I simply do not understand how my car insurance renewal quote can be £200 more than I paid last year.

No points, no accidents, no convictions, nothing untoward. Car worth less than it was last year.

'Low-risk' job and living in low-crime area. Inflation is running at next to nothing.

Even after ringing the company and having a chat, they still want £70 more than they did last year.

How is this justified when we are constantly told our roads are safer than ever, and huge reforms to personal injury claims procedure mean that legal fees (and thus the cost of insurance payouts) have been cut drastically?

Even the best deal on offer through the price-comparison websites still asks for £20 more than I paid the previous year.

I renewed mine this week. It had gone down from last year but I found much cheaper quotes through a price comparison site. I phoned my insurer to see if they could price match. They knocked a bit off but couldn't match it. However when I looked into it I was getting far more benefits through my current insurer, (Legal cover, breakdown cover etc.) which were add-ons from the cheaper insurers. If I'd have opted fore these with the cheaper ones (AXA, Swift, etc.) it would have cost more than what my current insurers were quoting.

Check if these perks are included and if you don't think you'll need them get them knocked off.

Mmm, I'm not sure the legal cover is worth much if anything and from past experience the breakdown cover is best described as basic, if you are doing lots of miles for work then it wouldn't cut the mustard at all. I know Swiftcover's claim process and glass cover is first rate from using it.

Legal cover used to mean no more than they'd sell your details to their pet lawyers, and trouser the fee without telling you. I'd bet it still works on similar lines.

Legal cover is a complete con and I always advise clients not to bother with it.

pay £30 so that if you have a non fault claim the insurer will forward your details onto a solicitor to recover your uninsured losses...

should you be unfortunate enough to have a non fault claim solicitors/amc's will be falling over themselves to offer their services anyway not forgetting the fact that if you claim through the third partys insurance ( it is the TP's fault afterall) they will pretty much give you everything you ask for within reason to avoid you going to a solicitor or accident management company in the first place. Absolute waste of money.

I thought the legal cover may come in handy when the blame for an accident is disputed.

I don't cover many miles at all in my own car, around 5,000 miles a year and see myself as a very competent driver. I work as a delivery driver driving vans and am covered by works insurance for that. Although I've only been driving for 11 years I think I am quite experienced. I have never made a claim nor has anyone ever claimed against me. I think the insurance premiums are too high. Sure companies need to make money but I am low risk. Trouble is there are that many false claims and people crashing on purpose to then blame the other party. I think I might buy a dashboard camera, you never know when you'll need the evidence.