A new on-line insurance portal that provides quotes from at least four of the UK's leading insurers is poised to go live next month.
Inspop.com already has RSA, CGU, Prudential and Norwich Union as panel insurers, and says several others are due to sign up imminently.
Motor, travel, household and medical cover will be the first products made available on-line on April 13. Other niche lines of business will follow shortly.
Inspop.com says it expects to win 500,000 motor, 150,000 homes, 50,000 travel and 30,000 health customers in the first 12 months. It aims to achieve this with a national cross-media advertising including television, radio and newspaper campaigns.
Sara Murray, managing director of Insop.com said: "It has been over a decade since the introduction of direct writers, and consumers are well overdue another revolution in the way they buy insurance.
"Inspop.com speeds up and simplifies the process of getting quotes, comparing them and purchasing policies."
The new company also claims to have developed a unique charging strategy for the service. Instead of charging insurers commission for each policy sold, Inspop earns its revenue through a nominal flat fee for every quote that it generated. Purchases can also be made on the web site of the chosen insurer, so they own the sale and the security requirements of the on-line purchase.
Inspop.com acts as a forum for participating companies and will offer them information on trends and movements in the market, allowing insurers to respond to changes in buying patterns.
Mark Garratt, customer relationship manager for UK Personal Financial Services at RSA, said: "These are consumers we might not necessarily attract through our own marketing activities, and as such represent additional cost effective sales opportunities."