Widespread roll-out of the electronic trading platform imarket has finally begun after a series of setbacks.

Martin McLachlan, managing director of Polaris, which developed the system, said that plans to provide access to all registered brokers by the end of January were delayed.

This was due to problems with the system's servers affecting service availability and the process for insurers to authorise brokers, he said.

"The pilot identified a couple of technical problems that we needed to address before further roll-out. The good news is the problems have been solved and we have now started sending out the welcome packs to brokers," McLachlan said.

More than 500 broking firms registered to use imarket will now be added to the service in batches of 100 during February and March.

"We regret the delay, but while imarket is free to intermediaries, it does not reduce our responsibility to provide an efficient and responsive system," McLachlan said.