anyone got 1st central car insurance?

dacouch

Lily_tiger wrote: »

I'm with 1st Central. Thought they were ok until I made a claim!! My daughter is in a wheelchair so have an adapted car. It was set fire to and 1st Central agreed to carry out £6700 of work rather than pay out £10000 and write the car off. That was six months ago and I still have no car. Estimated arrival time of parts is mid march, but this has been set back twice. They rarely update me. Finally had enough and rang today to say I can't cope any more. My daughter has been housebound for the last six months and can't possibly cope until march. She is terminally ill and has had no life to speak of for the last six months. I begged for them to offer us any kind of help but they inform me they are fulfilling their obligation and there's nothing more they need to do. I cannot even bare to ring them anymore, they disgust me!

Have a read of this link http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

and especially this section.

"15. loss of use and courtesy cars

Usually the policyholder is entitled to a courtesy car only where the policy specifically provides for it. Even where the policy does provide for a courtesy car, this will usually be in limited circumstances (for example, whilst repairs are carried out by a repairer approved by the insurer) that do not apply where a vehicle is "written-off". This often comes as a surprise and disappointment to the policyholder.

Usually we only award the policyholder compensation for loss of use of the vehicle where the insurer unreasonably delays, or wrongly declines, the claim. Exceptionally, we may say that the insurer should compensate the policyholder for loss of use where:

the insurer’s overall presentation of the policy gave the consumer a legitimate expectation that a courtesy car (or compensation for loss of use) would be provided; or
the claim was badly administered (for example, the insurer initially took the car to be repaired, delayed several weeks and then decided it was a "write-off" after all).
Where we consider it fair for the insurer to compensate the policyholder for loss of use:

If the policyholder hired a car for this period, we might require the insurer to refund the hire-car charges (plus interest).
If the policyholder did not hire a car, we might require the insurer to pay compensation for other reasonable transport expenses incurred plus inconvenience caused by lack of a car.
If we award compensation for inconvenience caused by lack of a car, we tend to award around £10 per day, if it had a material effect on the policyholder, and depending on the individual circumstances – for example, whether the policyholder had "free" access to another vehicle, availability of public transport etc."

What sort of car is it and is their a reasonable explanation as to why it's taken so long?

Clever15624

Never again will I go with this company they never reply to messages left or emails? But state you will get a reply in 2 says still waiting since October for a reply? Only contact you when it involves money. Was also made by them to accept liability against a claim when it wasn't my fault they more aless said its in my best interest to accept as i will come out worst off in the long run. So someone's got a nice big whiplash pay out for a crash that never happened beware of this company

1jim

I wonder if there is a record for a company attracting the highest number of first time posters? If there is I would like to nominate 1st central for that award

Tow_Mater

I would just like to add my complaints about 1st Central. They haven't done anything horrendous to me, but all I would say is they give relatively cheap quotes but you get what you pay for and there are hidden extra costs.

Issues:
My wife bought from the cheapest quote on a comparison site. Cancelled 47 days later as our beloved 15 year old car was scrapped. Shocked to find lots of fees deducted when the policy was refunded.
£50 taken as set-up fee, £50 taken for cancellation fee and £54 for legal that was part of the price even though no choice was given over inclusion.

Also very weird time trying to get through to them on the phone. Option 1 "Payments, Direct Debits, and Refunds" I press one and the only two options are "Someone's finance company (I can't remember the name) Press One, 1st Central Finance Press Two"....that's it, I paid by credit card and had no finance but no other options are given. In today's time and technology this is weak, amateurish and a great example of you get what you pay for.

Don't give your money to the lowest bidder.
I would not use this company again.

1jim

All those charges were, to be fair, visible before taking out the policy.

Most companies will charge fees if you cancel the policy.

BigJam

Thank you 1st central for being the only company that strathclyde police have found that does not allow drivers over 25 to drive other cars 3rd party. As a result of this small oversight, i am now subject to a procurator fiscal hearing to determine if im getting 6 points or not. all of this whilst driving my grampas car to the parts store to fix a headlight whilst he was in hospital. And as for your customer service team.... the fine gentleman on the phone unsympathetically told me ' its because you are not in employment but a student' and finished off his statement with ' look mate theres not much i can do about it, its just the way it is' i swear to god as soon as i can afford to im off to another company you complete weasels.

Quentin

You cannot blame your insurer after getting caught driving uninsured.

When you received your certificate you seemingly didn't check it!

And don't forget a policeman is not trained or an expert in insurance companies and their policies. So never rely on their views on the subect. (his advice doesn't sound too good a defence either).

Be prepared for a big premium loading as insurers take a dim view of uninsured drivers.

Rolandtheroadie

I'm currently TPFT with 1st central for a second year.

Both years I've asked if I could add driving other cars and both times they said no.

I've also changed cars mid term both years, and the new certificates have DOC on them.

1jim

BigJam wrote: »

Thank you 1st central for being the only company that strathclyde police have found that does not allow drivers over 25 to drive other cars 3rd party. As a result of this small oversight, i am now subject to a procurator fiscal hearing to determine if im getting 6 points or not. all of this whilst driving my grampas car to the parts store to fix a headlight whilst he was in hospital. And as for your customer service team.... the fine gentleman on the phone unsympathetically told me ' its because you are not in employment but a student' and finished off his statement with ' look mate theres not much i can do about it, its just the way it is' i swear to god as soon as i can afford to im off to another company you complete weasels.

So you drove a car you were not insured to drive and it's your insurance companies fault?
I think you may find that a few insurance companies do not provide cover for driving other cars third party. If your relative was in hospital did they consent to you "just popping" it to the garage for them as the police could have done you for that as well

hollin

I phoned these clowns on the 2nd June to ask how much it would cost to cancel my policy as my car had majorly failed it's MOT. I was told £80. I told them not to cancel it and I would phone them back once I knew what I was doing with the car.

On the 5th of June I received a letter stating that as I had informed them that I no longer had the car that they would cancel my insurance and I would have to pay a cancellation fee of £50. I phoned them to tell them that I hadn't told them I had sold my car and I was told by the !!!!!! on the phone that I must have, otherwise I wouldn't have received the letter. I told him to listen to a recording of the conversation and I was called back the following day and told that my insurance was still valid.

On the 21st June I phoned them again and actually cancelled my insurance and was told by the person on the phone to cancel my direct debit (due out on the 27th June) and somebody would phone me after the 27th with yet another new cancellation fee.

A few days later I received a letter saying that they had been informed that my direct debit had been cancelled with my bank and a default charge of £30 would be applied if the money didn't go out. I phoned them again and informed them that one of their reps told me to cancel it. I was then told, as a one off, the default fee would be waived on this occasion (how very kind of them).

Last week I received a phone call to tell me that my new cancellation fee would be £96. I was at work so I told him I didn't have my bank card so couldn't pay it.

I phoned them yesterday (as they never replied to an email I sent 4 days ago) to ask why I have been told 3 different cancellation fees and how did they work out £96 and was given some !!!!!!!! about as my direct debit never went out on the 27th June some of that is taken into account, even though I cancelled it on the 21st and also there is a set-up fee and legal expenses fee that goes in to the calculation also.

I ended up having a big argument with the arrogant !!!! on the end of the phone and told him I wasn't paying £96 and I'd give them £50 as per their terms and conditions and slammed the phone down.

Where do I stand with this?? Should I just pay the £96??