Patent Issued for System And Method For Providing Insurance Coverage Recommendations (USPTO 10,796,373)

2020 OCT 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Diefendorf, Tamara L. (Manchester, CT); Patel, Pallavi J. (Plantsville, CT); McCoy, Daniel F. (Coventry, CT); Bentley, Kathyann (South Glastonbury, CT), filed on March 21, 2018, was published online on October 19, 2020.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 10,796,373, is Hartford Fire Insurance Company (Hartford, Connecticut, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The process for selecting and determining the correct insurance coverages for a consumer’s home, automobile and other property is a cumbersome, difficult and time consuming task. Consumers are faced with many variations in insurance product offerings, a very large array of available coverage levels and differing state mandated coverage level requirements which to navigate through. For example, for any given coverage there may be many different variations in features and options such as in the case of automobile insurance amounts for bodily injury coverage, property damage coverage, medical payment coverage, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, etc. Selecting the appropriate combinations and levels for each of these coverages to fit an individual’s personal financial situation is a very difficult task.

“Accordingly, consumers cannot readily and accurately determine what coverage levels would be appropriate for their personal circumstances. For example, recommended coverage levels vary greatly based on each specific individual’s personal assets and income levels in conjunction with the underlying state mandated coverage requirements. Current systems and engines only provide very generalized recommendations based on a basic rudimentary analysis of each individual. In these prior art systems, many factors crucial to making accurate personalized coverage offerings are typically not considered. Furthermore, prior art systems do not supplement or validate the personal financial information to provide more accurate coverage recommendations for an individual consumer. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a way to provide consumers with accurate recommendations for insurance coverage levels in an intuitive, user friendly and efficient manner.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present application is generally directed to computer systems and computer-implemented methods for centrally coordinating various information sources and delivering Web pages to Web browsers. More specifically, the computer systems and computer-implemented methods are configured to centrally manage the generation of insurance coverage recommendations for a property/casualty insurance policy that is in compliance with the latest state insurance regulations. The storage and maintenance of state insurance coverage guidelines is centralized. Further, the logic and process for generating insurance coverage recommendations for adequately protecting a consumer’s assets is also centralized. The claimed systems and methods allow a remote user to make on-demand requests for insurance coverage recommendations for a specified state via a Web browser. Insurance coverage recommendations are delivered to the remote user via Web pages on the remote user’s Web browser. Advantageously, because the storage and maintenance of state insurance coverage guidelines and the logic and process for generating insurance coverage recommendations are centralized, the process of generating insurance coverage recommendations can be easily updated on a system wide basis to deliver Web pages to Web browsers in a consistent and uniform way.

“In one embodiment, a system for delivering Web pages to Web browsers comprises a computer server including a storage unit and a recommendation server. The recommendation server comprises a data input/output module, a communication module, a graphical user interface module, and a third party data module. The communication module is connected to a communications network and communicates with at least one remote device and a plurality of external databases via the communications network. The third party data module communicates with the plurality of external databases to receive coverage guidelines for one or more coverage parameters for a property/casualty insurance policy in a plurality of states. The storage unit stores the coverage guidelines for the plurality of states in a table. The graphical user interface module renders a dynamic web-based graphical user interface on the at least one remote device. The data input/output module communicates with the at least one remote device to receive state residence information via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface. The recommendation server identifies selected stored coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information. The data input/output module communicates with the at least one remote device to receive financial information about a consumer’s income and another class of assets via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface. The recommendation server assigns a relative weight to the consumer’s income and other class of assets. The recommendation server generates one or more recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device, the relative weight assigned to the consumer’s income and other class of assets, and the identified coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information. The graphical user interface module displays on the dynamic web-based graphical user interface the recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy generated by the computer server.

“In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method for delivering Web pages to Web browsers comprises providing a computer server including a storage unit and a recommendation server, the recommendation server comprising a data input/output module, a communication module, a graphical user interface module, and a third party data module. The communication module communicating with a remote device and a plurality of external databases via a communications network. The third party data module communicating with the plurality of external databases to receive coverage guidelines for one or more coverage parameters for a property/casualty insurance policy in a plurality of states. The storage unit storing the coverage guidelines for the plurality of states in a table. The graphical user interface module rendering a dynamic web-based graphical user interface on the at least one remote device. The data input/output module communicating with the at least one remote device to receive state residence information via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface. The recommendation server identifying selected stored coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information. The data input/output module communicating with the remote device to receive financial information about a consumer’s income and another class of assets via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface. The recommendation server assigning a relative weight to the consumer’s income and other class of assets. The recommendation server generating one or more recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device, the relative weight assigned to the consumer’s income and other class of assets, and the identified coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information. The graphical user interface module displaying on the dynamic web-based graphical user interface the one or more recommended values for one or more coverage parameters generated by the computer server.

“In another embodiment, a system for delivering Web pages to Web browsers comprises a communication device that receives and transmits information, a recommendation server coupled to the communication device and a plurality of external databases, and a storage device in communication with the recommendation server. The recommendation server comprises a data input/output module, a graphical user interface module, and a third party data module. The third party data module communicates with the plurality of external databases to receive coverage guidelines for one or more coverage parameters for a property/casualty insurance policy in a plurality of states. The storage device stores the coverage guidelines for the plurality of states in a table. The graphical user interface module renders a dynamic web-based graphical user interface on the at least one remote device. The data input/output module communicates with the at least one remote device to receive state residence information via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface. The recommendation server identifies selected stored coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information. The data input/output module communicates with the at least one remote device to receive financial information about a consumer’s income and another class of assets via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface. The recommendation server generates one or more recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device, the relative weight assigned to the consumer’s income and other class of assets, and the identified coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information. The graphical user interface module renders on the dynamic web-based graphical user interface the recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy generated by the processor.

“A technical effect of some embodiments of the invention is automated and enhanced coverage recommendation processing. With this and other advantages and features that will become hereinafter apparent, a more complete understanding of the nature of the invention can be obtained by referring to the following detailed description and to the drawings appended hereto.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed:

“1. A system for delivering Web pages to Web browsers, comprising: a computer server including a storage unit and a recommendation server, the recommendation server comprising a data input/output module, a communication module, a graphical user interface module, and a third party data module; wherein the communication module is connected to a communications network, the communication module being in communication with at least one remote device and a plurality of external databases via the communications network; wherein the third party data module communicates with the plurality of external databases to receive coverage guidelines for one or more coverage parameters for a property/casualty insurance policy in a plurality of states; wherein the storage unit stores the coverage guidelines for the plurality of states in a table; wherein the graphical user interface module renders a dynamic web-based graphical user interface on the at least one remote device; wherein the data input/output module communicates with the at least one remote device to receive state residence information via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface; wherein the recommendation server identifies selected stored coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information; wherein the data input/output module communicates with the at least one remote device to receive financial information about a consumer’s income and another class of assets via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface; wherein the recommendation server assigns a relative weight to the consumer’s income and other class of assets; wherein the recommendation server generates one or more recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device, the relative weight assigned to the consumer’s income and other class of assets, and the identified coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information; and wherein the graphical user interface module displays on the dynamic web-based graphical user interface the recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy generated by the computer server.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the recommendation server updates the display of the recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters on the dynamic web-based graphical user interface based on changes to the consumer’s financial information and/or the consumer’s state residence information received from the at least one remote device.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the recommendation server is configured to update the recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy as the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device is updated.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the financial information about the consumer’s other class of assets received from the at least one remote device is selected from the group including home value, home equity, personal property value, retirement accounts value, and savings amount.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer server is in communication with at least one external database via the communications network; wherein the computer server is configured to query the at least one external database for financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets; and wherein the computer server is configured to generate the one or more recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device and/or the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets queried from the at least one external database.

“6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one external database is a personal finance program database, a property valuation database, a motor vehicle registry database, and a credit database.

“7. The system of claim 5, wherein the computer processor is configured to supplement the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device with the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets queried from the at least one external database.

“8. The system of claim 5, wherein the recommendation server further comprises a data validation module that validates the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device by using the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets queried from the at least one external database.

“9. A computer-implemented method for delivering Web pages to Web browsers, comprising: providing a computer server including a storage unit and a recommendation server, the recommendation server comprising a data input/output module, a communication module, a graphical user interface module, and a third party data module; the communication module communicating with a remote device and a plurality of external databases via a communications network; the third party data module communicating with the plurality of external databases to receive coverage guidelines for one or more coverage parameters for a property/casualty insurance policy in a plurality of states; the storage unit storing the coverage guidelines for the plurality of states in a table; the graphical user interface module rendering a dynamic web-based graphical user interface on the at least one remote device; the data input/output module communicating with the at least one remote device to receive state residence information via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface; the recommendation server identifying selected stored coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information; the data input/output module communicating with the remote device to receive financial information about a consumer’s income and another class of assets via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface; the recommendation server assigning a relative weight to the consumer’s income and other class of assets; the recommendation server generating one or more recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device, the relative weight assigned to the consumer’s income and other class of assets, and the identified coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information; and the graphical user interface module displaying on the dynamic web-based graphical user interface the one or more recommended values for one or more coverage parameters generated by the computer server.

“10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the recommendation server updating the display of the recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy on the dynamic web-based graphical user interface based on changes to the consumer’s financial information and/or the consumer’s state residence information received from the at least one remote device.

“11. The method of claim 9 further comprising the computer server updating the recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy as the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the remote device is updated.

“12. The method of claim 9, wherein the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the remote device is comprised of at least two or more of income, home value, home equity, personal property value, retirement accounts value, and savings amount.

“13. The method of claim 9 further comprising: the computer server querying an external database for financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets; and the computer server generating the one or more recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the remote device and/or the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets queried from the external database.

“14. The method of claim 13, wherein the external database is a personal finance program database, a property valuation database, a motor vehicle registry database, or a credit database.

“15. The method of claim 13 further comprising the computer server supplementing the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the remote device with the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets queried from the external database.

“16. The method of claim 13 wherein the recommendation server further comprises a data validation module that validates the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the remote device by using the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets queried from the external database.

“17. A system for delivering Web pages to Web browsers, comprising: a communication device to receive and transmit information; a recommendation server coupled to the communication device and a plurality of external databases, the recommendation server comprising a data input/output module, a graphical user interface module, and a third party data module; and a storage device in communication with the recommendation server; wherein the third party data module communicates with the plurality of external databases to receive coverage guidelines for one or more coverage parameters for a property/casualty insurance policy in a plurality of states; wherein the storage device stores the coverage guidelines for the plurality of states in a table; wherein the graphical user interface module renders a dynamic web-based graphical user interface on the at least one remote device; wherein the data input/output module communicates with the at least one remote device to receive state residence information via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface; wherein the recommendation server identifies selected stored coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information; wherein the data input/output module communicates with the at least one remote device to receive financial information about a consumer’s income and another class of assets via the dynamic web-based graphical user interface; wherein the recommendation server generates one or more recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device, the relative weight assigned to the consumer’s income and other class of assets, and the identified coverage guidelines from the table corresponding to the received state residence information; and wherein the graphical user interface module renders on the dynamic web-based graphical user interface the recommended values for the one or more coverage parameters for the property/casualty insurance policy generated by the processor.

“18. The system of claim 17, wherein the recommendation server further comprises a data validation module that queries at least one external database for financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets; and wherein the recommendation server generates the one or more recommended values for the one or more insurance coverage parameters based at least in part on the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets received from the at least one remote device and/or the financial information about the consumer’s income and other class of assets queried from the at least one external database.

“19. The system of claim 17, wherein the financial information about the consumer other class of assets received from the at least one remote device is selected from the group including home value, home equity, personal property value, retirement accounts value, and savings amount.

“20. The system of claim 17, wherein the data input/output module receives a coverage recommendation selection from the at least one remote device; and wherein the recommendation server generates one or more post recommendation communications via the communication device.”

For more information, see this patent: Diefendorf, Tamara L.; Patel, Pallavi J.; McCoy, Daniel F.; Bentley, Kathyann. System And Method For Providing Insurance Coverage Recommendations. U.S. Patent Number 10,796,373, filed March 21, 2018, and published online on October 19, 2020. 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=10,796,373.PN.&OS=PN/10,796,373RS=PN/10,796,373

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