The RAC has been sold to Private Equity, which is by far the worst offender (though I have recently received reports of no claims discounts being offered to long-term RAC members). Private Equity now owns most insurance brokers (many direct insurers are in fact brokers rather than underwriters). Private Equity owns them, owns accident management companies and owns credit hire operators, so gets three bites out of the cherry. It is standard practice for Private Equity owned organisations to hike annual fees by extraordinary amounts and only capitulate when the customer threatens to take his business away. The nastiest bit of the lot is that most Private Equity is offshore, so doesn't even pay UK taxes. This party explains the disparity of income between the heavily taxed ordinary middle class Brits and the super rich. Read Robert Peston on the subject.