anyone got 1st central car insurance?

maddude16

NEVER use first central.

We are going through a complete non fault claim with them right now and all they are doing is hassling us daily for the courtesy car back whilst offering hundreds less than my written off car is worth.

We didn't even agree to payment and I was informed cheque is in the post; absolute waste of space. It's at the level now where I'm actually going to visit their office in Sussex and see if they treat customers like pieces of !!!! to their faces.

faizhussain

Hi, 1st central does do the cover now and on the website it states "If you are 25 or over then in a majority of cases we will cover you to drive other cars, although please note that there are some exceptions to this rule, for example some occupations will not be covered."

I got the policy when I was 24 and now I am 25, so I rang the company and asked if I was insured to drive other vehicles at third party (to double check) and they told me that they would need to make a change to my policy, so there would be a £30 admin charge! I have recently made a change online and was charged an admin fee for that too.

BBC One - Watchdog Daily which shows you some insurance companies which have much cheaper admin charges, and if you do them online some companies are even free!

Just as a warning, please be aware that every time you make a change there will be a further extortionate admin charge! I will be leaving for a different company when it comes to the renewal of my policy.

Also after reading several reviews about this company I would strongly advise people to stay away from this company.

kitrat

Oh my goodness, was just about to insure my car with this company as they are a mile cheaper on the comparison website, but just the briefest glimpse of this thread has turned me away!!

joannef_3

I had 1st central insurance and my advice is STEER CLEAR. Told my husband that he would be insured 3rd party on other vehicles then after payment said that this was incorrect, then charged him £50 cancellation fee even though thep policy was less than 20mins old!
I sold my car and cancelled my policy and was asked for £82 fee, I asked for a breakdown, but never heard froma anyone only to find that rather than rectify the problem they passed it onto a debt collection agency! Never dealt with such poor customer service or awful company. PAY THE EXTRA, they're cheaper for a reason!

Barnes

Please do not buy from this company!! Just recently had an accident and almost got arrested due to having no insurance!?!? Luckily because I made such a fuss to the police saying that the their data base was wrong I was given a producers note! So I called them up the next morning and sorted the insurance, was a massive mistake on their side and promised to fix it all up, which hasn't been done!! I have been trying to get certificate of insurance emailed to me so I can then print it off and take it to the police station. I received the email today and my bloody registration was one digit short, my patience has gone with this company, one the claim and what not has been sorted I'll be cancelling the policy and will never be returning to them. They will say what you want to hear over the phone but will do nothing about the claim off of the phone, awful company!!

Beergander

Hi, I wanted to share my experience of using 1st Central. After renewing my wife's policy there was a small issue, this turned into a bigger issue with constant emails, letters and threats of policy cancellation even though I was responding over the Christmas period and I had a problem getting checker code from DVLA. In the end I decided that I wanted nothing more to do with them - However this involves a £50 non refundable setup fee, a £50 cancellation fee and a £50 admin fee (to change licence issue date from 01/12/1985 to 24/06/1986). Regardless of this I'm leaving them and will never do business with them again. Buyer beware of small print and ridiculous charges...

prettymumma

My experience of 1st Central is steer clear!!
The info I sent over from confused.com was incorrect. When I tried to cancel they wouldnt let me as the policy holder name was different. Various emails and calls later and I'm still trying to resolve it. Customer service give you different advice each time and when you question it, you are made out to be lying. They are also quite aggressive and won't let you speak.
I wouldnt touch them with a bent barge pole!

Emgee71

DO NOT USE 1ST CENTRAL

Long story short - they have been taking nearly £40 a month from me for over a year for a policy I ended in February 2015. Yes I know I should have seen it before they sent me a renewal notice to keep doing it (that's another story) but having checked I definitely ended the policy plus I have found old emails from them asking me to click and return an agreement for them to keep the policy going after I ended it (in a junk folder of course) which of course I never clicked and sent back. That might be their mistake which gets me the money back.

Now waiting over 45 minutes to get through via WeQ4u and they hang up when they hear its a call via that app.

An absolute f* shower of c*s that I will pursue with zeal. W*kers

Simplyfrooty

ABSOLUTELY,worst car insurance I have ever come across,and I have been driving for 20 years,I don't know how they get away with it..ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING service

Cal.logi

1st Central are a joke. I've been phoning them for 2 weeks after receiving my settlement offer 3 weeks after the accident. They have contacted me once, on a Saturday. They claim they require me to have a conference call with them and the DVLA to check my licence, I had no problem with this but of course they call me on the day the DVLA are closed. (Is it standard to check my licence in order for me to be sent my cheque, or is this a delay tactic?) I've tried phoning them countless times and sit on hold for 20 minutes - an hour. I've been hung up on before, credit has ran out, and the one time I actually got through to someone, the DVLA office was closed after me waiting 50 minutes. I've sent several emails in the past 2 weeks and have not received a response. This company has, by far the worst customer service I've ever experienced. The last person I was speaking to was claiming the conference call was the only thing left to do on my end, I asked is that DEFINITELY all that's required and she said they hadn't received the valuation yet, which is ridiculous, as the only other person I was speaking to agreed with the valuation quote I had received in the post. The agent must have said, 'I don't know' at least three times, to simple questions, which is clearly just a way of not providing definitive answers. It's a disgrace that these companies can get away with leaving people in the dark for months whilst the little guy gets charged fees if a payment is late or one piece of information is incorrect. I plan to sit on a friend's landline tomorrow for as long as it takes to get through to them, but I've already spent well over £60 trying to get through to them. I also asked if i could be called back due to hold times and how expensive it is for me to call them. (I don't have a landline) The agent had a perfectly rehearsed response, 'We can't guarantee that, it depends how busy we are'. I could go on all day about this company, they have no regard for any of their customers and the most pathetic thing about it is, we have to just sit there and take it. I wonder if I didn't pay my insurance would they phone me and sit on hold for an hour only to be hung up on. I can't even go to the ombudsman until 8 weeks after an official complaint to them! It's ridiculous, my whole life gets put on hold because I can't replace my vehicle. Avoid this company at all costs, seriously! I'd sooner pay double the amount for a decent service than take their cheap way of making you legal on the road, 'cuz that's all they do.