"because then I wouldn't get to bask in your wisdom personally" ... oh, please!!! ... but thanks for the thought.
Am glad to hear that provider honors what services they sell. Refreshing to hear/see that.
Thanks for sharing the .htaccess file .... interesting ... they even had it commented for customers ... nice touch.
SiteGround doesn't program cPanel. cPanel is a commercial product (whose usage on a server is actually an additional fee to the customer). Have no idea how they decide how much it adds to monthly. It is made for persons who care not to use CLI on a Linux box. But, don't think cPanel makers have a version for a true standalone - one customer - machine. Thus, customer's web space gets into a 'user jail' that's not configured like the true 'apache root'. For a CentOS server that's /var/www/ Set up like that there is NO need for an .htaccess file in moodledata. And there is no need for .htaccess files anywhere in any directory of any app *unless* recommended by the makers of the app ... like Joomla or WordPress. Am not suggesting you request that change ... stick with what works right now.
Depending upon your version of Moodle, I'd check into the use of PHP 7 as opposed to the version they have setup on now. PHP 7 has been said to improve performance. One must have Moodle 3.0.1> however (as I understand it) to take advantage of that version (it is possible to get further ahead with PHP than Moodle).
Your old .htaccess file did show it running PHP 7.
PHP 5.5 is compatible with what you are running now, but in future? (everything moves upwards) As Moodle direction seems to be going 'upwards', for all the features, server/hosting will have to provide more so it's wise to have moved to a dedicated (one customer) server. You're stie should/will have the ability to use those newest features of 3.1->. In your case, with assistance from provider. That version, from what I understand, is the highest LTS (long term support) version available. Be interesting to watch providers to see if they increase their fees or not - new feature requirements. Suggest you inquire about it.
And we've not touched MySQL .... yet.
BTW, these forums are like social media to providers who are concerned about their rep. So it's perfectly OK to mention who's providing services. Good PR and free advertising to some extent for those who take care of their Moodle customers ... whose needs are greater than those that host a WordPress or a Joomla.
'spirit of sharing', Ken