In little more than a decade 1st Central has grown to the point where it has over half a million customers and can boast top ratings from independent financial analysts for its customer service and policies.
Defaqto: 5/5 stars & 3/5 stars (depending on policy)
1st Central Legal, Plus and Premier car insurance policies were awarded five stars by Defaqto, the independent financial research company. Only the 1st Central Value policy scored three stars.
TrustPilot: 4.5/5 stars
TrustPilot has given 1st Central a rating of 4.5 out of five based on 14,759 customer reviews, giving the insurer an ‘excellent’ rating. Breaking it down, 71% rated 1st Central as excellent, 13% reckoned it was great, and at the other end of the scale, 12% said it was bad.
Unlike many others in the market, 1st Central concentrates purely on providing car insurance. The broker employs 600 staff and operates out of four locations, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Sussex and Manchester.
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1st Central car insurance offers cover that will suit many drivers, but those with the following needs might like to pay special attention, as it could be ideal:
if you have young children and welcome the benefit of child car seat cover
if you have expensive in-car entertainment which might not normally be covered
if you are concerned about being involved in a claim involving an uninsured driver
if you want car key cover, which will ensure your locks would also be replaced if you suffer this type of lock
In the summer of 2020 1st Central announced that it was to use Shift Technology’s Force fraud detection solution to identify suspicious behaviours in both insurers’ applications and claims processes.
Paul Priestley, counter fraud director at 1st Central said: "Identifying fraud quickly ensures we can protect our honest customers, and as fraud continues to evolve, it's extremely important that we have the technology to keep one step ahead of fraudsters."
The Financial Ombudsman Service received fewer than 10 complaints about 1st Central motor insurance in the first half of 2020. To put that in context, 67 firms had 10 or more complaints each and those totalled 4,550 complaints. Nearly 200 firms had fewer than 10 each, sharing just 479 complaints between them.
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