My first car in Dubai - the insurance renewal almost finished me

Bought my first car in Dubai earlier this year. Nothing fancy, an old but clean Japanese thing, but it was MINE. Papers done, plates on, and then came the actual shock - the insurance.

I just took whatever the dealer's guy offered, went with it, and didn't think twice. Classic first car mistake.

Then the renewal email landed last month. Same car, same coverage, zero claims, zero tickets - and the premium had jumped almost 50%. I genuinely laughed at my screen. Called them, sat on hold, and got "market conditions" like it's a jungle out there.

This time I actually did the work. Spent like an hour comparing quotes on a Sunday instead of auto-renewing, and the difference between insurers was bigger than I expected. Ended up switching and paying LESS than my old premium, same cover.

Moral of the story: loyalty means nothing in this market. The 10 minutes of comparing is worth a few thousand dirhams.

Anyone else seeing renewals go crazy this year, or was it just my luck? 😂