Northern Ireland van insurance customers spend, on average, two hours searching for online van insurance quotes, new research suggests.

Analysts at van insurance provider Swinton Commercial looked into the experiences of 1,000 customers, finding that motorists are spending more time looking for cheap van insurance quotes than they were at the same time last year. In October 2008, the average van insurance customer spent an hour and a half searching for a policy.

Swinton's researchers say this is the first time in five years that the length of time spent looking for van insurance has gone up rather than dropped, which it had done every year previously.

They attribute the change to recession-induced financial pressures, particularly since motorists are now more likely to be on the lookout for a cheaper van insurance quote.

Phil Moss, Swinton's commercial vehicle manager, adds: "The increased use and availability of the internet has had a massive impact on the car insurance industry. Motorists can now get a quote anytime, anywhere and in a short amount of time."

Other recent research by Swinton found that van insurance customers in Northern Ireland and the wider UK increasingly use their vehicles as a "mobile office".