My recent renewal (with Liverpool Victoria) was £340 for a 2002 Audi A4 and £260 for a 1987 240 Volvo Estate - still a hike on last year's figures but not as bad as some I've heard of.

The most recent farce was with the RAC (UK car breakdown company). The March 2011 renewal cost was £180 - for a member of 20+ years. At the same time, they were offering new members a full RAC membership for around £100 as an incentive. So I phoned them up and said that it wasn't fair that long-standing members with little use of the servoce should pay so much more than new members - and that I was going to change to the AA. They immediately offered to reduce it to £120 - which I accepted!

I'm told that, on average, car insurance rates have risen by 37% over 2010 rates. Best to really ask around but, of course, the really cheap quotes are usually accompanied by a hefty excess...