My UK drivers' licence arrived today. Another administrative hurdle cleared.

So, since we've been paying horrendously high car insurance premiums because we haven't had UK licences up to this point, I called our car insurance people (the AA, in case you want to know who to avoid) to register the change and get the premium adjusted.

Me : Hi. I want to register some changes to our car insurance policy.
Him : Okay, what do you want to change?
Me : I want the primary driver to be listed as myself instead of my husband, and I want to let you know that I now have a UK licence.
Him : Okay ... hmmm ... that means that your premium goes up by 79 pounds a year.
Me : What?
Him : Yes, because you've only just got the UK licence.
Me : But ... you said my premiums would go down once I got the licence.
Him : No. We have to treat you as a brand-new driver now, since the licence has just been issued, so the rates go up.
Me : But ... Are you sure? I know other people who've had their driving record from previous countries taken into account.
Him : Sorry, we don't work that way.
Me : Fine, well, just leave the policy as it was, then.
Him : I'm sorry, we can't do that, not now that you've told me that you're going to be the primary driver and that you have the new licence. Your premiums will increase by 79 pounds.
Me : Gah!

So I hung up, and called a rival company, and we now have insurance that is less than one third of what we were paying before. And we've let the AA know we no longer need their services.