1st Central Insurance Reviews 

Absolutely appalling customer service, spent over an hour on the web chat, spoke to 3 different departments (one twice) - no help given.

Quick to find a reason to increase costs and take your money but not to reduce it when circumstances have changed

Quick and easy

If you are looking for car insurance DO NOT use this company - they are nothing but thieves and untrustworthy.

Horrendous! After 3 weeks into my insurance with them, they contacted me to say they had increased my mileage a year as they have access to all previous the data from price comparison sites and on one previous quote I had put in a higher mileage. Then they rejected my no claims certificate and said I owed them almost another £900 - upon calling, I was then interrogated on the telephone for a whole hour as to my daily habits, I cancelled and went with a reputable insurer. After 30 years of driving, never known anything like it!

Avoid avoid avoid
Rely scammers companies

been trying get hold of a person is just a waste of time,been on here and the phone for well over a hour and still getting nowhere a waste of space.[humans] and so are metal mickeys,

Easy to navigate application process. Good price. Cover supplied right away. No hassle. Would recommend.

Do not deal with this company and if you do be it at your own risk. Supplied information online that they said they never received and they cancelled my policy, only to find that the information was uploaded to their portal. incompetent imbeciles.

One of the worst customer service experiences I have ever encountered\.

I took out a policy for a family member through Picnic Essentials\. They only offer support via live chat, which results in unacceptable waiting times\. When I tried to contact them, there were 46 people ahead of me in the queue\.

I then contacted 1st Central, who integrate with Picnic Essentials, but they were unable to make even the most basic changes to the policy or process a cancellation\. Despite attempting to cancel the policy on numerous occasions before its start date, I repeatedly received an error message preventing the cancellation from being completed\.

This is completely unacceptable\. A customer should be able to cancel a policy before it starts without unnecessary barriers or technical issues\.

As a result of this poor service and the refusal to process my cancellation, I will be making a formal complaint and, if this matter is not resolved promptly, I will escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman Service\.

Good price quick and easy even for my age 75

Very easy policy to set up

Great and easy firm to deal with. Not had to claim so cannot comment further at this stage.

I'm looking to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience with First Central Insurance.

My car insurance policy renewed automatically. I cancelled it the following day, but I was still charged an arrangement fee. I've raised a formal complaint with Customer Relations, but I haven't received any response.

My understanding is that this may not be in line with FCA rules, particularly as I did not sign or agree to a new credit agreement for the renewed policy. I'm now considering escalating my complaint further, potentially to the Financial Ombudsman Service if necessary.

Has anyone else experienced this with First Central Insurance? If so, how was your complaint resolved? I'm trying to gather information from others who may have been affected.

Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I have used 1st Central for years, always the cheapest, plus my wife who also uses them had to make a claim, they were great & all repairs were undertaken to a good standard. At her renewal, they were still the cheapest!

Competitive quote and the ease of the online process.

Quick and easy,also professional

Good price great

I would be wary of using First Central based on my recent experience.

I've worked in the insurance industry for 14 years, so I'm very familiar with First Central and how insurers typically operate.

When our car insurance renewal was due, I did what most people do and compared quotes through the comparison websites. First Central came out as the cheapest, so I decided to take out a policy with them.

My partner and I have shared one car for the past seven years. He is the registered owner of the vehicle and the main driver, while I am a named driver. I have always been the one who arranges and manages our insurance policies, and for the last seven years we've been insured with Admiral without any issues. They have always correctly recognised my partner as the policyholder and me as the person managing the account.

For some reason, First Central have incorrectly listed me as the policyholder, despite me only being the account holder who manages the policy on my partner's behalf. Trying to get this corrected has been incredibly frustrating. Rather than helping to resolve what appears to be a straightforward issue, their customer service has been difficult to deal with and, at times, came across as rude and unhelpful.

Based on this experience, I would think carefully before choosing First Central. While their quote was competitive, the poor customer service and the difficulty in resolving what should have been a simple administrative error have left me very disappointed.

What concerns me even more is the apparent inconsistency in how they assess policies. My understanding is that they would allow a policyholder to use their own No Claims Bonus while another person is the main driver. For example, a parent could be the policyholder, use their own No Claims Bonus, and have their newly qualified child as the main driver.

If that is how their policies are administered, I struggle to understand how that differs from misrepresenting the true insurance risk. Yet in my case, where my partner is the registered keeper, owner and main driver, and I simply manage the policy on his behalf, they insisted on treating me as the policyholder. That inconsistency makes no sense to me and has left me with little confidence in their underwriting and customer service.