anyone got 1st central car insurance?

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  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637
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    Unfortunately you have lost all of those, an Insurance Policy is in effect a contract. As the Insurers have paid out for a total loss and in effect what they were covering no longer exists, they therefore look on it that they have fullfillled their part of the contract so the contract has finished.

    As I said before the majority of Insurers would have allowed you to cover your replacement car on the remaining part of the policy. The cheaper companies often have the exclusion you have found with 1st Central. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it as it is in their policy wording.

    You could try writing an official complaint, they are not obliged to do give any type of refund, however as they are a new company they MIGHT make an exception although don't hold your breath.
  • Guys,

    Ive just been insured by theseguys as they were the cheapest (like everyone else thought) ... I spoke to the lady about 3rd party driving and got told we dont cover it as it is a high risk.

    I want to cancel but they want 30 quid cancellation fee ... Can they do this? What if i just simply cancelled my DD and went with another company ??

    BTW I bought the policy on the 2nd of November and my 14 days cooling off period has just ended .... D'oh!



    Huggy
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    Cancelling your dd won't stop them pursuing you for any money you owe them
  • Oh how I wish I had read the forum first. What a complete nightmare. Serves me right for going cheap. Had my car vandalised on Friday 13th (it should have been an omen then). Lady on the claims line was really helpful and spent a long time taking my claim. Told me an assessor would visit on Monday. Phoned at 1pm on Monday and was still waiting to speak to someone at 2.30pm. In the end the battery ran out on my phone. It is now 3.30pm and getting dark. Does anyone think the assessor might turn up and if he doesn't what do I do?
  • I have also cancelled costing me 30 pounds even though I only had it for a week Seems to me they are in chaos as I was told by email I could cancel by email then told on the phone i could not I am disgusted with the fee given the circumstances
  • Hi all

    Just new to this and came across this thread by accident when googling 1st central for some info - was horrified with some of the stories but the same as others had already paid for annual policy. My policy was to take effect from 00.01 last night and after reading this thread i had already paid. i then sent an email asking them to cancel my policy but when i arrived tonight there was no reply so i sent another one asking them to cancel the policy and then phoned them. My call was answered quickly and a female called clare dealt with my query quickly saying she would send my details to the appropriate dept for them to process - i asked her to confirm this by email just so that i have some proof that i have tried to cancel - she has done this - so, so far so good. Apparently it can take up to 2 weeks before your money is refunded so i will wait and see what happens and i will let you know how i get on.

    Just goes to show that the cheapest may not be the best - my only other fear is that i got them to insure my mums car and i just hope they are ok should she ever need to make a claim but i will be advising her to go elsewhere after the year is up.
  • si_121
    si_121 Posts: 14
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    edited 27 November 2009 at 12:14PM
    Hi, I joined up with 1st Central yesterday, yet another to be suckered in by their cheap premium. My policy is due to start in on Saturday. I was just about to call them to bring it forward to today in order to drive my parents car, luckily...I came across this thread. Any idea where I stand? Will I need to pay a cancelling fee?


    Policy is due to start tomorrow, just cancelled. Charged £30. Is this fair?
  • I took out a 1st central policy last Feb as it was cheap!! Unfortunately I had to contact them as another driver crashed into me (no falut of mine with witnesses) I called them as I didnt have the other parties insurance details so 1st central traced them for me - great. They then proceeded to make the claim for me however - my car was deemed a write off class C but it was driveable. !st Central are the only company who will pay you but insist they have to take your car in return. Not happy I then went through the other parties insurance as I was paid the same but kept my car - a better deal. What is most upsettling is the fact that 1st Central never asnwer their phones - every time I call I'm on hold for 33 mins at least. No one who answers the phone seems to know anything about the claim and has to put you on hold again at YOUR COST. This cant surely be right. I'm still trying to finalise things as they have my MOT certificate, Insurance certificate V5 etc - HELP:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
  • ernie-money
    ernie-money Posts: 810
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    edited 8 December 2009 at 2:18PM
    Quentin wrote: »
    That clause (that if the car is written off, then the policy ends) is seen in policies from other companies.

    You agreed to it when taking out the policy and you cannot now get any refund on it.

    But isn't this what would be described as an unfair contract term, as it clearly only works in their favour...? I've previously been advised by consumer direct (on a totally different matter) that if the terms are unfair, you can challenge them on those grounds, even after accepting their terms?
    I mean fair dos having the policy lapse if your car is written off, but losing a whole years premiums if you've paid upfront - surely that shouldn't be allowed...?
    Please somebody restore my faith in the system and tell me that can't be right!
    I don't think I can hang on til Friday...
  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637
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    I doubt it would be classed as an unfair contract as very roughly an unfair contract is deemed to be by a judge if the contract is so loaded in one parties favour.

    The reasons Insurers cancel the policy or as others do not offer a refund if you cancel the policy after a claim is because the item the contract is covering eg the car in effect no longer exists. So the contract has fulfilled it's purpose by paying out hence some cancel the policy (This tends to be the cheaper Insurers) and others allow you to cover a replacement car but do not refund if you cancel
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