Keep your old motor insurance certificates

[#1]

I've had a fun evening, getting insurance quotes for our second car. 
I've been with same insurer for a few years and have 7 years no claims. However - this renewal letter states I have 6 years.  This is because the last few certificates have stated '5 or more' - which is correct but obviously not precise.  They've now got a new system which just adds a year onto the last know number, so I've lost a year and a potential extra discount.  They say they can't do anything about it.  Sigh.
I then phoned my insurer on our first car for a quote, during which it emerged they have me down as 11 years on the first car.  But I joined them with 13 years, the next two year's certificates stated 'maximum' and now it''s magically 11.  Appears it's all systems driven and they can;t physically print a number higher than the maximum discount offered.'
Fortunately I've kept some of the old certificates, so can prove the number of years by someone looking through the consecutive years and doing the maths.  If they can be bothered.  It doesn't change the prices much as both no claims periods are quite long, but I'd rather it was correct.
It seems to be more common than I thought - you can potentially stay with a company for years, but the certificate may not show more than the maximum number of years they offer a discount on - eg 5 or more.  But if you move to an insurer who gives discounts on say 9 years, you may not be able to prove it. 
So be a bit anal and keep a hold of those certificates!

[#2]

Slightly at a tangent, but heartwarming nonetheless:
I recently had to renew my motor insurance, and due to being involved in an accident (as a passenger) during the icy conditions, I considered protecting my no-claims discount, something I'd never thought necessary or worthwhile up to now.
Once I requested a second set of quotes from my favourite car insurance comparison website, this time with the "Protected No Claims" option selected, I was amazed to find a reputable insurer, underwritten by one of the larger underwriters, and incidentally the same underwriter that my previous policy with esure was with, for less than half the nearest similar policy *without* protected no claims.
I had to go through each element to ensure I wasn't being sold a mickey, but no, everything checked out. No hidden excesses, everything at a reasonable £50 or £100. Protected No Claims. Legal Cover. Monthly Direct Debit fee. Correct Details. The works - all identical or better than the nearest rival.
So I bought it.
I pay around £13 per month.
Bradford and Bingley wrote to me to let me know their computer had made a bit of a boob, and that they had vastly undercharged me for my insurance.
Since it was their fault they are honouring the price (I guess they may have been able to get out of it if they wanted, not sure though).
They just warn me that any chances to my policy will probably result in a large increase in premium, and likewise at renewal time I should budget for an increase!
At the time I thought it might have been so much cheaper due to an 'only insuring careful drivers' type policy, where perhaps they only insured people who had a long enough no claims discount, and also wanted to protect it.

[#3]

I recently renewed my car insurance and also my home buildings and contents insurance.  I got quotes from a number of comparative sites and then decided to phone Aviva (Norwich Union) as they are not on the comparative sites.  Aviva offered me the same, if not better, cover than I had and at big savings.
Many years ago I used to be with NU and left them because they became uncompetitive so it pays to keep up with the market when your renewal comes round.

[#4]

@artmo
For the reasons you mention I haven't included both Aviva or Direct Line in my renewal searches for a number of years as I always found them to be more than (no pun intended) £150 than the nearest competitors.
I'll give them a try at my next renewal.

[#5]

The odd thing for me is that Direct Line are the cheapest and on the last two renewals the renewal quote was less that a new quote from the website 
Mind you the fact that the car is a Vauxhall Omega with a 2.6 litre V6 engine may have something to do with it. 

[#6]

I've asked Direct Line to quote a number of times - I've never had a good price from them.

[#7]

I agree price is a major factor when deciding, but what is more difficult to judge is how well they deal with claims.
It's no good having very cheap insurance, if when you come to claim they provide poor service. better perhaps to spend a few more pounds and a company that deals with claims well.
You can only do that on personal recommendation - I presume ?

[#8]

probably - but as I haven't had a claim for over 30 years I can't comment

[#9]

Mal has a point but as Jim says you won't know until you have to make a claim.  As I said, I'm now with Aviva and I have heard they are good at dealing with claims but I hope I don't have to find out first hand

[#10]

According to the last Which? report on the subject, the Top 10 for satisfaction in dealing with claims is Churchill, Esure, More Than, Direct Line, LV=, Marks & Spencer, Saga, Norwich Union/Aviva, Admiral and Zurich.

[#11]

With my motorbike I needed to renew my insurance and was quoted by NU something like £150, that was direct from them too.  I went to a price comparison website (can't remember the one), well actually I went to several but yeah.  Anyhow, after putting my details onto a price comparison website I eventually decided to go with A-Quote insurance as a broker, my insurance went down to around £100 and my insurer was.... Norwich Union.  By going through a broker I got a better deal than I got from the actual company.
Of course, next year they decided to put my premium up (ever wondered why your no claims discount and everything should give you a discount, but your premiums go up?) so I went to a price comparison website and found an offer for around £70 which was cheaper than the £110 renewal.  I phoned up A-Quote saying "I don't want to renew, I've found a cheaper quote" and magically, they beat it!  Of course, last time my premium went up.... again, another quick search brought me a quote for £50, much less than the £80 I'm paying now, they refused to match it but I decided to stick with them.  This year my bike is SORN so I'll not be getting insurance till it's repaired and road-worthy again.

[#12]

@ZX, good tip, thanks
Talk of comparison websites.
Final electricity bill came, did a yearly budget, little less usage, little less cost compared with last year, which is good considering the cold of Jan and Feb.
STILL thought I'd run a comparison with one of the websites.
I'm currently with E.ON, plugged in my details, usage, payment methods, area etc......................low and behold Scottish and Southern came up as cheaper.
Tried it over again but this time said I was with Scottish and Southern rather than with E.ON................guess what.....E.ON came out cheaper.
Appears they are never going to say you've got the best deal, want you to switch to get their commission.
No surprise.

[#13]

I think only 2 of the 6 main suppliers have reduced their prices so far.  Maybe best to wait a week or two before switching