To be annoyed about my car insurance renewal letter?

[Hatespiders]

I've been with the same insurers for ages. Same car, nothing's changed except I'm a year older. Their renewal quote arrived and there's an enormous hike in the price. I mean very big. I've been on some comparison sites and found several a bit cheaper, but I thought I'd ring my present company to see what they'd say. A very nice chap said 'he'd see what he could do'. Fiddled about and then came up with my original price and even reduced the excess!
He was lovely but sounded as if he was doing me a big favour 'because I've been their customer for a long time'. I thanked him politely and accepted the new, much smaller payment, which I've always paid. I'm talking about a difference of about £180 per year.
AIBU to be very annoyed that these insurance companies do this? If I'd been daft (well, I may well be, but not that daft!) I'd just have let them renew automatically at this huge increase. I'm not cross with the telephone chap because he's only doing his job, and he was really kind and jolly. But I wonder how many customers they lose like this, as many folk now use comparison websites. I could also have got a little Meerkat toy for our neighbours' young family!

friend had his renewal same price but some of the details were wrong, they had his son down as a student and his daughter down as his partner so he rang to alter the detail... price went up by £160 he was what?? its the same people no change but they would not change it so he told the to fuck off no thanks and got it elsewhere for even less than his original price.

I suppose I'm considered a very low risk. My car is in our locked garage all night. I have never ever had an accident or made a claim. Our postcode is in a tiny village with a crime level of zero. I only do about 3000 miles per annum maximum and I'm retired. My present insurers have now got the premiums down to £11 per month. My dh (who drives a slightly bigger car and goes to work in it) got his down too, to £25 per month. So we've stayed with the original company. But what a blooming hassle.

I've just seen Safari Olegs for sale on ebay. I so wish I had enough money to buy one for our friends down the road, their 3 little ones would explode again!

We had a joint car policy, it went up from 800 to 900, rang insurer but they wouldn't budge. Did separate policies on a price comparison site and saved £350 - both with original insurer. Bonkers.

I think they do this hoping that many of their customers (older ones in particular) don't have access to the internet, so that they will accept the written renewal without question.

My dad is a case in point. He, like a PP parents, believed that his loyalty ensured that his insurers would discount him year on year - but they didn't. As he's never even turned a computer on, he had nothing to compare it to.

One day he was talking about how his car insurance had gone up yet again, so I offered to compare it online. I got him a drop of over £300 for the same cover.

I now do the car, house, breakdown, everything for them!