Patent Application Titled “Method And Device For Cancelling An Insurance Policy, Insurance System, And Computer-Readable Storage Medium” Published Online (USPTO 20210035223)

2021 FEB 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventors WU, Haibo (Shenzhen City, Guangdong, China); JIANG, Yunpeng (Shenzhen City, Guangdong, China); LING, Jian (Shenzhen City, Guangdong, China); MA, Xiangdong (Shenzhen City, Guangdong, China); DING, Jie (Shenzhen City, Guangdong, China), filed on June 22, 2017, was made available online on February 4, 2021.

The assignee for this patent application is Ping An Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd. (Shenzhen City, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “An insurance policy may need to be cancelled when it is under insurance-applying status or under to-be-underwritten status. Existing methods of cancelling an insurance policy, however, need to be performed manually, which are inefficient and costly. If the insurance policy, after it is generated, is kept unprocessed by the insurance system, the insurance salesman will cancel the insurance policy. This not only affects the underwriting effectiveness of the insurance policy, but it would increase the cost of the insurance company if later a technician is required to recover the relevant data.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “It is therefore one main object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a device for cancelling an insurance policy, an insurance system, and a computer-readable storage medium, to address the technical problems of low efficiency and high cost of existing methods of cancelling an insurance policy.

“To achieve the above object, there is provided a method for cancelling an insurance policy, the method including the following operations. When an insurance policy is under the insurance-applying status or under the to-be-underwritten status, a detection is performed as to whether a preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied. If the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied, then a corresponding cancellation period of the insurance policy is acquired. Then it is detected within the cancellation period whether a first change instruction is received which first change instruction changes the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied. Otherwise if the first change instruction is not detected, the insurance policy will be canceled.

“To achieve the above object, there is also provided a device for cancelling an insurance policy, the device including: a detection module that detects whether a preset cancellation condition of an insurance policy is satisfied when the insurance policy is under the insurance-applying status or under the to-be-underwritten status; an acquisition module that acquires a corresponding cancellation period of the insurance policy when the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied, wherein the detection module further detects within the cancellation period whether a first change instruction is received which first change instruction changes the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and a cancellation module that cancels the insurance policy if the first change instruction is not detected.

“To achieve the above object, there is further provided an insurance system that includes a memory, a processor, and an insurance policy cancellation program that is stored in the memory and executable by the processor. The processor invokes the insurance policy cancellation program stored in the memory to perform the following operations: detecting whether a preset cancellation condition of an insurance policy is satisfied when the insurance policy is under the insurance-applying status or under the to-be-underwritten status; acquiring a corresponding cancellation period of the insurance policy if the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied; detecting within the cancellation period whether a first change instruction is received which first change instruction changes the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and cancelling the insurance policy if the first change instruction is not detected.

“To achieve the above-mentioned object, there is still further provided a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs executable by one or more processors to perform the following operations: detecting whether a preset cancellation condition of an insurance policy is satisfied when the insurance policy is under insurance-applying status or under to-be-underwritten status; acquiring a corresponding cancellation period of the insurance policy when the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied; detecting within the cancellation period whether a first change instruction is received which first change instruction changes the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected.

“In accordance with the present disclosure, when an insurance policy is under the insurance-applying status or under the to-be-underwritten status, it is detected whether a preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied. If the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied, then a corresponding cancellation period of the insurance policy is acquired. Then a further detection is performed within the cancellation period to determine whether a first change instruction is received which first change instruction changes the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied. Consequently, if the first change instruction is not detected, then the insurance policy would be cancelled. Therefore, the insurance policy can be cancelled automatically when it meets the preset cancellation condition. So the efficiency of cancelling an insurance policy is improved while the cost incurred by cancelling the insurance policy is reduced. Furthermore, the possible incorrect manual operations of cancelling an insurance policy can be avoided, leading to improved accuracy of cancelling insurance policies.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for cancelling an insurance policy, comprising: detecting whether a preset cancellation condition of an insurance policy is satisfied when the insurance policy is under an insurance-applying status or under a to-be-underwritten status; acquiring a corresponding cancellation period of the insurance policy when the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied; detecting within the cancellation period whether a first change instruction is received which first change instruction is intended to change the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected: determining whether the insurance policy is set with a first warning period; and sending a notification message to a terminal held by a policyholder within the first warning period when the insurance policy is set with the first warning period, in order to alert the policyholder of the danger that the insurance policy is likely to be cancelled.

“3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, subsequent to determining whether the insurance policy is set with the first warning period: determining whether an institution corresponding to the insurance policy is set with a second warning period when the insurance policy is set with no first warning period; and sending a notification message to the terminal held by the policyholder within the second warning period when the corresponding institution of the insurance policy is set with the second warning period, in order to alert the policyholder of the danger that the insurance policy is likely to be cancelled.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected comprises: acquiring attribute information of the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected; determining whether the insurance policy is provided with a grace period based on the attribute information; detecting within the grace period, when the insurance policy is provided with the grace period, whether a second change instruction is received which second change instruction is intended to change the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and cancelling the insurance policy when the second change instruction is not detected.

“5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, subsequent to cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected: sending a notification message that the insurance policy has been cancelled to a terminal held by a policyholder, in order to notify the policyholder that the insurance policy has been cancelled.

“6-10. (canceled)

“11. An insurance system, comprising a memory, a processor, and an insurance policy cancellation program that is stored in the memory and executable by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to invoke the insurance policy cancellation program stored in the memory to perform the following operations: detecting whether a preset cancellation condition of an insurance policy is satisfied when the insurance policy is under an insurance-applying status or under a to-be-underwritten status; acquiring a corresponding cancellation period of the insurance policy when the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied; detecting within the cancellation period whether a first change instruction is received which first change instruction is intended to change the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected.

“12. The insurance system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke the insurance policy cancellation program stored in the memory to perform the following operations prior to cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected: determining whether the insurance policy is set with a first warning period; and sending a notification message to a terminal held by a policyholder within the first warning period when the insurance policy is set with the first warning period, in order to alert the policyholder of the danger that the insurance policy is likely to be cancelled.

“13. The insurance system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke the insurance policy cancellation program stored in the memory to perform the following operations subsequent to determining whether the insurance policy is set with the first warning period: determining whether an institution corresponding to the insurance policy is set with a second warning period when the insurance policy is set with no first warning period; and sending a notification message to the terminal held by the policyholder within the second warning period when the corresponding institution of the insurance policy is set with the second warning period, in order to alert the policyholder of the danger that the insurance policy is likely to be cancelled.

“14. The insurance system of claim 11, wherein cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected comprises: acquiring attribute information of the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected; determining whether the insurance policy is provided with a grace period based on the attribute information; detecting within the grace period, when the insurance policy is provided with the grace period, whether a second change instruction is received which second change instruction is intended to change the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and cancelling the insurance policy when the second change instruction is not detected.

“15. The insurance system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke the insurance policy cancellation program stored in the memory to perform the following operations subsequent to cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected: sending a notification message that the insurance policy has been cancelled to a terminal held by a policyholder, in order to notify the policyholder that the insurance policy has been cancelled.

“16. A computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs executable by one or more processors to perform the following operations: detecting whether a preset cancellation condition of an insurance policy is satisfied when the insurance policy is under an insurance-applying status or under a to-be-underwritten status; acquiring a corresponding cancellation period of the insurance policy when the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is satisfied; detecting within the cancellation period whether a first change instruction is received which first change instruction is intended to change the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected.

“17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more programs are executable by the one or more processors to further perform the following operations prior to cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected: determining whether the insurance policy is set with a first warning period; and sending a notification message to a terminal held by a policyholder within the first warning period when the insurance policy is set with the first warning period, in order to alert the policyholder of the danger that the insurance policy is likely to be cancelled.

“18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the one or more programs are executable by the one or more processors to further perform the following operations subsequent to determining whether the insurance policy is set with the first warning period: determining whether an institution corresponding to the insurance policy is set with a second warning period when the insurance policy is set with no first warning period; and sending a notification message to the terminal held by the policyholder within the second warning period when the corresponding institution of the insurance policy is set with the second warning period, in order to alert the policyholder of the danger that the insurance policy is likely to be cancelled.

“19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected comprises: acquiring attribute information of the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected; determining whether the insurance policy is provided with a grace period based on the attribute information; detecting within the grace period, when the insurance policy is provided with the grace period, whether a second change instruction is received which second change instruction is intended to change the status of the insurance policy so that the preset cancellation condition of the insurance policy is no longer satisfied; and cancelling the insurance policy when the second change instruction is not detected.

“20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more programs are executable by the one or more processors to further perform the following operations subsequent to cancelling the insurance policy if the first change instruction is not detected: sending a notification message that the insurance policy has been cancelled to a terminal held by a policyholder, in order to notify the policyholder that the insurance policy has been cancelled.

“21. The method of claim 1, wherein the cancellation period is determined based on attribute information of the insurance policy.

“22. The method of claim 21, wherein the attribute information comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of an institution to which the insurance policy belongs, a corresponding premium of the insurance policy, whether a policyholder applies for insurance the first time, and a loss ratio of the insurance policy.

“23. The method of claim 2, wherein the first warning period of an insurance policy with a relatively high premium and a relatively low loss ratio is set relatively longer, while the first warning period of an insurance policy with a relatively low premium and a relatively high loss ratio is set relatively shorter.

“24. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to cancelling the insurance policy when the first change instruction is not detected: determining whether the insurance policy is set with a first warning period; determining whether an institution corresponding to the insurance policy is set with a second warning period, when the insurance policy is set with the first warning period; comparing the second warning period with the first warning period when the corresponding institution of the insurance policy is set with the second warning period; and sending a notification message to a terminal held by a policyholder within the second warning period when the second warning period is greater than the first warning period; and sending a notification message to the terminal held by the policyholder within the first warning period when the first warning period is greater than the second warning period.

“25. The method of claim 3, further comprising, subsequent to determining whether the corresponding institution of the insurance policy is set with the second warning period: sending a notification message to the terminal held by the policyholder within a default warning period when the corresponding institution of the insurance policy is set with no second warning period, in order to inform the policyholder of the danger that the insurance policy is likely to be cancelled.”

For more information, see this patent application: WU, Haibo; JIANG, Yunpeng; LING, Jian; MA, Xiangdong; DING, Jie. Method And Device For Cancelling An Insurance Policy, Insurance System, And Computer-Readable Storage Medium. Filed June 22, 2017 and posted February 4, 2021. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220210035223%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20210035223&RS=DN/20210035223

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