The average UK male does not like shopping. Full stop.

And even if he can be torn away from thinking about footie and cars, scientific studies have revealed their maximum shopping threshold to be ninety minutes. Females, on the other hand, can shop for at least three hours before even thinking about a break for a cup of tea. When it comes to shopping for car insurance, for men the task ranks alongside cleaning the toilet and checking a schoolchild's head for nits.

Something else that doesn't do car insurance buying any favours is the element of compulsion. Three generations now of UK motorists have been obliged by law to take out car insurance before venturing onto the open road. And as this necessary and legally binding need is unlikely to disappear, the best we can hope for is a buying process that is as pain and hassle-free as possible.

For the majority of motorists it is a choice between an expensive policy renewal or a tedious trawl through the phone book and internet looking for the best deal.