Well, it's that time of year again, and last years insurer sent me a letter saying that they would re-insure my car for me and bill me on my credit card automatically. I didn't need to do anything. If I wanted to make different arrangements, I should give them a call.

Looks reasonable doesn't it ?

However, I'd changed credit card companies in the meantime, so the card details they had were invalid. As I couldn't get through on the phone, I decided to go online to see if I could change details there.

No joy, so I re-entered my details to get a new quote. Surprise surprise, it was cheaper. Why ? because an online quote gets an online discount, not so for the automatic renewal .

Paranoia gripped me, as did the rage I felt when I (involuntarily) gave up smoking, so I made use of confused.com, moneysupermarket.com, gocompare, etc, etc, etc.

Result: (Full comprehensive cover)

Automatic renewal quote:- £389.55

After searching:- £180.42

The only interesting point in the phone call to cancel the automatic renewal was that I practiced diplomacy. Now then, what should I do with the 200+ quid I saved.....