System and method for assisting a buyer in selecting a supplier of goods or services
First Claim
1. A method for insuring a buyer in the purchase of goods or services, comprising:
- (a) receiving a quote request from a buyer, said quote request requesting an insurer to consider reimbursing said buyer for economic damage resulting from said buyer buying goods or services from a seller;
(b) assessing risks of insuring the buyer for reimbursement of said economic damage based on information about said seller; and
(c) deciding whether to offer said buyer an insurance policy which at least partially reimburses said buyer for said economic damage based on a risk assessment made in step (b).
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for assisting buyers in selecting a supplier of a good or service begins by receiving a price quote for the good or service from the supplier. A request is then submitted to an insurance company requesting the company to issue a policy for reimbursing the buyer for economic damage the buyer may realize as a result of purchasing the good or service from the supplier. The insurance company assesses the risk of insuring the buyer based on information about the buyer and supplier stored in a database. Preferably, the information about the buyer is conveyed electronically to the insurance company over the internet. Also, the risk assessment is preferably all performed in software. A decision on whether to offer the insurance policy to the buyer is then made if a favorable risk assessment is returned. The buyer then decides whether to accept the policy by performing a comparative analysis which involves determining whether the sum of the supplier'"'"'s costs plus the cost of the insurance policy is greater than or less than the price which the buyer'"'"'s existing supplier is charging him for the goods or services.
14 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for insuring a buyer in the purchase of goods or services, comprising:
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(a) receiving a quote request from a buyer, said quote request requesting an insurer to consider reimbursing said buyer for economic damage resulting from said buyer buying goods or services from a seller;
(b) assessing risks of insuring the buyer for reimbursement of said economic damage based on information about said seller; and
(c) deciding whether to offer said buyer an insurance policy which at least partially reimburses said buyer for said economic damage based on a risk assessment made in step (b). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29)
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15. A method of obtaining insurance in connection with buying goods or services, comprising:
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receiving a price quote from a seller of goods or services;
submitting a request to an insurance company for an insurance policy reimbursing a buyer for economic damage resulting from said buyer buying said goods or services from said seller;
receiving an offer from said insurance company for said insurance policy, said offer including premium information; and
determining whether to accept said offer based on said premium information.
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26. A method for selecting a seller of a good or service, comprising:
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receiving a price quote for said good or service from a seller;
submitting a request for an insurance policy to an insurance company for reimbursing a buyer for economic damage resulting from a purchase of said good or service from said seller, said insurance company maintaining a database of information on said seller;
assessing risk of insuring said buyer with respect to said purchase based at least in part on the information in said database;
offering said insurance policy request upon a favorable risk assessment, said offering step including communicating premium price information for said insurance policy, said premium price information providing an indication of risk to said buyer in purchasing said good or service from said seller.
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30. A method of linking buyers with sellers, comprising:
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providing an insurance company which offers an insurance policy which reimburses a buyer for economic damage resulting from said buyer buying goods or services from a first seller; and
maintaining, at said insurance company, a database which includes a directory of sellers and ratings which said insurance company has assigned to each of said sellers; and
wherein said insurance company further;
(a) selects a second seller from said directory who has a more favorable rating than said first seller; and
(b) contacting either said second seller or said buyer to initiate a supply contract between said buyer and said second seller.
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31. A system for insuring a buyer in buying goods or services, comprising:
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an insurance company which provides policies that reimburse buyers for economic damage resulting from the purchase of goods or services from sellers;
a database for storing information on a plurality of sellers and their goods or services;
means for assessing a risk of insuring a buyer in purchasing goods or services from a first one of said plurality of sellers; and
means for deciding whether to offer said buyer an insurance policy based on a risk assessment determined by said risk assessing means.
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Specification