I do not agree that what my broker does is the same as the run of the mill auto renewal. Firstly, the paperwork arrives a good month prior to renewal and if I don't want it then it is up to me to get off my but and cancel it.
That's how all auto renewals work. They rely on some people not getting off their butt and letting it carry on, it's surprising how many don't even read, or understand, the paperwork. I remember a neighbour was most upset when he saw that his insurance company had taken £460 from his bank, more than double last years premium. I don't think he had even opened the renewal letter, he just expected it to be something similar again.
Most insurers insist that you phone them to cancel, and will not accept cancellation by letter or email, even though you signed up online. They will usually accept variations to the policy by any means, but not cancellation. For that, you have to call.
The second point is the 'broker' is a closed membership not available to the general public and the owners are the people it serves.
I've been a member of several of these types of schemes, they almost always run in house by an insurance company now. I started off driving with Unilever Staff Insurances, they were based at Unilever head office and were
absolutely the best insurance company I ever dealt with... unfortunately, it eventually went in house at Norwich Union, all the paperwork was churned out by their automatic renewal system, and up went the premiums.
I decided to change suppliers and this went through last June. The new supplier notified EDF that I had changed and I duly received a letter from EDF saying how sorry they are that I have left them. I cancelled the D/D to EDF but my bank failed to do so. As the result I paid two companies.
It's not your fault you paid twice, although the bank should really have done what you asked. Once a DD is opened it is up to the originator (EDF) to decide how much and when to take payment. If payments stopped when they should have, it wouldn't matter if you had cancelled it or not. Cancelling the DD should, in theory, prevent them from taking any more payments, however this can cause other problems as companies don't like it when you cancel DDs... and some even try to charge penalties. The answer is to get the company to understand what is going on, and sort the billing out.
If you don't have any joy, threaten them with the ombudsman.