telling testament to your company's unscrupulous practices. To any unfortunate soul considering engaging in business with 1st Center Car Insurance, I say, 'Avoid as if your life depended on it.' It pretty much does. In my experience, the company seems to exploit any conceivable loophole for the sole aim of increasing monthly costs and yielding profit through the ruthless cancellation of policies. Insurance services ought to uphold the esteemed principles of transparency and fairness. However, it seems 1st Center Car Insurance found a bypass to these essential values, leaving clients like myself beyond disillusioned and questioning the ethical credibility of your business. Reluctantly, Pav”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

“Awful company. AVOID! 1st CENTRAL Insurance are to be never used again from my family and friends. Come with strong advice not to use them. Further to an annual car insurance policy I took with them in November 2023. They followed up asking for proof of NCD on Xmas Eve 2023. Unfortunately xmas holiday season wasn't an ideal time to organise this for them and when I finally sent the NCD after the holidays they said it was eight hours too late and charged me £150.00. Never use them, They are blacklisted as an insurance company for me and I'd help anyone with the advice not to go with them. Use other companies and pay a little extra. They are money grabbers.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

“Charged me £125 because I’d put my partner’s occupation as manufacturing engineer instead of mechanical engineer…even though he does both at his job. Customer services representatives are rude and aggressive. I was told I’d still need to pay the £125 even if I cancelled my policy within the free cancellation period of 14 days. I have now found out that 1st Central offer low prices to lure you in and then fine comb the policy to check for ‘mistakes’ or make aggressive phone calls to pressure you into making a mistake and then make their money through the extra charges they apply. Disgusting. I would never use or recommend this company again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

“AVOID They remove comments which are the truth then block you so others customers cannot see, don't use this insurance company there a complete scam. Will not pay out your claims and will charge you ridiculous amounts to make a simple change to your policy's positive reviews are paid for please view the negative ones as these are the truth!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

“Horrible company. So many hidden costs I was asked to pay a further £187 after paying a year upfront. I left the uk for 8 years and moved back because of this they wanted documents from 8 year+ ago. I paid £50 to leave rather than the £187 to stay.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

“Horrible customer service. The prices they charge for policy changes are beyond understanding. Almost £4000 for a change of address, where a new policy in a different company was offered for £999 annually. A new one with them was almost £9000! That's sick. Never again”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

“This company gave me a quote but it turned out to be based on incorrect information even though I’d provided all info correctly… i pointed out what they’d got wrong and then they changed my quote which was crazy expensive so i cancelled it and they still charged me £50!… the cover hadnt even started before they cancelled my quote and I told them I wasn’t willing to pay for insurance they hadn’t provided and they told me that they would charge me anyway. I asked them what would happen if I didnt pay and they threatened me with lawyers! I froze my bank card but too late to stop them from charging me. And what did i get for the £50 they charged me?… attitude, grief, and no insurance. Don’t even consider 1st Central for a quote… they are unscrupulous, rude, and beyond unethical”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

“My son Had a third party accident was offered two settlement offers felt it was not enough so asked insurance company 1st central to reconsider to be told they are cancelling the policy as the car had been modified. It was an MSport BMW had absolutely no idea the car had been modified as all the cars are like this when searched on google. Treated him as if he was a criminal trying to make out these modifications were done by my son when he purchased the vehicle like this from the garage. If they can get out of paying a claim they will do avoid as all costs the worst insurance company around!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 months ago

1st CENTRAL is rated 4.0 based on 5,187 reviews