1st Central Car Insurance

A question about : 1st Central Car Insurance

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Anyone heard of or a policy holder of 1st Central ?

https://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/

I have never heard of them but they appear on a price comparison site and gave me a cracking quote!

When I went to their own site they gave me an even better quote, a 70% saving on renewal from my current insurer.

Apart from one review I found (which basically said crappy claims handling - but look hard enough and every insurer gets some criticism) I can't find anything else about them!

Anyone?

Bozo

Best answers:

• The Policy Wording is ok, they are based in Gibralter, which is not the end of the world but should be noted.
  Not sure what their claims are like though
• I just got their certificate of motor insurance through, but it looks a bit basic compared to my certificate from last year.. which is a bit worrying.
  I too therefore, would be interested to hear if anyone else has a policy with them and what their thoughts were.. thanks!
• The way the certificate is laid out and the wording of it is prescribed under UK Law, just because it is basic does not mean its a problem.
  If you ever want to check whether you are insured you can always use this website which is the database where current policies are logged. Its the database the police use to check your cover www.askmid.co.uk
• Not only do 1st Central Insurance leave out cover generally considered standard, as ellissa points out, they are completely hopeless if you find yourself needing to make a claim as I found out recently. One of the most annoying things I found was that even when dealing with a claim you have no option other than to use their 0870 type numbers which you find yourself on hold for ages. This company seems to operate with no consideration to their customers. Never again will I fall for the cheap trick companies like this make by undercutting proper insurance companies on the comparison websites by a few pounds - I'd advise everybody to steer clear.
• Im with 1st central and it took me a week of calling them to finally get thru to them to add another driver on to my policy.Im currently in the process of trying to buy a new car and so far have spent two days trying to call them to get a quote for the car i intend to buy.Constantly on hold,by the time i get thru the car may have been bought by someone else.I will def never use them again,yes it was cheap but i have probably spent more on phonecalls to their 0845 number
• Sorry Paul most UK Insurers are not based in Gibralter.
  There are a few of the new companies that are based in Gibralter. The reasons are not solely to do with the Tax side. It is more to do with the Gibralter Government are a lot more lax on regulating Insurance companies and have much lower capital requirements than the UK. It is also far quicker to set an Insurance company up in Gribalter (Due to the laxer rulers).
  It is because of the above that a lot of the smaller Insurers chose to be regulated in Gibralter.
  UK customers are still covered by the FSCS but like I said I personally take the Gibralter base into account when placing business as the Insurer has less overseeing and has a much lower capital requirement (Liquid cash in the bank) than a UK based Insurer.
  I believe they do not give DOCs to their customers
• Hi - I'm Tom - Head of Business Development at First Central Insurance Services.
  I'd like to address some of the issues raised on this forum. I'd like to apologise to those customers who have been left waiting on the telephone - Our UK Service provider is currently in the process of recruiting and training more agents and as a result we are already seeing improvements in service.
  I can confirm that our service provider has never used 0870 numbers -First Central uses an 0845 for our Claims Centre and this should be charged at local rate depending on your provider. As a result of these posts we have also conducted some research into this and there are actually a number of 'big names' who use the more expensive 0870 and 0871 numbers.
  With regards to the Gibraltar posts - The insurer is based there, as is the insurance intermediary. I can confirm that the insurer is covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme and regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, adhering to EU Law. In fact there are a number of large 'brand name' insurers who operate from Gibraltar.
  In addition, we are currently in the process of evaluating whether to include 'Driving Other Cars' as standard on policies.
  Please contact me on this forum if you need me to clarify anything.
  Kind regards,
  Tom
• Which brand names are they Tom? Zenith...
• Hi dacouch,
  I was thinking of organisations like Admiral (including Diamond and Elephant), Hastings and eCar.
  Regards,
  Tom
• Companies at the cheap and cheerful end of the market
• I also have had trouble getting through on the 0845 number.Also they are not recognising my max NCB from morethan and trying to charge extra as they say the ncb is only 6 years. I did not notice that there is no cover to drive other cars so I am now determined to cancel as I want a helpful car insurance company!
• UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!
  Despite reading the reviews on here, I read through the policy details and caled up to talk to the sales team at 1st Central. We were getting a really good deal and so I went ahead and purchased a car insurance policy. Done.... Happy...sorted. We were covered and could get on with driving in our lovely new car...
  That was 2 days ago.
  I have come home this evening to the following email: We are sorry to hear you no longer wish to continue your Insurance with 1st Central. Your Certificate of Motor Insurance should be returned to us immediately for cancellation. If you do not have this in your possession please complete, sign and return the Lost Certificate Declaration form which can be found on www.1stcentralinsurance.com.
  Baffled, I then did what anyone would do and call the customer service team, which as per the same document as above states: If you require any further assistance you can email us on policysupport@1stcentral.co.uk or alternatively call our Policy Support Team on 0845 194 9930. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday 08.00 – 21.00
  Were they open? Did I get a response? Was I able to clarify if I was still covered amidst the panic... NO! Not one of the numbers on their website worked and it is 7pm in the evening!? I got through to one number which is supposedly for "Making a Claim". In actual fact, it's nothing of the sort - the company I got through to is their out of hours message service... who are unable to pass on any messages.... nor do they have any access to any details on the 1st Central database... ????? They are only there "to deal with emergency call outs / breakdown" .......... I am absolutely LIVID!
  I now cannot get in touch with my partner who uis currently out IN THE CAR... and I have no idea if he is even covered as we speak.
  I am within my cooling off period and will be phoning them 1st thing (within hours obviously) to cancel... thankfully we ended up ony paying a deposit and not a full amount and hopefully it will not take long to get THAT back.. I fully intend to keep you posted, and in the meantime, STEER WELL CLEAR!!!!
• I just wish I'd gone with my initial gutt instinct... Direct Line was my 2nd choice... they're getting a call first thing!!!!
• In my experience Insurers registered in Gibralter are at the cheap and cheerful end of the scale...
• dear lord... I managed to get through to them ... after them not bothering to call me... and I was told this was purely down to an internal error - a total accident... now - imagine I had been driving around and something happened, and noather so called accident happened... I wouldn't have been covered... I didn't even have a chance to confirm that I was cancelling... they had already processed the cancellation!!! I am not going with Admiral who have been extremely helpful...
• This insurance company is top of the list of cheap policies on all the comparison sites. BUYER BEWARE You pay for your policy before you get access to the full details After paying and reading the small print I was informed that the car would "not be insured if left on the driveway overnight" and that the car would only be insured if I had "a thatcham approved" immobiliser. No other immobiliser would do. (THIS WAS NOT EVIDENT BEFORE THEY HAD MY PAYMENT DETAILS)My policy was therefor invalid before it started I immediately rang 1st central and asked them not to take payment. They refused and said it was too late the money had gone off my card. (lies - we all know that they only gain authorisation to take money from the CC company - they do not have to take the money!). They would not refund me until I returned the policy which would be in the post the following day. (they hadn't yet posted it out) The electronic copy sent to me was not good enough to return (they only communicate electronically)
  It took 2 weeks to get a refund - they did not refund the full value - they kept the credit card fee,Ј1.76 how sad- great for the P.R though I had to return my documents recorded delivery and made Ј5.00 of phone calls. They were very rude and even suggested that as my car was not a porsche or similar expensive car that the "thatcham issue" would not matter. sure it wouldn't - I can guess that when or if I tried to make a claim that the policy exclusions would "not matter". Stay away I got burnt by this "company" insurance comparison sites should not entertain them they give the industry a bad name. They are quick to try and defend their actions but their actions are indefensable. (see above) PLEASE DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY They are boring tiresome and tedious to deal with. Pay a few quid more and get the real deal or you will have to waste more time moaning about them as I have done. (and yes I do have a life! )
• My friend is having trouble with this company at the moment. She was in an accident a week ago and tried to get through to claims for 4 days. She would be on hold for half an hour then it would disconnect. When she finally got through they told her they would get someone to contact her the next day with a time that they would be over to collect the car and take it to the garage. As yet she has had no call and she is waiting for them to get back to her with a courtesy car. This has gone on far too long. She works full time and has a small child. She needs the car to get around as she is far from her work and the shops.
  Also, i used to work for a big insurance company and i was surprised when my friend showed me what they sent through the post in regards to her policy. Just a certificate! She has no idea what the cover is on her policy cos it doesn't state it on the cert and the excesses are not shown either. There is also no policy documents with terms and conditions. I have never had a policy nor sent one out that has less than 10 pages with it. I've told her she should cancel the policy at renewal and go elsewhere, even if she has to pay more. This company are a shambles and i would tell anyone to avoid at all costs.
• Its strange how Tom who claims to represent 1st Central on MSE has been very quiet recently when we have been having a lot of complaints about them taking ages and ages to answer their phones etc. He is obviously logging on and reading the posts and was last logged on the 5th October 2009...
  Tootsieloop try sending a personal message to Tom by clicking on this link and sending him a personal message Tom1stCentral
  It would be nice if he came on here or even sent personal messages to the people with problems on MSE, oh and employed some more staff to answer their phones.
  Come on Tom, prove me wrong that Insurers based in Gibralter tend to be cheap and cheerfull...
• i was pulled over by the police last night the reason being my insurance came up on their system as "a bit strange" the policeman was not convinced i was insured but i asured him i was he checked the usual personnel details and let me go but i felt a bit puzzled so decided to check my policy and realised the problem may be where the company is based, i dont have a good feeling about all of this thats why i checked the forum as i drive for a living and being caught uninsured could cost me my job i will be checking there breakdown and claim numbers to see if i get through if not CANCEL!!!!