Patent Issued for Computer method and system for creating a personalized bundle of computer records (USPTO 11803916): Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

2023 NOV 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Ben-Zvi, Yaron (Hastings on Hudson, NY, US), Ross, Gareth (Amherst, MA, US), filed on July 6, 2021, was published online on October 31, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11803916 is Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (Springfield, Massachusetts, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Insurance companies offer a variety of policies to cover different types of incidents that may affect a person’s life and/or livelihood. Types of insurance include: long term care access, life insurance, disability income insurance, homeowner’s insurance, supplemental hospital indemnity insurance, mortgage insurance, automotive insurance, and others. The sheer variety of insurance makes it difficult for a client to determine which policies to purchase.

“These different insurance types are generally sold either alone or in small groups by different companies. Each of these companies has its own overhead expenses, marketing and sales expenses, and underwriting costs. Additionally, each insurance company typically underwrites a different policy for each insurance purchase, even when purchasing a subsequent policy for the same type of insurance coverage. This practice is inefficient for insurance companies and costly for consumers. As such, there remains a need for systems and methods to provide insurance to consumers in an efficient and cost-effective manner.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Insurance coverage can be provided using layers of insurance, referred to as insurance layering. The insurance layering can involve building a program of insurance coverage using an excess of loss approach. Layered insurance programs in this sense involve a series of insurers writing coverage, each one in excess of lower limits written by other insurers, ultimately providing an insured with a high total limit of coverage. The term layers of insurance also can be used, however, in the sense of insurance policies or insurance programs that are not necessarily intended to address excess of loss considerations, but rather that involve policies or programs combining different types of insurance, typically addressing various needs of the insured. The methods and systems of the present disclosure for providing personalized, layered policies use the term “layered policies” in this sense of combining different types of insurance, addressing various needs of the insured.

“The embodiments described herein include methods and systems for providing a personalized bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance) through analysis of a user’s needs for a bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance). A system and method for creating a personalized, layered bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance policy) provides an input interface to the user, for example by a needs analysis module of the system. The user responds with user data including data relating to the user’s needs for a bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance). The system (and method), upon receiving the user data, converts the user data into determined needs data associated with the user. Using the determined needs data, the system, such as a bundle (e.g., policy) building module, generates bundle (e.g., policy) data and uses the bundle (e.g., policy) data to build a bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance policy) personalized to the user. The personalized bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) includes a plurality of computer records, with a plurality of types of bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance) represented in the determined needs data. If the user approves the personalized, layered of computer records (e.g., insurance policy), the system, such as a bundle generating (e.g., underwriting module), generates (e.g., underwrites) the personalized bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) based upon bundle generating (e.g., underwriting) criteria.

“In one embodiment, a system includes a personalization server configured with a computer-readable storage medium and includes modules executable by a processor of the personalization server. In an embodiment, the modules include (1) a needs analysis module configured to receive inputted user data over a network from a user computing device that requests a bundle of computer records (e.g., policy), upon receiving the inputted user data, convert the inputted user data received from the user computing device into determined needs data, and store the determined needs data in a determined needs data database, (2) a bundle (e.g., policy) building module configured to generate bundle (e.g., policy) data based upon the data in the determined needs data database to build a single time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) that is personalized to a user of the user computing device, where the bundle (e.g., policy) data includes a plurality of computer records with a plurality of types of bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance) based upon the determined needs data, where a first computer record has a first bundle (e.g., policy) configuration for determined needs during a first time period, and a second computer record has a second bundle (e.g., policy) configuration for determined needs during a second time period, and store the bundle (e.g., policy) data in a bundle (e.g., policy) data database and (3) a bundle generating (e.g., underwriting) module configured to generate a single personalized, time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) using the bundle (e.g., policy) data in the bundle (e.g., policy) data database, where the single personalized, time varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) includes the plurality of bundle (e.g., policy) layers with the plurality of types of bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance) based on the determined needs data, where a term of the single personalized, time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) includes the first time period and the second time period, and transmit a representation of the single personalized, time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) to the user computing device.

“In another embodiment, a processor-based method includes (1) transmitting, by a processor, a form for presentation on a graphical user interface for display on a user computing device to receive an input of user data for a bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) request, (2) upon receiving, by the processor, a transmission of a bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) request message including inputted user data via the form presented on the graphical user interface of the user computing device, (3) converting, by the processor, the user data into determined needs data associated with the user, where the determined needs data includes information about one or more particular life stages of the user, (4) generating, by the processor, a single time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy file) that is personalized to the user and based upon the determined needs data, where the single time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy file) includes a plurality of computer records, where each of the plurality of computer records (e.g., layer) is associated with a life stage and the determined needs data, and where generating includes calculating a set of data (e.g., coverage) for each computer record (e.g., layer) of the single time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy file) and aggregating the set of data (e.g., coverage) of each computer record (e.g., layer) in the single time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy file), and (5) transmitting, by the processor, a representation of the single time-varying bundle of computer records (e.g., policy file) personalized to the user computing device for display on the graphical user interface.

“In another embodiment, a system includes a personalization server configured with a computer-readable storage medium and including modules executable by a processor of the personalization server. In an embodiment, the modules include (1) a needs analysis module configured to present a form for inputting user data to a user requesting a bundle of computer records (e.g., policy), to receive the user data from the user, upon receiving the user data, to convert the user data received from the user into determined needs data including a determined needs timeline, and store the determined needs data in a determined needs data database, (2) a bundle (e.g., policy) building module configured to generate bundle (e.g., policy) data by numerical analysis of the determined needs data in the determined needs data database to build a single bundle of computer records (e.g., policy), where the bundle (e.g., policy) data includes a plurality of computer records represented in the determined needs data, and where the bundle (e.g., policy) data includes first set of data (e.g., coverage) during a first set of data (e.g., coverage) period and a second set of data (e.g., coverage) during a second set of data (e.g., coverage) period, and store the policy data in a policy data database, and (3) a bundle generating (e.g., underwriting) module configured to create a single personalized bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance policy) using the bundle (e.g., policy) data in the bundle (e.g., policy) data database, wherein the single personalized bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance policy) includes the plurality of computer records represented in the determined needs data, where the single personalized bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance policy) includes the first set of data (e.g., coverage) during the first set of data (e.g., coverage) period and the second set of data (e.g., coverage) during the second set of data (e.g., coverage) period, and where the single personalized bundle of computer records (e.g., insurance policy) has a bundle of computer records (e.g., policy) term including the first set of data (e.g., coverage) period and the second set of data (e.g., coverage) period.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: a personalization server configured with a computer-readable storage medium and including modules executable by a processor of the personalization server, the modules comprising: a needs analysis module configured to receive inputted user data over a network from a user computing device that requests a bundle of computer records, wherein the user data comprises data related to user needs over time, and upon receiving the inputted user data, configured to determine, for each layer of a plurality of layers of the requested bundle of computer records, time varying determined needs data over a predetermined time period; a bundle building module configured to generate bundle data based upon the determined needs data to build a bundle of computer records that is personalized to a user of the user computing device, wherein each of the computer records in the personalized bundle of computer records is associated with a respective one of the plurality of layers, wherein the bundle data discretizes the computer records with a first bundle configuration for determined needs during a first time period within the predetermined time period and a second bundle configuration for determined needs during a second time period within the predetermined time period; and a bundle generating module configured to aggregate the discretized computer records to generate a time-varying layered bundle of computer records representing an insurance policy for the user, and configured to transmit a representation of the insurance policy to the user computing device, wherein the first time period represents a first insurance coverage period and the second time period represents a second insurance coverage period of the insurance policy.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the predetermined time period corresponds to a policy term of the insurance policy that is personalized to the user comprising the first insurance coverage period and the second insurance coverage period.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the insurance policy that is personalized to the user includes variation over time in coverage of one or more of insurance types, insurance amounts, and insurance layering during a policy term of the insurance policy.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the needs analysis module is configured to convert the user data into a determined needs timeline included in the determined needs data.

“5. The system of claim 4, wherein the bundle building module is configured to rebalance the single personalized, time-varying layered bundle of computer records within a set of data periods represented in the determined needs timeline.

“6. The system of claim 4, wherein the determined needs timeline comprises two or more of time periods associated with user life stages, key times associated with life events, and key times associated with user ages.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein each layer of the plurality of layers is associated with one or more life stages of the user and information about the one or more life stages in the determined needs data.

“8. The system of claim 7, wherein the information about the one or more life stages of the user comprises one or both life statuses and family roles.

“9. The system of claim 1, wherein the bundle generating module is configured to generate the single personalized, time-varying layered bundle of computer records representing the insurance policy that is personalized to the user based upon underwriting criteria.

“10. The system of claim 1, wherein the bundle generating module is further configured to issue to the user the single personalized, time-varying layered bundle of computer records representing the insurance policy via a user interface controlled by the personalization server.

“11. The system of claim 1, wherein the bundle building module is configured to present a proposal based upon the bundle data to the user for approval or disapproval, and wherein the bundle generating module is configured to generate the time-varying layered bundle of computer records representing the insurance policy that is personalized to the user in the event of user approval of the proposal based upon the bundle data.

“12. The system of claim 1, wherein the needs analysis module is further configured to present a form for inputting the user data at the user computing device, wherein the form for inputting the user data is selected from the group consisting of a needs questionnaire, a user profile questionnaire, and a timeline template.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Ben-Zvi, Yaron. Computer method and system for creating a personalized bundle of computer records. U.S. Patent Number 11803916, filed July 6, 2021, and published online on October 31, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11803916)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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