Patent Issued for System And Method For Providing Risk Recommendation, Mitigation And Prediction (USPTO 10,909,630)

2021 FEB 15 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventor Baxter, David (Coral Gables, FL), filed on March 14, 2017, was published online on February 15, 2021.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 10,909,630 is iMitig8 Risk LLC (Coral Gables, Florida, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Major construction projects are almost always insured by large insurance companies, providing policies that cover the potential casualty and loss of a portion or a whole of an entire project. These policies can extend into the hundreds of millions of dollars or more. In order to analyze the risk and reduce the chance of large payouts on projects, these insurance companies utilize risk engineers to analyze risks at project sites and provide recommendations to the insured on how to reduce overall risk for the project.

“Risk Management is one of the key aspect for all insurers, re-insurers and insurance brokers, and many companies in the insurance industry have internal resources with specialist knowledge, such as Bridge Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Chemical Engineers, Chartered Surveyors and Fire Engineers (collectively known as Risk Engineers) these Risk Engineers conduct regular inspections of insurance portfolios of either operational property or projects undergoing construction, with the primary purpose to prevent losses by examining the performance and identifying key areas of risk, providing risk improvement recommendations, analyzing losses and sharing lessons learnt with the teams.

“However, currently, even though there are huge amounts of capital on the line for each project, there are few, if any, ways for the insurance companies to track and ensure that insured parties comply with these recommendations or otherwise take actions to reduce risk. It is extremely difficult to track the status of the improvements, since once issued, the only way to ensure they are formally completed is to have the broker contact the site or plant manager to send the response, with validation of compliance. This is very time consuming and sometimes frustrating for the site teams, whom often do not understand the insurance protocols. As such, even where recommendations are made, they can go unattended for long periods without being addressed, leaving open the potential for an increased chance of loss. In many cases, the improvements are not actioned by the insured in a timely manner, leaving a risk exposed to potential claims that could cost insurers millions of dollars.

“Further, since there are numerous parties involved in the project and risk analysis of a project, there are several moving parts, all with little or no formal method for tracking or monitoring actions and communications between the parties. Information given from the risk engineer to the insurance company might not make it to the broker; information from the insured to the broker may not make it to the risk engineer; and so on and so forth.

“Finally, given the amount of data associated with these projects that is potentially available, but not utilized, there are several areas where communication, analytics and analysis could all be improved in order to provide a robust solution and reduce overall risk of loss on these projects.

“Therefore, there is need in the art for systems and methods for providing risk recommendation, mitigation and prediction in order to provide accurate assessments of risk for various projects as well as provide predictive analytics for those involved in risk assessment and management. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be explained and will become obvious to one skilled in the art through the summary of the invention that follows.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent: “Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide systems and methods providing risk recommendation, mitigation and prediction in order to provide accurate assessments of risk for various projects as well as provide predictive analytics for those involved in risk assessment and management.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, a computerized system for risk recommendation, mitigation and prediction comprises: a risk analysis and analytics engine, comprising computer-executable code stored in non-volatile memory; a processor; and a communications means, wherein said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are operably connected and are configured to: receive one or more risk recommendations from a user via said communications means, wherein each risk recommendation of said one or more risk recommendations comprise information related to at least one risk element; correlate each of said one or more risk recommendations with a risk type; generate, via said processor, a risk analysis of risk associated with unattended items in said one or more risk recommendations; and transmit risk analysis to one or more third parties via said communications means.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to receive an update, wherein said update changes the status of one or more unattended items to attended.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to generate an updated risk analysis based on said update, wherein said updated risk analysis changes a probability of a risk event occurring.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, said risk analysis comprises probabilities of one or more risk events occurring.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of said one or more risk events comprise an event type.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to associate loss ratios with said risk type.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to: receive observation data, via a communications means, wherein said observation data is associated with one or more of said one or more risk recommendations; receive approval for said observation data; and generate a predictive model for risk occurrence across a time period occurring in the future.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to: receive updated inspection information associated with said one or more risk recommendations; generate updated risk analysis from said updated inspection information; and generate delta between said predictive model for risk occurrence and said updated risk analysis.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to generate an alert based on said delta, wherein said delta exceeds a threshold for expected risk.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to: receive a personnel assignment; identify location of said personnel assignment; identify one or more secondary projects in the vicinity of said location; present option to the user to accept assignment of one or more of said one or more secondary projects; confirm assignment of one or more of said one or more secondary projects; and assign said one or more of said one or more secondary projects to said user.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for risk recommendation, mitigation and prediction comprises the steps of: receiving one or more risk recommendations from a user via a communications means, wherein each risk recommendation of said one or more risk recommendations comprise information related to at least one risk element; correlating each of said one or more risk recommendations with a risk type; generating, via a processor, a risk analysis of risk associated with unattended items in said one or more risk recommendations; and transmitting risk analysis to one or more third parties via said communications means.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of receiving an update, wherein said update changes the status of one or more unattended items to attended.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of generating an updated risk analysis based on said update, wherein said updated risk analysis changes a probability of a risk event occurring.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of associating loss ratios with said risk type.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the steps of receiving observation data, via a communications means, wherein said observation data is associated with one or more of said one or more risk recommendations; receiving approval for said observation data; and generating a predictive model for risk occurrence across a time period occurring in the future.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the steps of receiving updated inspection information associated with said one or more risk recommendations; generating updated risk analysis from said updated inspection information; and generating delta between said predictive model for risk occurrence and said updated risk analysis.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the step of generating an alert based on said delta, wherein said delta exceeds a threshold for expected risk.

“According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises the steps of: receiving a personnel assignment; identifying location of said personnel assignment; identifying one or more secondary projects in the vicinity of said location; presenting option to the user to accept assignment of one or more of said one or more secondary projects; confirming assignment of one or more of said one or more secondary projects; and assign said one or more of said one or more secondary projects to said user.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“The invention claimed is:

“1. A computerized system for project risk mitigation and prediction, the system comprising: a risk analysis and analytics engine, comprising computer-executable code stored in non-volatile memory; a processor; and a communications means, wherein said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are operably connected and are configured to: receive one or more risk mitigation recommendations from each of a plurality of users via said communications means, wherein each risk mitigation recommendation comprises information related to at least one risk element; aggregate the one or more risk mitigation recommendations; parse one or more risk elements from the risk mitigation recommendations, and identify one or more risk types based on the parsed out risk elements, wherein each identified risk type has an assigned weight based on its probability of occurrence and an associated loss ratio; generate a timeline of predicted risk levels for each identified risk type based, at least in part, on its corresponding assigned weight and associated loss ratio, wherein said timeline covers the duration of the project, calculate a delta between an actual risk level derived from an inspection report of the project and a predicted risk level at the time of the inspection and generate an alarm notification when the delta exceeds a predetermined threshold, wherein said alarm notification comprises the risk type that triggered the alarm notification, the severity of the risk, summary of corrective actions that could be taken, risk of loss, and estimated value of loss if the risk occurs, wherein the actual risk level is reduced upon completion of a corrective action; generate, via said processor, a hazard map overlay for the project site, wherein the hazard map shows potential area hazards for the project site; generate, via said processor, a risk analysis of risk associated with unattended mitigation steps in the one or more risk mitigation recommendations and duration of the unattended mitigation steps; determine overall potential risk for the entire project based on the various risk types and hazards identified, any corrective actions taken, any unattended mitigation steps, and duration of the unattended mitigation steps; limit access by a user to information received from the user which is related to the risk elements parsed from the risk mitigation recommendations and is proprietary to that user; and transmit via said communications means the generated risk analysis to one or more of the plurality of users including the at least one user to which access was limited.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to receive an update, wherein said update changes the status of one or more unattended mitigation steps to attended.

“3. The system of claim 2, wherein said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to generate an updated risk analysis based on said update, wherein said updated risk analysis changes a probability of a risk event occurring.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein said risk analysis comprises probabilities of one or more risk events occurring.

“5. The system of claim 4, wherein each of said one or more risk events comprise an event type.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to: receive observation data, via a communications means, wherein said observation data is associated with one or more of said one or more risk mitigation recommendations; receive approval for said observation data; and generate a predictive model for risk occurrence across a time period occurring in the future, wherein the predictive model is generated as a function of the access-limited aggregated one or more risk mitigation recommendations.

“7. The system of claim 6, wherein said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to: receive updated inspection information associated with said one or more risk mitigation recommendations; generate updated risk analysis from said updated inspection information; and generate delta between said predictive model for risk occurrence and said updated risk analysis.

“8. The system of claim 7, wherein said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to generate an alert based on said delta when said delta exceeds a threshold for expected risk.

“9. The system of claim 1, wherein said risk analysis and analytics engine, said processor and said communications means are further configured to: receive a personnel assignment; identify location of said personnel assignment; identify one or more secondary projects in the vicinity of said location; present option to the user to accept assignment of one or more of said one or more secondary projects; confirm assignment of one or more of said one or more secondary projects; and assign said one or more of said one or more secondary projects to said user.

“10. A method for project risk mitigation and prediction, the method comprising the steps of: receiving one or more risk mitigation recommendations from each of a plurality of users via a communications means, wherein each risk mitigation recommendation comprises information related to at least one risk element; aggregating the one or more risk mitigation recommendations; parse one or more risk elements from the risk mitigation recommendations, and identify one or more risk types based on the parsed out risk elements, wherein each identified risk type has an assigned weight based on its probability of occurrence and an associated loss ratio; calculate a delta between an actual risk level derived from an inspection report of the project and a predicted risk level at the time of the inspection and generate an alarm notification when the delta exceeds a predetermined threshold, wherein said alarm notification comprises the risk type that triggered the alarm notification, the severity of the risk, summary of corrective actions that could be taken, risk of loss, and estimated value of loss if the risk occurs, wherein the actual risk level is reduced upon completion of a corrective action; generate, via said processor, a hazard map overlay for the project site, wherein the hazard map shows potential area hazards for the project site; generate, via said processor, a risk analysis of risk associated with unattended mitigation steps in the one or more risk mitigation recommendations and duration of the unattended mitigation steps; determine overall potential risk for the entire project based on the various risk types and hazards identified, any corrective actions taken, any unattended mitigation steps, and duration of the unattended mitigation steps; limiting access by a user to information received from the user which is related to the risk elements parsed from the risk mitigation recommendations and is proprietary to that user; and transmitting via said communications means the generated risk analysis to one or more of the plurality of users including the at least one user to which access was limited.

“11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of receiving an update, wherein said update changes the status of one or more unattended mitigation steps to attended.

“12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of generating an updated risk analysis based on said update, wherein said updated risk analysis changes a probability of a risk event occurring.

“13. The method of claim 10, wherein said risk analysis comprises probabilities of one or more risk events occurring.

“14. The method of claim 13, wherein each of said one or more risk events comprise an event type.

“15. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: receiving observation data, via a communications means, wherein said observation data is associated with one or more of said one or more risk mitigation recommendations; receiving approval for said observation data; and generating a predictive model for risk occurrence across a time period occurring in the future, wherein the predictive model is generated as a function of the access-limited aggregated one or more risk mitigation recommendations.

“16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of: receiving updated inspection information associated with said one or more risk mitigation recommendations; generating updated risk analysis from said updated inspection information; and generating delta between said predictive model for risk occurrence and said updated risk analysis.

“17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of generating an alert based on said delta when said delta exceeds a threshold for expected risk.

“18. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: receiving a personnel assignment; identifying location of said personnel assignment; identifying one or more secondary projects in the vicinity of said location; presenting option to the user to accept assignment of one or more of said one or more secondary projects; confirming assignment of one or more of said one or more secondary projects; and assign said one or more of said one or more secondary projects to said user.

“19. The system of claim 1, wherein metered access to various portions of the system are provided based on a user’s role, said role being selected from the group consisting of: insurance company user, risk engineer user, insured user and insurance broker user, wherein each user is provided a graphical user experience based on that role.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Baxter, David. System And Method For Providing Risk Recommendation, Mitigation And Prediction. U.S. Patent Number 10,909,630, filed March 14, 2017, and published online on February 15, 2021. 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=10,909,630.PN.&OS=PN/10,909,630RS=PN/10,909,630

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