Patent Issued for System and method for online automobile insurance quoting (USPTO 11436684): Truist Bank

2022 SEP 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Truist Bank (Charlotte, North Carolina, United States) has been issued patent number 11436684, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Bradshaw, Brandon (Raleigh, NC, US), Kinney, Patricia M. (Cary, NC, US), Nester, II, Kenneth Gray (Fort Mill, SC, US), Velett, Gregory (Tarpon Springs, FL, US).

This patent was filed on August 3, 2020 and was published online on September 6, 2022.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Electronic commerce has made it easier for a consumer to obtain information and/or make a purchase of a product or service from an online seller. However, if the customer desires to compare the products/services offered by different sellers, the customer usually must interface with each seller’s website one at a time in order to determine which seller’s product/service is the one best suited to the customer’s needs. At each interface, the customer must enter information, data, preferences, and the like which can be tedious and time consuming. Additionally, each of the sellers may have certain restrictions or limitations on their products/services such that the customer must alter his or her criteria for each seller thus making the ultimate comparison between the various products/services overly complicated. Furthermore, there is generally only one mode of communication available to the customer for any particular seller, e.g., online, telephonic, in person, etc. thus making the process inconvenient and time-consuming as the customer must finish the interaction once it is begun or risk having to restart the interaction from the beginning.

“Another problem faced by the consumer is that pre-purchase and after-purchase resources of typical online sellers are offered in a disjoint manner thereby requiring the consumer to maintain separate contact points for such things as cross-sell benefits and opportunities, follow-up servicing for the purchased product/service, and potential future upgrades or downgrades as the consumer may desire. Since these, and other, pre-purchase and post-purchase services are usually an important consideration to a consumer when deciding to make a purchase, the inability to adequately take these services into account due to the arrangement of typical online businesses places a serious burden on the consumer. The resulting inefficiencies of making a purchase usually works to the detriment of the consumer as he or she, being daunted by the effort necessary to adequately vet a purchase, must make a decision based on incomplete, or perhaps even misleading, information.

“The present disclosure describes novel systems and methods for overcoming the above-mentioned problems and shortcomings faced by a modern consumer. The present disclosure describes novel systems and methods for a customer to receive information and/or purchase a product or service while interacting with multiple vendors through a single contact/agency. The customer is able to communicate with the agency, which is typically an online agency, through a variety of communication modes. As used herein, an “online agency” includes a system and methods therefor which can communicate with both customers and vendors via any electronic (wired and/or wireless) communication mode including, but not limited to, online channels (e.g., from desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, mobile telephones, text messaging, instant messaging, etc.), offline channels, telephonic channels (wired or wireless), or combinations thereof. The online agency adapts the customer’s input as necessary to meet the requirements of the vendors and the online agency returns information to the customer so that the customer can conveniently interact with the multiple vendors. The online agency may also create packages from the information received from the vendors and present these packages to the customer to ease the customer’s burden of reviewing an abundance of information. The systems and methods allow for the customer to stop and restart the process at various points using various communication modes. The online agency has the ability to present the customer with prospecting, sales, service, upgrades, cross-sells, up-sells, and other pre- and post-purchase services at the single point-of-contact agency. Thus, the efficiency of the information-gathering evolution for the consumer is greatly increased and the consumer is conveniently presented with relevant information without having to individually perform tedious information-gathering for each of the relevant prospective sellers.

“Accordingly, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system for providing information to a customer, from one or more predetermined sellers via one intermediary (or “online”) agency, for choosing a product. The system includes a first module for receiving from a customer a first set of information regarding a product, such as, but not limited to, a customer request for an online quote for a product or service and/or a customer request to purchase online the product or service, customer-specific information and requirements, an identification of the customer, an online banking identification of the customer, if such identification exists, etc. The system also includes a second module, which is operatively connected to the first module, for providing a second set of information to the customer based on the received first set of information. The second set of information may contain more specific information regarding the product/service desired by the customer. As a non-limiting example, if the customer is interested in purchasing a car insurance policy, the second set of information may contain requests such as the type and number of vehicles owned by the customer, whether the customer rents or owns his or her home, etc. In an embodiment, the second set of information includes information required by at least one of the one or more predetermined sellers. In a further embodiment, the second set of information includes information unique to one of the one or more predetermined sellers. As a non-limiting example, one insurance seller may have a limit on the number of incidents a person may have, above which that insurance seller may not sell insurance to that person, whereas another insurance seller may have a different limit on the number of incidents. As another non-limiting example, one insurance seller may have a limit on the number of drivers per insurance policy and/or the number of vehicles per policy, whereas another insurance seller may have different limits for one or both of drivers per policy and vehicles per policy. As yet another non-limiting example, one insurance seller may require either the full or partial Vehicle Identification Number (“VIN”) early in the processing of an insurance selling transaction while another insurance seller may not require the full or partial VIN until later in the selling transaction. One of skill in the art will readily understand that other differences between the predetermined sellers need to be taken into account and managed by the online agency in order to simplify the customer’s choice of the desired product or service. The system also includes a third module, which is operatively connected to the first module, for receiving and processing first customer data regarding the desired product. Continuing with the non-limiting car insurance example, the first customer data typically contains information specific to the desired car insurance, such as the type and amount of car insurance coverage desired, and may contain information such as a desired deductible limit and/or a desired maximum premium payment. This “raw” information received from the customer may need to be processed by the online agency so that the various predetermined insurance agencies with whom the online agency will be interfacing will be able to return insurance information for the customer that is relevant to the customer’s request. The system also includes a fourth module, which is operatively connected to the third module and to the one or more predetermined product providers, where the fourth module sends first processed customer data to the one or more product providers and receives first product data from the one or more product providers in response to the first processed customer data. Still continuing with the non-limiting insurance example, the first product data typically contains insurance quote information which is based on the first processed customer data.

“In another non-limiting example, the first customer data may contain information for servicing an existing car insurance policy, such as adding a new vehicle, adding a new driver, renewing a policy, etc. This “raw” information, just like in the example above, may need to be processed by the online agency so the one or more selected predetermined insurance agencies with whom the online agency will be interfacing will be able to return the proper information for the customer that is relevant to the customer’s request. Likewise, the information that is returned to the online agency from the insurance agency may need to be processed by the online agency so that the proper information may be sent to the customer in a format with which the customer is familiar and/or desires.

“Additionally, the third module sends the first product data to the customer and receives a product choice from the customer in response to the first product data. The third module also receives and processes second customer data regarding the customer’s product choice. As a non-limiting example, the second customer data may include revisions to the customer’s original insurance coverage requests made in the first customer data, such as a change in the type and/or amount of coverage, desired deductible limit, and/or a desired maximum premium payment. The second customer data typically, but not necessarily, is in response to the information in the first product data. The fourth module also sends the second processed customer data to one of the product providers associated with the customer’s product choice, and receives from the one product provider second product data in response to the second processed customer data. The third module also processes the second product data and sends the second product data to the customer.”

There is additional summary information. Please visit full patent to read further.

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “With reference to the figures where like elements have been given like numerical designations to facilitate an understanding of the present subject matter, various embodiments of a system and method for an online agency are described. While the below discussion may at times, for exemplary purposes, discuss the invention in terms of providing information for, purchasing, and servicing an insurance policy, those of skill in the art will readily understand that the breadth and scope of the invention is not so limited and that the agency system and methods disclosed herein are applicable to a broad range of products and services.

“The present disclosure describes novel systems and methods for a customer to receive information and/or purchase a product or service while interacting, indirectly, with multiple providers through a single contact/agency. The customer is able to communicate with the agency through a variety of communication modes such as via an online channel, an offline channel, a telephonic channel, or combinations thereof. This flexibility allows the customer to interface with the agency in a manner which meets the customer’s needs for security as well as the customer’s particular comfort level for communication. For example, the customer may start an insurance application using the online channel, go offline, then resume the application process using the telephonic channel. Data entered by the customer during the online channel transaction is passed to the telephonic service channel personnel so that reentering of data is not required. Thus, the customer is not restricted to just one communication mode for a given process. The customer can use one, two, or more communication modes and switch between them as the customer sees fit. Therefore, the systems and methods described herein allow for the customer to stop and restart the process at various points using various communication modes.

“Another benefit of the present subject matter is that the agency with which the customer interacts shoulders the burden of interfacing with various predetermined providers. For example, if the customer is interested in purchasing car insurance, and the agency has, say, three providers of car insurance from which the agency is prepared to request quotes, the three insurance providers may have different requirements for how they receive information for their quotes. As a non-limiting example, if a customer wants $250,000 of comprehensive insurance, and insurance company A only provides comprehensive insurance at every $200,000 level, the agency will process the customer’s request and send to the insurance company an appropriate request that best meets the customer’s needs. Another example may be based on the type of use for the vehicle, the number of miles driven per day, the number of miles driven annually, etc. Of course, as the number of variables increases between what the customer requests and what the insurance company’s requirements are for a quote, the agency must process the customer’s request in the most fitting way possible. These variables may include, but are not limited to, discounts offered by various vendors (anti-theft, airbag, anti-lock, multi-car, homeownership, good student, driver training, etc.) For example, the agency may round the customer’s request up or down, or determine a “best fit” between different and/or competing requirements, or the agency may take advantage of other information the agency has for the insurance company to provide the customer with a pertinent quote. All of this, and other, processing of the customer’s input by the agency is possible since the agency has researched the requirements of the various providers so that the customer does not have to. Additionally, the agency may inform the customer that altering one or more parameters of the customer’s request may allow the agency to return a better quote from the insurance company providers. Thus, according to the present subject matter, the agency adapts the customer’s input as necessary to meet the requirements of the providers/vendors and the agency returns information to the customer so that the customer can conveniently interact with the multiple vendors.

“Various embodiments of the present subject matter allow for the agency’s sales, solutions, and service centers to cooperatively interact. The agency has the ability to present the customer with prospecting, sales, service, upgrades, cross-sells (e.g., if the customer has purchased car insurance, the agency can ask the customer if he or she would like to also purchase homeowner’s insurance, renter’s insurance, etc., either as a package with the car insurance or from a different insurance provider altogether; can also cross-sell financial products and services), up-sells (e.g., inform the customer of coverages they did not select, inform the customer if their insurance purchase is at, below, or above the norm for others who are similar to the customer), and other pre- and post-purchase services at the single point-of-contact agency. As an example, because of this interaction, the customer may, using the one agency interface (with one or more communication channels), service existing policies, purchase a new policy of the same or a different type (e.g., a second car insurance policy or a new homeowner’s policy), add a driver or a vehicle to a car insurance policy, add a scheduled property coverage, request new insurance documentation, communicate with the agency through e-mail, chat, click to call, phone, etc. As a further example, if the customer has purchased an insurance policy from an insurance provider, via the agency, in order to renew the policy the customer need only interface with the agency rather than the insurance provider, as required by typical prior art systems. Thus, the agency can build brand loyalty throughout the entire purchase and servicing process.

“Post processing services offered by the agency, usually handled by the agency’s service sector, require an information flow similar to the information flow for sales services offered by the agency. With the service portion, the agency would have an interface, system, and process flow akin to that described herein for the agency’s sales interface, system and process flow. Just like the for the sales sector, the agency must build the interfaces with each of the carriers/vendors the agency will support in the service arena and these interface service calls would vary from carrier to carrier. As a non-limiting example, to add a vehicle with carrier A the agency may have to send to carrier A information regarding vehicle identification number (“VIN”), model year, and make and model; while for carrier B the agency may only need to send a VIN. A customer and/or client (as a non-limiting example, a client of an online bank) can enter his/her user ID and password with the agency over an appropriate communication channel, and perform any number of actions, such as, but not limited to: a view policy summary, a view policy document, make a payment, add/remove a vehicle (or other property) from a policy, add/remove a driver, receive targeted cross sell offers, etc.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for concurrently interacting with a plurality of product providers, the method comprising the steps of: (a) receiving from a customer a first set of information regarding a product, wherein the first set of information is received via a first computer interface communicating with the customer over a computer network; (b) retrieving from a database, using a microprocessor, a second set of information based at least in part on the received first set of information and on data required by at least one of a predetermined plurality of competing product providers, wherein each one of the plurality of product providers sells the product; © providing, via said first computer interface, the second set of information to the customer; (d) receiving, via said first computer interface, first customer data regarding said product, wherein the first customer data is based at least in part on the second set of information; (e) processing, using said microprocessor, the first customer data; (f) sending concurrently, via a second computer interface, the processed first customer data to each of the plurality of product providers; (g) receiving concurrently, via said second computer interface, a reply from each of the plurality of product providers, wherein the replies are in response to the processed first customer data; (h) processing, using the microprocessor, the received replies wherein the processing includes organizing the replies into predetermined categories to thereby form a first product data; (i) sending, via said first computer interface, the first product data to said customer; (j) receiving, via said first computer interface, a product choice and second customer data regarding the product choice from the customer in response to said first product data, wherein the product chosen is associated with a first product provider of the plurality of product providers; (k) processing, using said microprocessor, the product choice and the second customer data to thereby form a processed second customer data; (l) sending, via said second computer interface, the processed second customer data to the first product provider; (m) receiving from the first product provider, via the second computer interface, second product data in response to the processed second customer data; (n) processing, using said microprocessor, the second product data; and (o) sending the processed second data, via said first computer interface, to the customer.

“2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: (p) receiving from the customer an acceptance of the second product data including customer payment information; (q) sending to the one product provider an indication of receipt of the customer payment information; and (r) sending to the customer an indication of purchase of the product choice.

“3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the steps of: (s) setting up an account for the customer with the first product provider; and (t) providing product information to the customer based on the product choice.

“4. The method of claim 3 wherein the product information is selected from the group consisting of: payment reminders, payment deadlines, renewal reminders, renewal information, cross-sell opportunities, up-sell opportunities, and combinations thereof.

“5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first customer data comprises insurance coverage information.

“6. The method of claim 5 wherein the processed first customer data includes a first modification to the first customer data wherein the first modification is based on a first predetermined information for at least one of the product providers, and wherein the first product data includes an insurance quote based on the processed first customer data, and wherein the product choice includes a selection of an insurance quote from the one product provider, and wherein the second customer data includes specific information provided by the customer wherein the specific information is required by the one product provider for the product choice, and wherein the second processed customer data includes a second modification to the second customer data wherein the second modification is based on a second predetermined information for the one product provider, and wherein the second product data includes insurance policy information for the product choice.

“7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first customer data comprises post-purchase insurance service information.

“8. The method of claim 7 wherein the post-purchase insurance service information is selected from the group consisting of: a request for insurance of a second product, a request for insurance for a third person, and combinations thereof.

“9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of processing the first customer data includes performing a pre-approval determination of the customer for a cross-sell product.

“10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the second set of information to the customer includes providing a template of fields of information for the first customer data wherein at least one field of the template is pre-filled with information from a database.

“11. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: (p) determining if the customer is an online client of the first product provider; (q) determining a status of the customer when the customer is not a current online client of the first product provider or when said first set of information is not verified by the first product provider, including determining if the customer is an offline client of the first product provider and when it is determined that the customer is an off-line client of the first product provider, presenting a first content to the customer, otherwise flagging the customer as a pending customer; and (r) establishing customer credentials which allow the customer to save a third set of information so that the customer may later resume choosing a product via an online channel, an offline channel, a telephonic channel, and combinations thereof.

“12. The method of claim 1 wherein when the processing in step (h) is incapable of organizing any of the replies into the predetermined categories: (h)(i) sending to the customer a notification to submit third customer data; (h)(ii) receiving and processing the third customer data and sending the processed third customer data to each of the plurality of product providers; and (h)(iii) receiving new replies from each of the plurality of product providers to thereby form the first product data.

“13. The method of claim 1 wherein when the processing in step (h) is incapable of organizing any of the replies into the predetermined categories: (h)(i) receiving at a customer contact sales center a telephone call from the customer; (h)(ii) recommending to the customer changes to the first customer data; and (h)(iii) processing the first customer data and providing the customer with first product data.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Bradshaw, Brandon. System and method for online automobile insurance quoting. U.S. Patent Number 11436684, filed August 3, 2020, and published online on September 6, 2022. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11436684.PN.&OS=PN/11436684RS=PN/11436684

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