I've just been amazed for my own renewal just what the differences are. I had been with my broker for over thirty years (initially he was one of the few who could get a reasonable deal for a policy to cover getting to gigs, as long as I was a member of EFDSS or the Scottish Dance society, or something of that sort) and had just assumed he had got me the best deal. When the premium came through this year (on a car in a low insurance group, with no accidents in the past three years or so and me in the prime of driving condition) it was very high, so I started looking. And for precisely the same cover I was astounded by the difference in cost. I didn't go for the cheapest, but went for a company that was recommended by a colleague, and I saved around £450.

Apparently these days it's common for companies to keep increasing the rate to their regular customers and offer cheap deals to newcomers ... but that makes very little sense to me. Oh well. The broker, apparently, didn't have access to these same quotations (but why on earth not?) so I have reluctantly moved away from that company (no longer a single person operation anyway). It feels reckless, but hey, it's saving me money!