You want HOW MUCH?!

I got my car insurance renewal today... it went from about £500 last year to almost £1200!!!
I thought £500 was a bit steep, but today's little bombshell had me threatening to flog the car. It's not exactly the world's sportiest device, and I am not exactly the Stirling Moss of the local chapter of Hell's Grannies... how the heck did this happen? I am over fifty and I drive a Skoda - how risky does that sound to you?
I have been sat with the same insurance company for a few years now. I had amassed full no claim bonus and got it protected - then about three years ago some bloody idiot deer decided to leap out from behind a tree right in front of me. It not only scared the life out of me, a fully grown fallow doe weighing nearly what I do, rolling up the bonnet towards the windscreen was not what I was hoping for, but it also did a fair amount of damage. Since the late lamented Bambi wasn't insured my insurers picked up the tab, so I thought I was stuck with the same insurers until I got five claim-free years. Accordingly I had put up with the steady increase in the premiums...

£1200 was just a step too far, so I have spent much of today on that website with the Russian Meerkats trying to find me a better quote. They did - through the RAC, I got a quite of about £500, which I thought was a bit more like it. So I rang the existing insurers and the conversation went something like...
"Good morning, xxx Insurance, How can I help you?"
"You can tell my why my premium more than doubled since last year, when I have had no claims and still have the same car"
"Ah... right... errr... let's have a look.... All premiums have gone up this year"
"How come the RAC will do it for £500?"
"Ah, but you have a very comprehensive policy with lots of extra benefits"
"They quoted for the same cover."
"I see that you added another driver..."
"Yep, my 79 year-old mother in law, with no claims or convictions and a fifty year driving history - you quoted me £20 to add her. When I added her to the RAC quote it increased the premium by £1. Just the one pound."
"Ah... I will have to talk to my supervisor. Can I put you on hold?"

It went on in that vein for a bit. Then she said she would ring me back.

While I waited, I went and looked again at the RAC quote. I couldn't get it to recognise my membership number, which got me a free policy upgrade, so I rang their call centre to ask for advice. The nice man retrieved the quote, added my membership details, and verified all the details. Then he asked me about the no-claim bonus.
"Err.. well, I have got full bonus but it's protected, and there was this claim..."
"That's no problem, if it was protected under your existing policy we will honour that"
"Really?"
"Yep - how many years' bonus have they given you?"
"Dunno, it just says 'protected' on the renewal"
"It will say how many years on there somewhere"
"No, it doesn't..."
"Yes, it will be well hidden but it will be on there somewhere... please have another look"
He was right. It was. It said 11years.
So he redid the quote for me, and the final figure was £397.

The lady from the other company did eventually call me back. By taking off things like business use she got the premium down to just under £900. Nice try, but I had already bought the other one.
I had to go and have a lie down after all that! I am actually quite cross that I have never challenged it before, but I didn't know that other insurers would honour the protected bonus thing... I wonder how much money I have wasted over the last few years. I will be checking next year, you can be sure!