1st Central car insurance - good or bad?

snowmen

Hi,
My car insurance renewal has gone up a fair bit with nothing new happening in the last year.
I have done all the normal recommended stuff and rung my current provider back which resulted in the renewal price being reduced a bit.
In my car insurance searches 1st Central are coming up a fair bit cheaper but seem to have mixed reviews.
Does anyone have any experience of them good or bad?

SaverRate

Sister in law was with them for 2 years. 1st year on renewal they reduced the renewal after asking. 2nd year renewal they didnt so she moved.

She never claimed but when they had their live chat they seemed helpful, this seems to have gone now though? 

DullGreyGuy

Search on here or the insurance sub-forum... plenty of people have opinions.

They are one of those brokers that go through your application with a fine tooth comb after you buy and ask you to send evidence like images of your V5 or driving license. If you say you passed your test 18 months ago but the image shows you passed 16 months ago then they will charge you for adjusting your policy (or cancelling if you dont like the new premium). As long as all your answers are 100% correct this isnt a problem but many people are lax, other sellers ignore minor inaccuracies but these guys dont. 

Those that have made errors (or worse, dont send the requested info) tend to have a very negative opinion. 

snowmen

DullGreyGuy said:

Search on here or the insurance sub-forum... plenty of people have opinions.

They are one of those brokers that go through your application with a fine tooth comb after you buy and ask you to send evidence like images of your V5 or driving license. If you say you passed your test 18 months ago but the image shows you passed 16 months ago then they will charge you for adjusting your policy (or cancelling if you dont like the new premium). As long as all your answers are 100% correct this isnt a problem but many people are lax, other sellers ignore minor inaccuracies but these guys dont. 

Those that have made errors (or worse, dont send the requested info) tend to have a very negative opinion. 

Good advice there.
Didn't even factor that in tbh!

huntersam

They asked me for additional information after taking the first payment. I sent what I thought they had asked for but despite constantly requesting more detailed information they continued to bombard me with automated e mails asking again and again for the same information. I accepted the fact that I may have made an error in the photocopies I sent (I'm 82 for God's sake) but not only did they ignore the requests I made but I also knew that they were lying about still asking for a DVLA code which I enclosed with the original e mail which they acknowledged receipt of. I lost any sort of trust with this company and cancelled. Needless to say they are now issuing threatening e mails which I intend to contest. I know a lot of people have found this company good to deal with when opening an account but I wonder how many have had good experiences when making a claim.