I dunno if this has been mentioned here before but I haven't seen it and it may help some of you in the future.
I moved to AAInsurance last year as they are the cheapest for me and quite possibly the cheapest for many. Now to be honest I'd been with them for a couple of years prior to this with a one year break when I went to Direct Line. The reason I switched was that the AA were somewhat more expensive than Direct Line when the renewal notice came in. These companies also offer a discount for 'new' customers, 10% in the case of the AA.
Well I got my renewal yesterday and it was for £514.95. Considering last years premium was £350 and there was no change in circumstances, no accidents, no nothing I was pretty unhappy about this! 16 years no-claims and I get a rise of almost £165!!!! I didin't expect it to get cheaper but christ, that's scandalous!
I duly phoned up and gave the girl hell about this (not literally, I did tell her I understood it wasn't her fault) and I told her I could go to Direct Line with the same cover for £487. I wasn't happy with that quote either but I digress....
Basically, the girl advised me to cancel the renewal and go to the AA website and start a new policy. I've been and done that, new policy is £401.02. Paid it online, documents in post in next day or two. I dunno who that girl was and I hope she doesn't get in deep s*it for telling me that!
The moral of the story is this. Don't accept the renewal quote as the best quote you're gonna get, go back to the same site and request a quote and quite probably be amazed! And yes, obviously check others too but don't accept the renewal quote without checking out whether you could do better as a 'new' customer. :P
Dave