Evesham Insurance Centre forecasts it will gain 35,000 new policyholders within 18 months after developing a consumer web site using icons@csc, CSC's retail insurance's internet consultancy service.

The broker is planning to spend between £3 million and £5m on marketing the site.

Steve Arthington, managing director and founder of Evesham, first created a web site two years ago.

His latest internet plans are probably the most ambitious undertaken by any broker to date.

Arthington expects Evesham to offer commercial lines, personal lines, caravans, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. All will be available fully interactively and Evesham's customers will be able to carry out the administration of their own policies.

Precisely when the different products will be rolled out is still not determined, but CSC said it expected to deliver the first fully-interactive products by March.

Arthington said: "There is nothing else like it available from the other software houses. To formulate the system alone would have taken years."

He has received backing from several companies, and claims strong investment interest.

"I would say that I receive a call almost every day from someone who is interested in investing in what we are doing. Because the brokers have been sceptical about the potential of the internet, the market is wide open and there is a lot of interest," he said.

Rob Quayle, business development director of CSC retail insurance division, claimed demand for icons@csc has been overwhelming.

Quayle said: "We have been talking to a number of brokers about their e-commerce requirements."

CSC launched a range of internet offerings for brokers last year. These range from marketing sites that cost around £500 per year (plus VAT), to the fully interactive services that Evesham will have.

Tony Barker, CSC marketing director, said: "We are trying to redevelop processes of buying products on-line. Some of the problems are legal, but we are confident the first products will be available by March.