It appears to be easy to stick a year's worth of first class insurance on the sale/purchase of a new car. From what I remember, the premium was about 18,000B for the first year, when we had a look.

One would presume that Honda are in the business of selling vehicles and may not be the most competitive. Does anyone have any experience of shopping around and getting a better deal outside of the dealer?

I would imagine that the nice sales man/lady will be getting a fat commission from the insurance company that they are pushing. Should be cheaper to sort out your own.