I’ve got to the stage where I do most things online - pay bills, shop, keep in contact with friends. So I’m used to logging on at 1am to pay my ESB bill, or transfer money for my mortgage.

That’s the beauty of online self-service, isn’t it? Not if you’re buying insurance, it seems.

Imagine my surprise when I tried to renew my car insurance last night, only to be greeted with a message that said the self-service option was only available between 8am and 8pm on weekdays. This was increased to midnight on weekends.

I have to admit, I’m a little puzzled. rather than take up time on their phone lines, wouldn’t it better to have around the clock access to policy renewals? It’s not as if I made any changes to the policy – I’m trying to give them money.

Do other Irish insurance companies have similar restrictions?