A friend had to use his house insurance recently. His house got flooded and he and his family have gone through a very tough 9 months.
But the good news is this: I am insured with the same company as he is (Direct Line); I read Direct Line's emergency number to him, from their invoice, when the disaster happened; I saw how much insurance he paid; it was 2/3rds what I pay and his house is 200m away from mine and bigger.
So last week while I was in the midst of my own disaster (acute neck and shoulder pain which put me off work for the last 3 weeks) and received a renewal notice for my house insurance.
I called the insurance company and asked them why he paid so much less.
Two minutes later they reduced my annual cost by £275.66.
Which, coincidentally, was 64 pence more than I'd just had to pay for a new ergonimic chair.
I'm sitting in that chair right now and it's the first time I've been able to type comfortably in a month.