Strong words. Check your documents, if a policy is set up for automatic renewal then it will be stated in the paperwork. Also, it sounds like it may be lucky they did renew the policy as the car would have had no insurance cover in place for the last few days, not good if you have been on the public road or if you car was damaged/stolen in this period.
Ollie
Sky Insurance
tel: 01707 642552
http://www.skyinsurance.co.uk/car-club-insurance.html