1st Central Car Insurance

aaran7

no i have a full uk license since august 2007. 4 yrs no claims bonus and no previous claims or anything

Wumpus_2

dacouch wrote: »

If you imagine how an insurance company would be if Ryan Air made on you have an idea of Quinn.

I like the Ryanair comparison.

I'd say that 1st Central are the sort of insurance company that Gordon Brown would run. Good at taking your money, impossible to establish what they actually do with it, and very poor at using it to provide a service.

Unfortunately I'm STILL in the middle of a claim with them - 3 weeks since I wrote to them last, still no reply. It took a letter from the FSA to get that much out of them. I think I'm going to have to register yet another complaint to the FSA before I stand a chance of them even acknowledging my existence.

QBSBear

I was with them too last year only to discover that they had cancelled the policy without informing me, i only found out that my policy had been cancelled due to the fact the police had stopped and informed me of it i am now having to go to court at the end of April with a huge fine and 6 points being added to my license i sent a few msg's to Tom and he had someone else from his Company in form me that they had sent an email and letter to me saying that i had missed a payment and that was that they cancelled the policy i am still waiting on the cancelation letter *bear in mind they cancelled the policy last October* and according to them they have done nothing wrong even though i sent an email the day i was stopped and had my car seized at the roadside and then crushed as i could not afford to reinsure it nor pay the fee's to get my car back and now a summons to go to Court so i would advise everyone to avoid them like the plague :mad:

valetta30

I too have fallen foul of 1st Central Insurance and their no DOC extension (Nice if your policy actually made it clear!!!) and first I found out about it was when got stopped by the police.
yes, 6pts and several hundred quid later....thanks 1st Central!!

The most ambiguous policy document I have ever read!
AVOID!!!

dacouch

valetta30 wrote: »

I too have fallen foul of 1st Central Insurance and their no DOC extension (Nice if your policy actually made it clear!!!) and first I found out about it was when got stopped by the police.
yes, 6pts and several hundred quid later....thanks 1st Central!!

The most ambiguous policy document I have ever read!
AVOID!!!

Tom who was representing 1st Central on MSE stated 10 months ago that they were looking into either adding Driving Other Cars or at the very least putting it in their FAQs that it is not covered.

As usual they have done sweet FA about it.

Here is his post (It's post number 6 on this thread), note the dates (I have shortened it to save MSE servers.

"Tom1stCentral
MoneySaving Newbie


Join Date: May 2009
Post Count: 6
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
1st Central Insurance
Hi - I'm Tom - Head of Business Development at First Central Insurance Services.

I'd like to address some of the issues raised on this forum. I'd like to apologise to those customers who have been left waiting on the telephone - Our UK Service provider is currently in the process of recruiting and training more agents and as a result we are already seeing improvements in service.

In addition, we are currently in the process of evaluating whether to include 'Driving Other Cars' as standard on policies.

Please contact me on this forum if you need me to clarify anything.

Kind regards,

Tom"

Then have a look at their FAQ page http://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/faq.aspx Note how obsecure some of the FAQs are and that the second Question is very similar to DOC but they have not bothered to include they exclude DOCs.

Also note their Summary of Cover / Key Facts which should outline any significant exclusions (Not having DOC is arguably a significant exclusion)

http://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/download/MotorInsuranceKeyFacts.pdf

P.S If anyone is in any doubt that Tom and the other senior staff at 1st Central are to busy to get onto making it clear to clients that they are not covered for Driving Other Cars. Try clicking on Tom's profile and you will see he logged on today until 2.43pm and finds time to review the regular posts from unhappy MSE members but has no time to implement his promises. He should have gone into politics.

Valetta40 I feel sorry for you to have been caught out by 1st Central's sharp practices. Unfortunately it has cost you dear. Try writing to Honest John's as he likes stories like this and may get you a wider audience and may be even some compensation http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caradvice/

I would also suggest a complaint to the Ombudsman, this will cost 1st Central circa £500 in fees (It's free to you) and will tie up some of their staff in admin for it. Maybe when it starts costing them money which seems to be their motivation they might start doing something about it. If you make a complaint to the FOS make sure you refer to Tom's 10 month old posts about the problem with DOC as their lack of action will be noted. I don't think the ombudsman will rule in your favour but it may help others in the future

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/


P.P.S I hope Tom sleeps well tonight when he sees that his lack of action due to saving money has caused someone to have points on their licence, increased premiums in the future and the consequential impact on Valetta

zsj382387304

i have just get tied up with this company before i searched all this , just wanna ask the insurance paper issued by the company doesnt say which type of insurance i am buying or what the excesses is,,,, which i really concerned despite they have told us what it is on the phone, and they have only sent me with the insurance policy and one sheet of insurance certificate and no other legal documents about what is coverd??? any ideas or can anyone tell me whether the certificate with no word saying 'third party only' is ok???

dacouch

zsj382387304 wrote: »

i have just get tied up with this company before i searched all this , just wanna ask the insurance paper issued by the company doesnt say which type of insurance i am buying or what the excesses is,,,, which i really concerned despite they have told us what it is on the phone, and they have only sent me with the insurance policy and one sheet of insurance certificate and no other legal documents about what is coverd??? any ideas or can anyone tell me whether the certificate with no word saying 'third party only' is ok???

A Certificate of Insurance is a legal document that exists to prove you are covered for the minimum legally required to be on the road. The minimum is Third Party Only which is why the certificate refers to this.

1st Central should have sent you the actual policy documents which should be a policy schedule and policy booklet at the very least. Give them a call and tell them to send these as a matter of urgency

Kirstenm1976

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH.

This company is driving me MAD.

I called them a few weeks ago to change the car on our policy. They said they'd email new documents. Nothing. I now need to renew the tax, and need the certificate of insurance.

They are not answering the phone on ANY of their lines - not even sales. I don't know what to do. I have emailed them but I am not expecting a reply.

We also had the problem of them not recognising our NCB, even though I emailed them it about 7 times.

I would recommend everyone to steer well clear. I have warned everyone I know on Facebook. I think they're dodgy to be honest with you.

Ralphster

Due to a number of factors I missed a month's payment.
Once they notified me 3 DAYS after they stopped my insurance, I contacted them and asked if the policy could be re-instated if I made full payment of the relatively small arrears.
The first person I spoke to said they would have to check it out. The next person I spoke to, chasing this up, said I would have to speak to Credit Control.
I contacted Credit Control and they confirmed that if I made payment in full, the policy would be re-instated.
I rang Customer Services (ha!) the same evening to make payment, only to be told the policy had now been cancelled because i had "been too long in contacting them", something that was done by Credit Control the SAME DAY as I had rung offering full payment to re-instate it, which their representative had agreed to.
I was then told if I made payment of the outstanding amount in full then I could start a new policy.
This was not ideal but obviously I need insurance so I rung to make payment only to be told that they couldn't offer a new policy at all and that if I didn't pay the outstanding amount (less than 100 pounds) that it would be passed to a debt agency.
Now, for the sake of a relatively small amount, I face a massive hike in my car insurance costs because I have "had a policy cancelled" and to describe me as utterly furious would be an understatement.
I strongly advise anyone, their family and friends to STEER WELL CLEAR OF 1st Central, a company whose staff clearly don't have a clue on company policy, if indeed the company actually has one and is not just making it all up on the hoof!

Jas123_2

Hi, can anyone advise how to get this company to progress my claim? It has been nearly 5 months now, i managed to speak to some last week and they said they are unable to locate my file and will call me back the next day but never did. My car got stolen and has been recovered but they have written it off. Regards.