1st Central Insurance - Haywards Heath

Gideon M.

These guys are absolute crooks. I’m irritated with myself that I didn’t read the other reviews before going with them. They tried to add extras on at their own will, without permission so i cancelled. Now they’re trying to charge me cancellation fees and 2 set of admin fees for cancelling. We’ve started the process of escalating to the regulator - I’ll do everything I can to work with the FCA to ensure others aren’t scammed like I’ve been. Avoid at all costs.

callum M.

If you fancy being scammed by your own insurance company when asking for a free quote on your renewal, 1st central are the ones for you.

I have been insured for nearly a year now and my insurance is due to renew. I've been looking around for a more fuel efficient family friendly car, as you do. Called my current insurance provider 1st central to see if they could give me a renewal quote for a different vehicle to my current one, the lady on the phone didn't have a clue about cars (this isn't an issue I know but when someone tells you it's a 2L petrol and then the follow up question is "what's the engine capacity and fuel type" and you go around again explain 2L is the capacity and it's petrol and then you get asked is it 2000. Confused I asked the call handler "do you mean what CC it is?" safe to say it just got more painful.) but she was nice enough.

Went through the motions and got to a point where the lady said I needed to pay £16.39 so she could view the quote. I was confused as most people would be after asking for a free quote, 10 minutes of questioning and disputing this i had given in and accepted her explanation ( I had already been on the phone for an hour and twenty by this point)

Once payment came through she went on to inform me that everything had been updated and my insurance had now doubled on my current vehicle. Baring in mind I'm 2 weeks away from renewal date and have already paid it off in full and was on the phone getting a FREE QUOTE on a NEW VEHICLE.

Not only was I robbed of nearly 2 hours of my time, conned into paying an admin fee for something that hasn't changed at all, I still never got my bloody quote for the new car I was thinking of getting.

Going on compare the market now and if 1st central are the cheapest I'm refusing to go with them.

JOKE COMPANY.

Alice

Now I've finally got my refund back (and I seem to be one of the few lucky ones...) I'm happy to post an honest review... as I'm sure a lot of their customers did, I chose 1st central after finding them as the cheapest on comparison sites. Everything seemed OK for the first couple of weeks until I got an email from them stating I owed an extra amount (can't remember exactly but it was between £300 and £400 which almost doubles what I was paying annually) I called them to find out what these extra costs were about. Aparently, most of the details I'd given them regarding myself and my partner (who was a named driver on my policy) were wrong and they'd had to change them.. I have no idea where they think they found the information but some of them were clearly made up.. for instance, they were claiming my partner past his driving test in 2021, but accepted that he had made an insurance claim in 2018, which was 3 years before they were stating he had even passed? (He had actually passed in 2013 which is what I had originally put!) There was plenty more which were all wrong and completely contradicting... I was on the phone to them for way too long, constantly being put on hold and each time they got back to me, they'd knock a little bit off my "outstanding balance" but were still trying to charge me for their mistakes and argue that I was wrong.. After lots of back and forth, they wiped this and agreed that what I originally put was right but then told me I had to pay a new balance which was "admin fees" to change details. What they were changing was putting things back to what I originally put! Ofcourse I refused to pay for their mistakes and again was placed on a long hold and this was agreed. I pay annually for my car insurance and half way through the policy, I sold my car so I called the company so I could cancel my insurance. At the beginning of this call, I explained I'd sold the car the day before so needed to cancel. The person I spoke to, was clearly reading a script and was also told to try and keep the customers with the company. Even though I explained I had already sold the car, she was trying to put me off leaving by stating things like, I would loose my breakdown cover (which was only applicable to the car that I had just sold) so again, explained I wouldn't need the breakdown cover on a car I don't own. She then told me I'd also loose my windscreen cover- again I asked why would I want cover for it as I don't own the car. After a lot of back and forth, I did manage to convince her that I definitely needed to cancel my policy and she finally listened to what I wanted. They said it could take up to 10 days for the refund to come through and I've finally got it within that time frame (just about) but from reading reviews, I see I'm a minority and one of the lucky ones. After reading other reviews, the one thing I'm thankful for is that I never had to made a claim as it seems like its easier to get blood from a stone. I will never trust this company again and I actively tell others to avoid them and share my experience. I would say with their price, you get what you pay for but even that would be too generous!

Shawn H.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.. if they were the last insurance company in the world, I still wouldn't use them. Absolutely useless. Couldn't even been bothered to send out an assessor to view my car so I had to send them over a hundred pictures.
Had to do half the work myself.
Then just to insult us they run us up and after offered us pittance for my car.
After I told them it was a limited edition and only limited numbers were made. Did they listen? No.
If they phone again with a silly offer, I'll be contacting the financial ombudsman regarding their code of conduct.
At this rate I'll be cancelling all my policies with them and going elsewhere. I do not deserve my money..

Aneesha K.

Below-Par Customer Experience and Service Standards

Our recent interactions with this car insurance provider have been highly unsatisfactory. The overall customer service experience falls significantly short of industry expectations. Several advisors demonstrated limited English communication skills, which created unnecessary barriers to resolving simple queries efficiently.

In addition, representatives frequently requested irrelevant personal information, raising concerns about process understanding and data handling protocols. Such practices not only waste time but also undermine customer confidence.

The lack of professionalism, inconsistency in responses, and poor issue ownership reflect a clear gap in staff training and service quality management. For an organisation operating within the financial and insurance sector, these shortcomings are concerning and do not align with the level of trust and clarity customers expect.

A comprehensive review of communication standards, employee training, and service procedures is strongly recommended to restore customer faith and operational credibility.

Deborah S.

Wish I'd read the reviews. DO NOT TOUCH THIS COMPANY. Paid 1st instalment then they asked for proof of no claims which I uploaded, over 35yrs no claims and said to call after. So I did, and they said some details incorrect, which they weren't, and said extra £280 would you like to pay now, I said no way I can't afford it. Asked for manager callback got call from Jordan who sounded like 12yrs old, no sense at all I have to now cancel policy he said we'll waive the £50 cancellation charge how decent as its their cock up? But I still have to pay £75. No chance. I have referred to ombudsman. They should be removed from the comparison websites I will be contacting them. This company are disgusting parasites and have caused me massive stress if I could give minus stars then I would

B C.

If i could give zero stars i would, offered me more on my renewal price and then said they cant match or beat a competitor, cancelled my auto renewal and still taken money from my account to be told i have to wait ten days for the refund to even be returned they unwillingly taking out my bank without authorisation.

Avoid these scam artists.

Abdessalem C.

Terrible really terrible. Bad customer service. Long waiting time more than 1 hour and 20 minutes. To speak with rude and unhelpful manager. They do not care. I told them I am going to write bad feedback your right. In another way we don't care. I'm so unhappy with them service. I'm appealing to anyone received bad service to complain and write bad feedback. Too expensive. Too bad