Beware of automatic renewal!

My home insurance was due for renewal on 1/2/13. I took it out with a different company to Churchill as I had obtained a better quote. Lo and behold when I returned from holiday I find that Churchill have 'assumed' that I would be staying with them and put in place an automatic charge against my credit card. When I queried this with them and explained that at no time had I authorised an 'automatic renewal' they said that it was part of their 'on-line' system and that if I hadn't wanted this I should have 'unchecked' the box that they had pre ticked in my initial application last year. Very ,very sneaky---I don't even remember seeing the box! There was no mention of automatic renewal in the policy documents or indeed the renewal notice I received. I got this automatic renewal cancelled after some haggling and only because it was within the ten days cooling off period that insurance companies have to provide.
I find these underhanded methods of doing business to be less than satisfactory and doubt whether I will consider Churchill for my future Insurances. BEWARE OF AUTOMATIC RENEWALS!