1st Central Insurance Thieves

kat_ya_ya

Does anybody know if 1st Central Insurance still in business? My insurance with them has expired but they sent me a wrong NCB. I am trying to contact them, but all their telephone numbers are "temporarily out of order" and customer service email is "unmonitored". Makes me worry...

jdm01

I think they are in Business, they sent me a cancellation email this morning for my Car Insurance even though my policy does not finish until Feb 2014.

No reason (eg payments / NCD etc), just an email out of the blue and now I cannot contact them! I think something weird is going on.

J

Prothet_of_Doom

I had all three cars with them at one time, but their refusal to insure a 17 year old, caused me to move at the next renewal. 2 cars now with Aviva and one via Flux (it's a classic)

dacouch

kat_ya_ya wrote: »

Does anybody know if 1st Central Insurance still in business? My insurance with them has expired but they sent me a wrong NCB. I am trying to contact them, but all their telephone numbers are "temporarily out of order" and customer service email is "unmonitored". Makes me worry...

They have had issues with the telephones and / or emails before with their computer system down for a few days fairly recently

weejonnie

You may be interested in clause 9.13

"If, following an accident, you or anyone named in the Certificate of Motor Insurance is convicted of driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or has a blood or urine alcohol content in excess of the legal limit, or refuses to supply a breath, blood or urine sample when required to do so, the insurer’s liability will be limited to the cover required under the Road Traffic Act and the insurer reserves the right to recover that amount from you."

IMHO this is a very severe restriction - in effect it states that if you happen to be drunk (bear in mind this is the Christmas party season) and are prosecuted then the insurance company will not indemnify you.

I don't for one minute countenance driving under the influence but this is a very unusual policy term.

There is also a specific exclusion should the vehicle not have a valid MOT - again this is atypical - most insurers will still pay for loss or damage under such circumstances.

Two other factors 1) 1st Central is an insurance intermediary based in Gibraltar 2) The policy wording does not include the name of the insurer.

The fact that 1st Central hasn't changed the fact that they are now (presumably) regulated by the FCA rather than the FSA on the website is probably just carelessness - although I think they are passed the limit of time.

vaio

I think drink/drug get outs are pretty common these days

Quentin

weejonnie wrote: »

.......There is also a specific exclusion should the vehicle not have a valid MOT - again this is atypical - most insurers will still pay for loss or damage under such circumstances.

It isn't unusual to find "reputable" companies put this unenforceable condition in their policies, (eg morethan, rac, marks and Spencer, swiftcover (axa) etc etc).

So it's far from "atypical" to see it in these policies.

The insurance industry should have sorted this out, but haven't. You haven't helped by telling us that only "most" insurers will pay out when no MOT exists. In fact none can use no MOT as a reason not to pay out, which is the message you should be delivering here as a broker yourself!

They know it's unenforceable, but when the big names cynically stick it in their policies, then why you picking on this minnow? (Who maybe just copied some other companies policy conditions anyway?)

Thanks to posters on mse who regularly attempt to prolong the myth that no mot means insurance is void this the problem continues.

You sure all the policies you sell are clear of this clause which no doubt many gullible policyholders meekly accept when one of these companies tries it on? You certainly will find drink exclusions widespread, though what's wrong with that?