anyone got 1st central car insurance?

coupe2

Found them on Go Compare and they were the cheapest. Wanted to modify my car cosmetically and for some reason, they seem to be the only insurance company that don't allow you to modify the car from the manufacturers standard. Paid a deposit which was 2 months worth of the premium (which is normal) but wanted to cancel after less than a month so I could modify my car. They told me that I had to pay a cancellation fee of £50 (which is normal) but then they said that I also had to pay an application fee of £50 and the breakdown cover I took out was non-refundable which cost me £70. When I asked if I could keep my breakdown cover, they said it was to be cancelled when the policy cancelled. It would cost me around £200 to cancel their policy for less than a months worth of cover. As a result, I have had to stay with them and put off my modifications until my policy ends.

Avoid this company at all costs!!!!

dani28

i had been insured my 1st central for 6 months , they asked me to send copies of my license etc. i did this 3 times only for my insurance to be cancelled. I have sent mulitple emails to policy validation only to be ignored. I am absolutely digusted. Then whilst my insurance has been cancelled they have taken out payments. 1st central is a total joke !!!. I am currently seeking legal advice and going to trading standards as am apparently not the first that this has happened to.:mad:

FishyInverness

Please, NEVER EVER consider this company for your insurance! You will be creating yourself frustration and mental anguish!

When taking out the insurance I had problems with a previous insurance company providing me with a hard copy of my NCB - 1st Central sent me a number of emails and letters stating I had to provide them with the proof or they would cancel my policy and take £50 from me - I spent a total of 3 hours on the phone, 98% of that being waiting to talk to someone! I tried to make them listen that it was going to take time to sort out my previous company's mistake - they wouldn't assist.

I eventually fired off about seven emails - I got automated replies saying i'd receive a reply in 2 days, a WEEK later, I got a message back saying "Oh, ok, we'll check with Direct Line then" - That, happily ended my woes until I cancelled the policy this April after being with them a total of 6 months (I had read this board and decided to cut my losses rather than worry if I ever did have to claim!)

They haven't and will not send me proof of my NCB, which is 10 years! I am with Churchills now and told them of my 10 years NCB, I've even sent Churchills my NCB from Direct Line showing 10 years - but Churchills say i've been insured since that date, so need to see 1st Central's documentation - I have begged, I have pleaded with Churchill's, I have told them to call 1st Central and sit on the phone waiting for 3 hours for someone to answer THEM, so that they can see that it is physically impossible to get them to lift a bloody finger to do anything..Churchills, to their credit sat on the phone with them for 10 minutes on hold waiting and gave up but promised to keep trying over the next 2 days.

I called 1st centrals renewals line - immediate pick up, I demanded to speak with a manager - they said that the manager wont speak to me cos he can't help(!) and the customer services is on another floor - I said don't you dare transfer me to Customer Services 2 hour queue - HE said he had an internal line - and transferred me to claims who went back to the start of this paragraph. It's EASY to get their claims or renewals department, you cannot reach their customer services department. Claims said they would email Customer Services and get them to call me immediately - this was an hour and a half ago!

I have now resorted to sending their customer services email a message every 10 minutes, and logging every communication for use against them with trading standards, their ombudsman, or a private legal case if anything happens with my Churchill Policy...

In short, avoid this company, they are useless and could damage any NCB you previously hold, by breaking the link in the chain where they have to declare that you didn't have a claim!

Tom, your company is the WORST insurance company in the UK, nothing you say can change that and the evidence is plain to see from everyone posting here!

1jim

To be honest I don't really know what peoples problems are with this company
We have insured a couple of times with them, good price for the policy on each occasion, never had an issue at renewal when went elsewhere either
We have recently had an accident- someon else went into our parked car, called claims line to notify them of accident, answered phone efficiently and quickly, they checked we were ok etc. laid out options we had in terms of claiming, eg through out policy, through a claims handling company or direct through other insurers. We initially said we would claim through our policy as would be quicker.... They gave us good information and were getting garage to phone to arrange repair, we chatted to the other parties insurance who accepted liability, offered a better hire car than on our policy, so we are going with them. We contacted 1st central and told them we had changed mind, it was no trouble to them at all.

They strike me as an efficient company who in my experience have provided good customer care in a friendly and efficient manner, we were worried reading the reviews up here but in my experience my fears were unfounded. I would personally reccomend them to friends and colleagues.

Just wanted to post this as a counter view to a lot of the above posts

j0hn80y

My car insurance is due at the same time as my tax, I needed my insurance cert to take to the post office but as 1st central don't post one out I had to wait weeks, and phoned a number of times, for my online profile to update and have the documents, I ended up taxing my car oer the phone, which left me without a tax disc or a few days..
I also find it discusting how many charges they have.. I.e £25 for changing address! Really?

1jim

j0hn80y wrote: »

My car insurance is due at the same time as my tax, I needed my insurance cert to take to the post office but as 1st central don't post one out I had to wait weeks, and phoned a number of times, for my online profile to update and have the documents, I ended up taxing my car oer the phone, which left me without a tax disc or a few days..
I also find it discusting how many charges they have.. I.e £25 for changing address! Really?

Isn't the idea that you print of the insurance certificate yourself online? That's how mine worked, no bother

To me it seems easier to tax car on phone/ online, again no waiting in line etc, I think you have have a week or so that you are allowed to drive without displaying a taxdisc if it's been applied for online or on phone so again no biggy

Re charges, most companies charge for change of address etc, it's all in the policy documents which can be viewed before purchase, I'm not a fan of these charges either but most companies seem to charge.... And in fairness how often do you move/change car etc, I'm guessing the price quoted was more than £25 cheaper than the next policy so still quids in

drcbt1

i always find these threads interesting reading - most people will only add something when they've had a negative experience so unsurprisingly it comes across as a wholly disreputable company. It was the same with a Northern Irish insurance company I went with a few years ago and they proved to be OK.
This seems to be a simple question of economics - if you want to save money then this is the company to go for but you will have to work at it from your side. Or spend the extra with someone like DL get all the customer service and extras but pay another £225.00 which how much more they were than 1st Central's price.
I've gone with them because frankly I would rather have the money in my pocket rather than the Royal Bank of Scotland who own DL.
I've also phoned them already - got through after 2 mins and they were very polite and helpful so all good so far.

caela_2

The_Rambler wrote: »

Hi all,

I took out a so called "comprehensive" policy yesterday. When I got the docs, I was surprised to NOT see that you can drive other people's cars with their permission on a third party basis.

I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience with these guys, I'm sure we've all had a bust-up with our car insurance company at some point and I very much hope I never have to hate these guys, but in all honesty, I got a year of cover for £180 on TPFT and I am insured to drive other people's cars third party only. Can't imagine why they'd leave this out on comprehensive- are you sure you checked properly? I'm not being condescending, just that asking them won't help they have no idea, you have to go through your policy very carefully. Having said that, I still can't find any terms and conditions about the third party insurance on someone else's car and whether or not that car has to be insured by the owner, it's so annoying. They are telling me over the phone that it does, but then it's not in any of their information. I've not dealt with an insurance company that I'd sing the praises of yet, but for the price I went with them hoping I won't have the misfortune of having to deal with a claim.

dacouch

caela wrote: »

Having said that, I still can't find any terms and conditions about the third party insurance on someone else's car and whether or not that car has to be insured by the owner, it's so annoying. They are telling me over the phone that it does, but then it's not in any of their information. I've not dealt with an insurance company that I'd sing the praises of yet, but for the price I went with them hoping I won't have the misfortune of having to deal with a claim.

Their badly trained staff are miss informing you.

"If indicated by your Certificate of Motor Insurance, and whilst you are driving any other car, the Insurer will

cover you for any accident involving this car, for all amounts you are legally liable to pay if someone else is injured or killed or their property is damaged.The following conditions must be met for this cover to apply:

You must obtain prior permission from the owner of the car

You are still in possession of your car, and it has neither been damaged beyond economical repair nor
stolen

The other car is not owned by you (and is not a rental car, or hired to you under a hire purchase or
leasing agreement)

You are not named as a driver of the other car on any Certificate of Motor Insurance

You are not using this cover to remove the car in the event it has been seized by, or on behalf of, any
government or public authority

No greater level of cover is in force to cover you to drive the car under any other policy

Cover also applies to any accident involving injury or damage caused by a trailer, vehicle or caravan towed by"

Page 13 of their policy.

http://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/Documents/4.1v1.1%20PW%20010112_KCincluded_Key%20Cover_NLchanges.pdf

For a amusement, ask them to advise you exactly where it says in their policy that the other car must be insured

RHYSDAD

Copy of email to them after a frustrating day:

I've spent, on and off, an entire day trying to get through on your phone line which i can only presume is connected to a remote phone box in the outer reaches of the Mongolian Steppes. This may explain the fact that no matter how long you wait on hold, listening to a blatant rip off of Bittersweet Symphony, no one ever answers. Perhaps you employ a single person which might explain the lack of anyone ever being able to answer you. In nearly 19 years of driving and having to deal with the Motor Insurance Trade, I can honestly say that yours is the most futile company I have ever had the misfortune of parting my hard earned money with. I wouldn't say it's bad customer service, it's just non existent. Well I have to now spend another fruitless (and expensive) day calling that small phone box that is only ever answered once a decade when a local tribesman happens to pass, trying to gain my certificate of insurance that I don't have as whoever emailed it to me yesterday was using a potato to try and send it. !I can't tax my car now thanks to you.
I expect some response fairly quickly on the phone tomorrow although given past experience with 1st central I don't suppose I'll receive an answer to this email either.....

Wonder if I get a satisfactory response...