One way to lower your premiums, esp on car insurance is to up your excess.
I bumped mine up to $1100 (the max) and it dropped my insurance by a couple of hundred per annum.
I have only ever made 2 claims on cars in my life, one was a write off, the other was $11000 in hail damage, so I figure my odds of claiming on minor repairs are not great, and really, if I have to cough up $500, it may as well be $1000 KWIM?